THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 1, 1994 TAG: 9409010553
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LAURA LAFAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
One of three doctors at the only abortion clinic in Hampton Roads says he will resign, partly for personal reasons and partly because he is tired of being followed, picketed and harassed by anti-abortion activists.
Dr. Michael Girtelschmid, who wore a bulletproof vest and carried a gun to work, has performed abortions at Hillcrest Clinic on East Little Creek Road for three years. He will leave Sept. 8.
``They (the activists) are not the major reason, but they are part of it,'' Girtelschmid said. ``It's the whole environment.''
Girtelschmid, 40, plans to go into private practice or work for a group of physicians. If the activists let him alone, he said, he will perform no more abortions. But if they continue to follow him, picket his office or show up at his house, he will resume performing the procedure.
``I will not give in; it's stupid, I know,'' he said.
Girtelschmid said he resigned once before, but returned to the clinic because activists launched a poster and picket campaign against him.
``I won't let them kick me around,'' he said. ``But basically, they did kick me around that time because I went back because of them. They made the decision for me.''
Girtelschmid is the third Hampton Roads doctor to announce that he will no longer perform abortions since the March 1993 murder of Dr. David Gunn outside a Florida abortion clinic.
Dr. Abraham Anderson, a gynecologist who became a target of Operation Rescue's Virginia organization when he was the medical director at Hillcrest, announced in July 1993 that he would no longer perform abortions. One of Anderson's associates, Dr. Olugbenga Oredein, stopped two months later because he was concerned about the safety of his family. Oredein also had once worked at Hillcrest.
``I should say that the anti-abortion campaign is working,'' the clinic's director, Bonnie DeAngelis, said Wednesday.
``The pickets, the posters, the harassment and the ostracizing of doctors who perform abortions - it's all working. And there isn't going to be a doctor willing to perform abortions. So it won't matter about the legality of it.
``I hate to say that because they'll say, `Yes, it's working. We're accomplishing our goals.' But it's the truth. One day our daughters and granddaughters will not have a choice. It will be legal, but the choice will not be available.''
DeAngelis has not yet found a doctor to replace Girtelschmid. It is unclear whether or how abortion services will be affected by his resignation, she said.
Girtelschmid is a self-described ``thrill-seeker'' who races cars, deep-sea dives and sky-dives. But, he said, ``I would rather die jumping out of a plane than have somebody kill me. It's my choice.''
Local anti-abortion leader David J. Crane said he was encouraged by Girtelschmid's decision to resign. But, said Crane, protesters will continue to pressure the doctor until he shows he's no longer in the abortion business.
``I would hope that he is not just leaving Hillcrest, but has chosen to serve the public through . . . helping and healing women, and he has stopped performing abortions,'' Crane said. ``If he has, it's an answer to our prayers.''
Crane's organization, renamed Citizens For Justice in June and formerly known as Operation Rescue Virginia, has regularly picketed Girtelschmid's home. Last year, the group mailed yellow posters to 770 physicians' offices and about 100 of the doctor's neighbors depicting him as a ``war criminal'' for performing abortions. MEMO: Staff writer Matthew Bowers contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
IAN MARTIN/Staff
Dr. Michael Girtelschmid
by CNB