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Boulder clinics ready


Another balanced article with only one clarification needed. A common error in most of the media coverage is to report that OSA was "formerly called" Operation Rescue. We are still Operation Rescue which our web site has always displayed in its banners and press releases. Flip Benham is the national director of Operation Rescue and we have a number of local affiliates that still use only Operation Rescue such as Pittsburgh, PA and Rochester, NY. The misled perception that we somehow completely changed our name as if Operation Rescue were some reference we are ashamed of or abandoned needs to be corrected.

Boulder clinics ready
7/19/2005

By ANNA UHLS Colorado Daily Staff

Operation Save America, a fundamentalist Christian group that openly opposes abortion, and faiths other than Christianity is set to arrive in Boulder this morning to protest abortion at several health care providers, including the Boulder Abortion Clinic and Boulder Valley Women's Health Center.

The group says its in Boulder and Colorado for a special reason.

"We are here in Colorado because the first law legalizing abortion was made here in 1967," said Pat McEwen, the spokesperson for Operation Save America. "We are here because abortion is bad for the children - it kills them - and bad for the mothers, for their health."

OSA arrived in Denver this past weekend and has been protesting on its streets and at the State Capitol building with about 200 followers - a number a OSA spokeswoman says can be expected in Boulder.

While in Boulder, the group, based in Charlotte, N.C. and formerly called "Operation Rescue," plans to host speakers, sing about Jesus, brandish anti-abortion signs and confront patients at the Boulder Abortion Clinic, Boulder Valley Women's Health Clinic and on the CU-Boulder campus, organizers say.

Some of the demonstration will also be at the Boulder Band Shell in Central Park at the intersection of Broadway & Canyon.

"We will conduct operations as normal," said Susan Levy, the executive director of Boulder Valley Women's Health Center. "We will have a sign outside that reads, 'Birth Control Prevents Abortion' because we want the discussion to focus on that issue."

Levy said that the BVWHC works to help women be in control of their reproductive lives so that the need for abortion becomes rare.

"We support women staying in control of their lives," said Levy. "The fact that OSA is against some birth control really shows how extreme their positions are. It just illustrates their fundamental (will) to continue to keep women on a lower economic level in our world. This issue is not really abortion; it's about women's lives."

Crystal Clinkenbeard, Director of Public Affairs for Colorado's Planned Parenthood, agrees with Levy.

"I wish (OSA) would join us to help make abortion rare through education," said Clinkenbeard. "We discover more and more each day that protests and pickets don't stop abortion; birth control and responsible sex educators do."

Dr. Warren M. Hern, a nationally recognized abortion provider and director of the Boulder Abortion Clinic, said he just wants to focus on the patients because OSA "will add stress and make them feel bad about themselves."

"Leave our patients alone and get a life," Dr. Hern said he wanted to tell OSA.

The BVWHC, the Boulder Abortion Clinic and Planned Parenthood all said they will conduct operations as normal with no counter-protesting.

"Most of my patients are in the clinic because they've had serious complications with their pregnancy and these protesters are just going to make them feel worse about it," said Dr. Hern.

Levy said the BCWHC already experienced protesting this past Saturday from people affiliated in some way with OSA.

"They had loud speakers, were screaming at patients and were videotaping patients," said Levy. "They are very intimidating."

McEwen said she recognized how OSA can make patients nervous.

"If the patients are really certain about their abortion, we shouldn't make them nervous," said McEwen. "But if the patient has doubts, then maybe they are nervous for a good reason."

Some of the OSA protesters are trained as "sidewalk counselors" to talk to patients entering and leaving health clinics, according to McEwen.

"They are trained to just try and get the patients to stop and talk to them," said McEwen. "They will offer them help and talk to them about the medical dangers and concerns of abortion. For those with doubt we say, 'let us help you."

The Boulder Police told the Colorado Daily on Thursday that they will not be out in force at the demonstrations, but Levy said the police have been "more than helpful."

"The Boulder Police have been very available, responsible and have been doing a great job of making us feel safe," said Levy.

Although there are no plans of violent protesting from the OSA, Dr. Hern said he had his life threatened by "pro-Life radicals" in 1978, according to the Boulder Abortion Clinic's Website.

He had bullets shot through his windows in 1988 by unknown assailants.

Abortion Providers Dr. Barnett Slepian and Dr. David Gunn were murdered in 1998 and 1993, respectively.

Dr. Hern's name, along with those of other doctors, is on an Internet abortion hit list called the "Nuremberg Files," according to articles on Dr. Hern's Website.

McEwen said everyone in the OSA demonstration signed a non-violence pledge before participating.

"We want to be out there simply to spread our opinions," said McEwen.

Some businesses and people in Boulder will be displaying flyers that read, "Say No! To Hatred and Intolerance!" promoted by several anti-hate groups in the community.

The sign can be downloaded at www.bvwhc.org.

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