"p ro t e C urthoue y %,, Southfield, Michigan last Saturday, a group of protesters tried to prevent the clinic from performing scheduled operations by sitting down in front of the doors, praying and singing hymns. During the scuffle which ensued between. those blocking the clinic - part of a group known as Operation Rescue - and members of the Committee to Defend Abortion Rights which tried to keep it open, 48 anti-abortion protesters were ar- rested for trespassing. They claimed to be using civil disobedience to save babies from being murdered. Two weeks ago, nearly 5,000 pro-choice activists attended a rally for abortion rights on the grounds of the State Capitol in Lansing, shout- ing slogans such as "Keep your laws off my body," and "We will never go back." Governor James Blanchard encouraged the gathered crowd that they were just a small fraction of the nearly 80 percent of Americans who support the pro-choice position. These two protests reflect the bat- tle that is raging across the nation this fall, most recently inflamed by the Supreme Court decision last July dealing with a Missouri abortion clinic. It is a battle in which both sides are convinced they are right and defend their opinions more often with heated exchanges and protests than with reasoned argument. And both sides are unwilling to compromise. To those who believe that abortion is murder, there is no alternative but to outlaw it com- pletely; to those who would rather the pregnant woman decide for her- self, the government should lift all restrictions and stay out of the mat- ter. As far apart philosophically as the two sides are, they are both fo- cusing intently on the Supreme Court this fall. The court's decision in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, handed down July 3 after a month of anticipation, did anything but settle the issue. Both sides emerged from Webster even more committed to their positions and de- termined to fight. The Webster decision provided a number of options for states seeking to impose restrictions on abortions. It allowed states to bar public em- ployees from performing or assisting in abortions not necessary to save a pregnant woman's life; to prohibit the use of public buildings for per- forming abortions even if no public funds were involved; and to require doctors to perform tests to determine whether the fetus could survive out- side the womb up to the 20th week of pregnancy. And as the Supreme Court recon- vened this past Monday, three new abortion cases were prominent on its docket. The nation will be watching to see if the court will continue in the direction already begun in the Webster case, further weakening the base of Roe v. Wade, or if it will reaffirm Roe , the 1973 landmark de- cision which legalized abortion. According to University law pro- fessor Alexander Aleinikoff, while Roe v. Wade is "unlikely to be completely wiped off the books," the Supreme Court has shown it is will- ing to uphold stringent restrictions on abortions. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is likely to provide the pivotal vote in the new cases, said Aleinikoff. In Webster, O' Connor voted with the majority, but her separate opinion left questions of whether or not she would completely overturn Roe v. Wade. In fact, Justice Antonin Scalia took O'Connor and others to task in his opinion in the Webster case for remaining on the fence and not com- ing down strongly either for uphold- ing or affirming Roe. Two of the new abortion cases appearing before the court involve Ohio and Minnesota laws upon which a Michigan parental consent bill is modeled. The 1985 Ohio law contested in Ohio v. Akron Center for Reproductive Rights requires teenage girls to obtain the permis- sion of at least one parent before an abortion. A Minnesota law requires consent of both parents, even in cases of divorce or parental desertion. The third case, Turnock v. Ragsdale, involves an Illinois law requiring clinics and doctors' offices used for performing abortions to The nation will be watch- ing to see if the court will continue in the direction already begun in the Webster case or if it will reaffirm Roe v. Wade.' However, the legislature will be spending time on the abortion issue thanks to bills introduced by Senators Jack Welborn (R- Kalamazoo) and Fred Dillingham (R- Fowlerville). The bills are similar to the Missouri law upheld in Webster, and the parental consent case pending in the Supreme Court. The most controversial of the bills, and the one many say is most likely to pass, would require teenagers to obtain parental permis- sion before they can have an abor- tion. If the minor is unable to re- quire fetus viability testing after 20 weeks of pregnancy and prohibit the use of public funds, facilities, and employees in performing abortions. A third bill would bar public funds from being used in abortion counsel- ing and a proposed constitutional amendment would prohibit all public employees from using their health benefits for abortions. The ratio of abortion rights op- li ponents to pro-choice advocates in a the state legislature is roughly two ea to one, but, according to Koehler, A "The Governor would not place any- a It's Up to Them L L, K d Pt ar is St V( tr e, a' T r+ is W it e P tl v si le if is ;x t Associated Press TO Sta the meet the standards of operating rooms in full care hospitals. Requiring clinics to meet those stan- dards would effectively drive the clin- ics out of business, pro-choice ac- tivists say, since the clinics would be required to purchase costly operat- ing-room equipment. The circuit court in Illinois ruled there was no medical need for the clinics to meet such standards. In Michigan The primary effect of the Webster decision was to throw the issue back to the individual states, and allow them to establish their own guide- lines. In Michigan, three anti-choice bills and a constitutional amendment are pending in the state legislature, though an official in the Governor's press office expected more proposals. Ron Koeler, editor of the Governor's news office, described the effect of Webster as "sobering" be- cause it raised the possibility of widely varying abortion restrictions in each of the 50 states. "People be- gan to wonder if it would be wise to have a country with patchwork laws," he said, adding that there are other important issues besides abor- tion that the legislature needs to ad- dress this fall. e 02 so America gears up for another year innthe abortion war Above: Pro-choice rally in Lansing. At right, anti-abortion protester in front of the Supreme Court. B L au ra C o u n ts ceive parental consent, she may by- pass it by petitioning the courts. The bill's sponsors claim that it will improve communication in families, and that it has received support from both sides of the abor- tion issue. But there are still many objections to the bill, and even Gov. Blanchard says he will not support it. "It puts judges in the strange po- sition of saying, 'You are too young to have an abortion and therefore you must become a parent,"' said Robin Menin, the executive director of Planned Parenthood of Mid- Michigan. Another proposed bill would re- thing between a woman and her physician." The abortion battle in Michigan last year centered around Proposal A, a state ballot referendum which suc- ceeded in outlawing Medicaid-funded abortions. But this year, Governor Blanchard has proposed legislation to restore funding in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the pregnant woman. Groups like the National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood and Right to Life have been gearing up to lobby for and against restrictions on abortion in Lansing. c 1 c t c c 1 c i t Page 8 Weekend/October 6,1989 Weekend/October 6,1989