US doctors file lawsuit against antiabortionists

A civil lawsuit has been filed against several antiabortion groups in a Portland, Oregon, federal court by Planned Parenthood and a group of doctors who perform abortions.

The suit has been brought under the 1994federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which makes it illegal to use “force or threat of force” against anyone seeking or providing an abortion. The law allows clinics to seek unlimited damages if workers are harmed or intimidated. The defendants are named as the American Coalition of Life Activists, the Portland based Advocates for Life Ministries, and prominent members of the US antiabortion movement.

The suit seeks $200m (£125m) in damages and an injunction that could bar abortion opponents from circulating material on the internet that plaintiffs say threatens the lives and wellbeing of abortion providers. The defendants claim their internet material merely distributes information available in telephone directories, and their opinions are constitutionally protected free speech.

One antiabortion website www.christiangallery.com/atrocity provides access to the main “Nuremberg Files” archive, which lists “Abortionists—the baby butchers.” When, last year, the American Medical Association became aware of the website, which targets 225doctors and characterises them as either “working,” “wounded,” or “fatality,” it formed a crisis team to alert doctors whose names were on the site and met with officials from the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to protect doctors against domestic terrorists.

A photograph of Dr Warren Hern appears on the website next to severed limbs dripping blood; the caption reads: “Warren Hern currently preforms (sic) third trimester murder…the name of his facility is called Boulder Abortion Clinic.” Dr Hern said his life had been turned into a nightmare by protesters, who have put his face on their “Deadly Dozen” flyer, which looks like a “wanted” poster, and alleges that he and other doctors are “Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity.”

The National Abortion Federation, a pro-choice organisation, reported that there have been seven killings, 15attempted murders, 154arson incidents, and 39bombings involving abortion clinics or workers in the past two decades.