Kris Karnopp/Daily Nebraskan
Rally
Continued from Page 1
Patricia Ireland, president elect of
the National Organization for Women,
said, “We will go toe to toe with these
bullies.”
“We won’t go back. We will fight
back,” she said.
Rachel Murray, a former member
of UNL’s Students for Choice, joined
ralliers on the banks of the Arkansas
River to “stand up and be openly pro
choice.”
About 16 supporters of UNL Stu
dents for Choice traveled to the rally,
Murray said.
“I think this is exactly the response
that they (abortion rights activists)
needed to have to Operation Rescue,”
she said.
^ Murray joined others in shouting
and waving signs.
“I feel recharged,” she said. “I’ve
been in this movement for a long
time. I feel we’ve been needing to
speak out for a long time.”
UNL seniors Rachel Nutter and
Lisa Giddings left Lincoln at 2 a.m.
Friday to travel to the rally.
Nutter, a women’s studies and
psychology major, said, “I think people
-!
UJNL activist
says group
hurts cause
By Adeana Leftin
Senior Reporter
Operation Rescue, a protesting
group at the forefront of the anti
abortion movement, is doing more
harm than good, the president of UNL
Students for Life said Sunday.
Joe Luby, president of the Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln organiza
tion, said it was a “fact of American
politics” that people or groups spear
heading a good cause can hinder the
movement.
Since mid-July, Operation Rescue
has been blocking the entrance to
abortion clinics in Wichita, Kan.
The protesters carry pictures of
bloodied baby parts, discourage and
sometimes prevent women from en
tering the clinics and are arrested
often.
Operation Rescue is “entirely
counterproductive,” Luby said, and
“is really helping perpetuate this myth
that all pro-lifers are religious fanat
ics.”
Luby said he believes groups who
are against abortion should work to
persuade others lo take a similar stance.
Instead, Luby said, the tactics used
by Operation Rescue alienate people.
, “u anybody is changing their mind
because of Operation Rescue, it's
need to stand up for what they believe
in.”
Both women later joined a counter
demonstration outside a Wichita family
planning clinic.
Other keynote speakers included
Kate Michelman, executive director
of the National Abortion Rights Ac
tion League; Ann Stone, chairwoman
of Republicans for Choice; Jane
O’Brien Reilly, national coordinator
for Catholics for Free Choice; Lynn
Mara Paltrow, senior staff counsel of
the American Civil Liberties Union’s
Reproductive Freedom Project, and
Eleanor Smeal, founder of the Fund
for the Feminist Majority.
Some antiabortionists who entered
the crowd during Smeal’s speech were I
quickly escorted by police to the
outskirts of the park.
Smeal yelled: “This is our rally.
Operation Rescue, go home!”
The crowd joined in, chanting: “Go
home. Go home.”
A woman in the crowd yelled:
“My baby’s here. We don’t want
trouble today.”
Some jeering was prompted by a
Rural America Speaks Out for Life
motorcade that featured tractors, trucks
and other vehicles.
-— i
-44 -
For us to participate in
Wichita would be for us
to associate with that
9f0UP- Luby
president, UNL Students for
Life
-ft -
against pro-life,” he said. “Certainly,
there’s room for protest, but they’re
taking it too far.”
UNL Students for Life has a dif
ferent strategy, Luby said.
Each year, the organization marches
from the State Capitol building to the
federal building, distributes literature
and hosts speakers.
Luby said organization members
hope that by having information booths
Shaun Sartln/Dally Nabraakan
and passing oul literature, they can
“plant a seed.”
With an issue as controversial as
abortion, people don’t change their
minds immediately, he said. But the
information might make them recon
sider their positions, he said.
The organization will continue with
its long-term tactics, Luby said, and
will not participate in the Wichita
rally.
“For us to participate in Wichita
would be for us to associate with that
group,” he said.
And Luby said UNL’s group, as
well as most other anti-abortion or
ganizations, do not want any connec
tion with Operation Rescue.
“Operation Rescue does not repre
sent the entire pro-life movement,”
he said.
I
■ Abortion |
Children!
Shaun Sartin/Dally Nebraskan
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP
LEFT: About 5,000 abortion
rights protesters gather at A.
Price Woodard Park in Wichita,
Kan.
Rachel Nutter (right) a UNL
senior women’s studies and psy
chology major, and Lisa Gid
dings, a math major, join in a
chant with fellow abortion-rights
activists.
B.K. Christopher (left) and
Eden Blackwook, both of
Shawnee Mission, Kan., cheer
during a speech at the abortion
rights rally Saturday morning in
downtown Wichita, Kan.
A group of children from Mis
souri protest outside a Wichita
family planning clinic.
A Wichita policewoman mixes
Gatorade for the dozens of offi
cers that are needed to keep the
peace during the protests.
Hayes Bricked of Las Vegas
gives a thumbs-up to fellow anti
abortion activists driving by a
clinic where abortions are per
formed.
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