Church and State

It is fitting, on Independence Day, to discuss how area groups rallied together to defend our community. When I asked Voices for Justice, a local coalition of individuals and community groups, for their help in preparing for Operation Rescue's visitation, they said: just tell us where and when. I want to thank all the volunteers, including members of Food Not Bombs and Revolution at Rollins for all their hours of help while OR was here. They worked with the National Organization for Women, the Feminist Majority and Refuse and Resist for weeks in advance. The FDLE, FBI, Clinic owners, OPD and the Sheriff's Department all worked together to coordinate clinic defense and ensure patient access and safety.

Is it a coincidence that OR's visit came on the heels of 10 attacks in 10 days at area clinics with butyric acid and a new threat from the Army of God to blow up all Florida clinics simultaneously? These attacks occurred in conjunction with OR's loss in the Federal Court Case, Scheidler v NOW, where they were found to be racketeers and extortionists. Also, the attacks followed a visit, on two Saturdays at the West Colonial Clinic, from Father Norman Weslin; the ex-Green Beret -priest- founder and leader of the Lambs of God (another more secretive and violent antichoice group, whose members taught the pro-lifers how to use butyric acid). We are not surprised that on the days that Florida clinics were attacked, none of the regularly present protesters appeared. (anyone smell conspiracy here?) The attackers chose Orlando as a platform to further their antichoice, misogynist, homophobic, bigoted and hate-mongering agenda.

Volunteers started at 5:30 am, covered 4 city and county clinic locations, and were prepared to go to 4 more in Central Florida if necessary. They broiled in near 100° heat daily to provide a friendly face and safe escort into the clinics, despite personal risk. As invited guests of the clinic owners, our priority was patient safety and access, not counterprotest. The clinics should not be the venue for anything but private, confidential healthcare.

On television or in the newspaper, by appearance, these people look just like us - regular, normal people - but if you were there, listening to their screaming rhetoric, you would have felt their hate that charged the air.

What has not been mentioned in any press coverage is that it was the content of OR's membership, rather than their number, that was the risk. OR had people here that we suspect have been involved in clinic bombings and clinic arsons. Members who, for years, have stalked, harassed, threatened and terrorized clinic doctors, clinic workers and volunteers here in Florida were part of the crowd. Men who regularly videotape, and trace clinic patient and worker vehicles, then trace them using their plate numbers to send harassing letters, were here. One person, fresh out of prison for multiple clinic bombings, was spotted. One of the men participating, had previously broken the ribs of one of our Orlando chapter members, trying to break into the front door of a Fort Pierce clinic. These people believe it is justifiable homicide to murder anyone involved with abortion, including volunteers. They have death lists (with names, addresses, and personal info. on clinic workers, doctors and volunteers) on their Internet Web sites compiled for the day when they choose to follow through on their beliefs. An area clinic had a bomb threat the last time OR was here. These are the people that our volunteers and police had to face every day. Because of the level of threat, there was 24 hour undercover police surveillance and bomb dogs were brought in to check all the clinics daily. Because anti-choice people have shown they are willing to murder women, doctors, police and rescue personnel (Birmingham and Atlanta bombings), and because of the recent local attacks, there were over 120 Emergency Response officers helping at the city clinics. It was potentially much more dangerous than a protest-counterprotest situation as presented in the local press.

OR uses religion as a tool for their goals, but there is nothing Christian about terrorizing women, bombing clinics or shooting health care workers and police. It's time we recognized their nationwide activities correctly: DOMESTIC TERRORISM.

We watched their young people at night rallies, dressed in paramilitary clothing, do a routine calling themselves the Army of God. They are raising their children to be the next domestic terrorists. You all know what the Army of God has taken credit for recently. We watched them let their children get arrested. We watched as they screamed and yelled in their babies ears for hours, and cooked their kids in near 100° heat for days. We watched them leave their kids out on the highway for hours without food or drink.

Operation Rescue became Operation Failure - all the clinics remained open, patients had access, and health care was uninterrupted! OR failed to disrupt business at Barnes and Noble stores and Disney. They failed to prevent Orlando from flying the beautiful Rainbow flags of diversity.

Unfortunately, a television station, in its coverage, showed the faces of clinic patients - legal, but reprehensible. Are they now going to show the faces of rape victims as well? We had to watch State Representative Alan Trovillian (Winter Park) and his wife, along with a local McDonald's franchise owner and his wife, give a barbecue picnic for OR, across from the county clinic. I gave pictures of Trovillian socializing with OR members (with various arrest records) to the Sentinel. You didn't see them, did you? Wonder why?

In every state, lawmakers are taking money from the religious-conservative right with one hand and voting with the other hand for laws that endanger the lives of women and children, restrict the reproductive freedom of women and are ultimately causing the deaths of some women.

In every state, zealots of the religious-conservative right are invading our school boards, city councils, county commissions, and state and federal offices. They are bringing their agenda of bible-based law with them and continue to break down the separation of church and state.

You may be saying to yourself - Why should I care? I am never going to need an abortion, or I don't believe in abortion. THIS IS NOT ABOUT ABORTION!!! It's an issue of personal liberty, an issue of privacy rights, an issue of separation of church and state, and an issue of private, confidential healthcare. If you are male or female - do you want the government to control your body?

Even if you callously don't care about these issues, ask yourself - who will pay for the enforcement and prosecution of these laws? Who will pay for the increase in healthcare costs from the botched abortions and high risk pregnancy outcomes that will certainly result from forced pregnancy? YOU, THE TAXPAYER WILL PAY!

The church is telling us (women) to 'submit.' I say, go ahead and submit!! The first thing you submit should be your letter of resignation of membership to the church. Stop giving them your money. Then, start submitting some bills - for example: a bill to the church for all the volunteer time you have given, or to your family for all the unpaid labor and/or childcare, or to your employer for pay inequity.

The state is telling women that we are too stupid and incapable to decide what is right for our lives, or for our families. They are telling us, with laws, that our health, our responsibilities and dreams are irrelevant. We are just incubators. Legislators need to remember that women are the majority vote. Pretty soon, when we have enough of our rights taken away from us (now??), women will wake up and teach them a NEW definition of the term "feminist backlash." If the state says that we are too stupid and incapable of making even the most fundamental decisions for ourselves, then maybe we are just too stupid to be doing the work in our families (raising these kids we are being told we must have) and in all the other jobs we do around the country. Why don't we call for women to just STOP doing all of this work, until we get our rights back? A huge strike! Women can shut down this country if we want to. My favorite chant we use: NOT THE CHURCH, NOT THE STATE, WOMEN WILL DECIDE THEIR FATE!

An even scarier prospect for some people, I expect, is if women get outraged enough, they may decide to come OUT of what I like to call the "big Abortion closet" and start telling the truth of our lives, that has so far been taboo. So far, no one on "our side" has fallen to the temptation to tell what we know or to commit the same actions as the "other side." What a threat it would be to all the ministers, priests, churches, parents, legislators, governors, past presidents, lawyers, judges, businessmen, hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, and corporate heads, etc., if women started telling the truth.

Ask yourself, what's the least I can do for my freedom? Make a phone call, write a letter, vote; write a check for a candidate who will respect my rights: Can you speak up when you see an injustice? Figure that out and just do it!

Butyric acid is used in attacks on clinics, primarily, because of its putrid sickening smell. I could smell it a block away when the clinic on West Colonial was attacked. It's the smell of hate. Remember that smell when you go to vote. REMEMBER the lawmakers who have supported that hate.

Letters will be sent to the offices of Trovillian, the McDonald's Corporation and a local TV station. We want to picket the McDonald's owned by Tim Wright soon. I am excited about the Gender, Sexuality and Social Justice Conference that Voices for Justice and NOW will be presenting in the fall at Rollins. I am honored to be a member of Voices for Justice.

Operation Rescue, and other groups of the Religious Right, are the loud, visible minority. We are the quiet, as yet, invisible majority. Please come to our meetings and help make us the visible majority in our state.

Carla Josephson
I am President of Orlando Area NOW, a member of the State NOW Reproductive Rights Committee, a clinic defender and escort, a member of Florida Women's Consortium, the Women's Political Caucus, the League of Women Voters, Voices for Justice , and Central Florida Jazz Society, etc... I currently wreak havoc in the law office of Attorney Susan A. England, women's rights activist extraordinaire. I have worked as a Counselor for New and/or Breastfeeding Mothers, and as a Girl Scout Leader. I am a BIG supporter of local music; I like International Folk Dancing, Belly Dance, Swing Dance, Flamenco, and African Dance; reading and jazz. My new label is "Jezebel" - what the protesters call me at area clinics.