A Friday morning shooting spree in Florida echoed through Chicago Friday afternoon, when a national conference of abortion-rights activists opened with a somber greeting, a heightened awareness and a strengthened determination.
Security inside the Palmer House Hilton was especially tight as the conference began, just hours after a militant anti-abortion activist allegedly killed a doctor and his escort and wounded the doctor’s wife in Pensacola, Fla.
Many participants at the Chicago conference said they were shocked by the shooting, even though they said they also had been the targets of violence or threats of violence themselves.
“This is a conference of people who know what’s going on out there,” said Nancy Kohsin-Kintigh, field organizer for the Los Angeles-based National Clinic Defense Project. “These are the folks who have to be careful every day of their lives.”
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Elsewhere in Chicago, local anti-abortion activists sought to distance themselves from the events in Florida and from the alleged killer, whom they characterized as an extremist.
“There is no way we can control the lunatic fringe,” said Paige Cunningham, president of the Chicago-based Americans United for Life. “The whole pro-life movement is already being blamed for this shooting. We’re being painted as guilty for these acts.”
One local activist said that her group had even tried to steer the alleged gunman, Paul Hill, away from violence. Hill reportedly believes that the Bible justifies killing people involved with abortion.
“(We) asked him not to continue this crusade,” said Shannon Hall, spokeswoman for the Pro-Life Action League. “There are so many other things you can do, so many other ways to go about it.
“It obviously went in one ear and out the other.”
The Florida shooting was a major topic of conversation when the abortion-rights conference got underway in Chicago, but organizers and participants insisted that it would not overshadow the three-day program and that it would actually solidify their resolve.
Christina Schneider, executive director of the Illinois Pro-Choice Alliance, called the shooting “a tragic coincidence” in light of the meeting’s beginning.
But Schneider, who coordinated the conference, said that the shooting “clearly illuminates the reason why we’re here, and it reinforces how much we have to do on this issue.”
Organizers called a hastily assembled news conference to address the Pensacola shooting, and they began the conference with an update on events in Florida.
“I had hoped to bring you a warm and lively welcome,” Marie Wilson, president of the Ms. Foundation for Women, said in her opening remarks. “I hate to start the conference on this note, but I think when women get together we have to share the realities of our lives.”
Wilson asked participants who had experienced violence or threats of violence to stand up. About 50 women stood.
The three-day conference, “A Call to Action: Advancing Reproductive Rights,” attracted some 300 people from across the country. Organizers did not alter the program significantly after Friday’s incident, noting that access to clinics has been an important issue for years.
In fact, the conference includes panel discussions on both access and the religious right.