Protests rise on abortion clinic's move

Protests rise on abortion clinic's move

By MICHAEL P. MAYKO
CT POST

BRIDGEPORT -- For nearly four hours Saturday some 200 anti-abortion advocates protested, preached and prayed in their effort to drive an abortion clinic off of Main Street and out of the city.

"This is just the beginning," said the Rev. William Marshall, whose Bridgeport Christian Life Center hosted the rally. "We're going to get more of the black churches involved. We are going to be heard."

The protests may increase to at least three times a week at both Summit's current site on Middle Street and its future site at 3787 Main St., according to Carmen E. F. Vazquez and Marilyn Carroll, leaders of the Calvary Evangelical Pro-Life Movement.

Two city leaders got a first-hand look Saturday at what may befall the city's busiest thoroughfare when Summit moves.

"This doesn't belong in this area," said City Councilman Josephine Covino, looking over sidewalks filled with people, roads snarled with traffic and police cruisers parked and waiting for something to happen.

"It's already hurting business," said Covino, who with John Fabrizi, represents the upper Main Street district. "We have a hard enough time already trying to keep businesses in Bridgeport."

Across the street, Maria Quintans watched the protest from inside Lisbon Bakery. Quintans owns the building, which contains the bakery and her Lisbon Restaurant. She worried about the impact.

"I don't agree with abortion," Quintans said. "I think this is going to hurt business."

But Lisbon Bakery may have had one of its busiest Saturday afternoons. At the urging of Mike Hawkins, pastor of the Greater Bridgeport Christian Fellowship, demonstrators shopped at the bakery as a show of their support.

Sam Beck, owner of Main Street Wine and Liquor, didn't think the clinic or the demonstrations it brings would affect his business. Still, he believes the city could have recommended a better site.

"This is a residential area," Beck said. "There are kids who wait for their bus out here. I wouldn't want my kids looking at posters showing headless fetuses. I'd be asking the city to move the bus stop."

Covino said she and Fabrizi are asking the Zoning Board of Appeals to review the location of the clinic.

"We are aware they moved into an existing medical facility," Covino said. "But Summit is a surgical facility."

As a result, she said that use may require zoning board approval.

Jennifer Jaff, a Hartford lawyer who represents Summit, failed to return messages left on her cell phone.

Shortly before noon, the demonstrators moved inside the Bridgeport Christian Life Center where the Rev. Philip Benham, executive director of Operation Save America, an anti-abortion movement, urged them to persevere.

"You can't just go ahead and have a church while children are being killed across the street," he said. "We must pray that Bridgeport will very soon become abortion free. That folks in other cities will know your power."

Afterwards Benham said it was "awesome" to see so many churches and pastors "uniting together" to fight abortion.