NEW YORK - Energized by successes in Texas and Michigan, activists opposed to abortion are expanding aggressive campaigns against a favorite target - the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Activists hope the tactics that delayed construction of a new Planned Parenthood clinic in Austin, Texas, and helped shut down a clinic in Houghton, Mich., can be replicated across the country.
As the nation marks the 31st anniversary today of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, opponents of the procedure want to convince more state and local governments to cut off public funding that subsidizes some of Planned Parenthood's services for low-income clients.
Our message is to fight them at the local level
said Jim Sedlak, executive director of STOPP International, a wing of the American Life League. His group is distributing a detailed memorandum advising supporters how to assist its mission of combatting Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood has been a polarizing organization since its precursor - a clinic in Brooklyn - was founded in 1916 by pioneering birth-control advocate Margaret Sanger. In recent years, it has been a lightning rod for protests because of its familiar name and two unswerving policies - support for abortion rights and a belief that adolescents, as well as adults, have a right to contraceptives and candid, confidential information about sex.
A dramatic, although temporary, victory for the protesters occurred in November when the general contractor overseeing construction of the Austin clinic withdrew because a boycott campaign dissuaded most potential subcontractors from participating.
We were just reeling said Danielle Tierney, spokeswoman for the Austin-area Planned Parenthood affiliate. To think of small businesses becoming targets of anti-choice hard-liners' intimidation - it's immoral; it's outrageous.
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