Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 13, 1994 TAG: 9405130119
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
There were signs, however, that some of the most radical anti-abortion protesters would not be deterred.
The vote of 69-30 sent the bill to President Clinton, who is expected to sign it into law.
``It is long past the time to end the massive wave of violence, intimidation and harassment directed at clinic patients and personnel,'' said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., the author of the bill.
The bill would make it a federal crime to use force, threats, physical obstruction, or destruction of property to hinder abortions.
Protesters found guilty of violent offenses like assault could get a year in prison and be fined up to $100,000 for the first offense, and up to three years in prison and a fine up to $250,000 for subsequent offenses.
Those convicted of nonviolent offenses could get up to six months in prison and a fine up to $10,000 for the first offense, and up to 18 months in prison and a fine up to $25,000 for subsequent offenses.
The legislation was prompted by an escalating trend of violence against abortion providers and clinics in past years. Over the past 10 years, there have been more than 1,000 acts of violence directed at abortion clinics, their staffs, or their patients, and about 500 blockades of clinics.
It is far from certain how much effect the new law would have.
State laws already outlaw violent attacks, yet have failed to deter radical anti-abortion activists.
Rachelle Shannon, the woman convicted of shooting Dr. George Tiller during a protest at a Wichita, Kan., clinic in August 1993, told reporters at the time of her trial, ``It would be hypocritical to pretend I did something wrong, when I didn't.''
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a leading opponent of the bill, noted that the man who killed Dr. David Gunn during a protest at the Pensacola, Fla., clinic where Gunn worked already faced the possibility of the death penalty under state law but was not deterred.
by CNB