JackCentral

Four pro-life protesters were arrested on Feb. 16 by the Flagstaff police for illegally picketing in front of the residence of a Planned Parenthood employee.
Jean Patchin, a neighbor and witness to the event, called the police once she heard the very loud group down the street from her own home and noticed a license plate number on one of the protestor’s cars. Patchin said one of the four picketers parked on half the street and made it only possible for one car to drive at a time.
The group was blaring through megaphone throughout the neighborhood, shouting things like, “You gotta repent” and “Don’t kill babies.”
“This does not happen on our street. There are a lot of college students, families, children and elderly people,” Patchin said. “We all know our neighbors, so it was disturbing to see this type of thing happen.”
Beth Otterstein, the resident and employee of Planned Parenthood, said she was not home at the time, but her daughter and mother were home.
“I was all shook up and worried about their safety,” Otterstein said.
Before the police arrived, the protestors headed down to Heritage Square, but not before leaving behind messages in chalk on the sidewalk including, “You kill babies,” “Stop killing generation,” “Abortionist lives here” and “Innocent blood shed here.”
Officers found the protestors at Heritage Square and arrested them. The group was holding up posters with images of aborted fetuses and citizens filed several complaints.
One of those arrested, Johnny Wallace, 67, has been protesting abortion practices for about a year, and was motivated by a class he took covering Roe v. Wade. Wallace and others protest at least once a week in front of Planned Parenthood.
“We are Christians and just a vessel, and our God changes minds and hearts. Our goal is to get the information out,” Wallace said. “Even if we did this a long time and just saved one life it would be worth it.”
Otterstein said these protestors are in front of Planned Parenthood a couple of times a week and verbally harass clients and employees.
Bridget Daly, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, said less than 5 percent of their services are related to abortion. About 95 percent of their medical services are related to prevention, for example, contraception, breast exams and cervical cancer screenings.
“We believe here that the programs and services we provide and offer will do more in one day to promote responsible planning and prevent the need for abortion than our opponents will do in a lifetime of protests,” Daly said.
Otterstein said protesting crosses the line when it threatens the security, privacy and safety of others. Currently, they are investigating whether these protestors can stand and scream at patients of Planned Parenthood.
“The health, safety and security of our clients and staff are our top priorities,” Daly said. “We believe that women should be able to get healthcare without fear, violence, harassment or intimidation.”
According to Arizona Revised Statues, intent to harass or annoy another person near or around their residence, which includes residential picketing, is a Class 3 misdemeanor. In Arizona, it is illegal to perform residential picketing. This could mean up to 30 days in jail, one-year probation and fines up to $500.
All four protestors pleaded not guilty of residential picketing on Feb. 25.
“We are still in litigation,” Wallace said. “We do not know exactly what is going to be our punishment. We are receptive to that because we were in error and we haven’t lost the cause.”
Wallace encourages other protestors to conduct residential picketing.
“If it’s lawful, then I would encourage others to picket houses,” he said.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 6:03 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.