Contact: Troy Newman, President, 316-841-1700; Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Policy Advisor, 316-516-3034; both with Operation Rescue, info@operationrescue.org
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., July 6, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- A woman who claimed to be a supporter of abortion violently attacked peaceful pro-life protesters yesterday outside Southwestern Women's Options, a late-term abortion clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico, inflicting wounds that left one protester bloody. (Watch the video.)
The woman was angry and told the pro-lifers that she had once had an abortion. She then began to viciously punch and kick Bud Shaver, a former Operation Rescue intern, and a woman named Chris. She used keys as a weapon, inflicting a deep gash on Shaver's head that paramedics said required stitches.
Shaver, who works with Project Defend Life, began videotaping after the attack began, but images he captured show an angry and violent flurry of punches and kicks as the pro-lifers threw up their arms in a defensive posture. After the attack, the woman walked into the abortion clinic but left a few moments later, driving away before police could respond to Shaver's 911 call for help. Shaver told Operation Rescue that the woman was a passerby that stopped, but she did not appear to be a patient of the clinic.
Police and paramedics eventually responded but the perpetrator was not apprehended, even though her description and license plate number were reported to the officers as well as the 911 dispatcher.
"The lax way in which the police are handling acts of violence against pro-lifer who are peacefully exercising their Constitutional Rights and offering practical help to need women is shocking," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "It sends the wrong message that violence on the part of abortion supporters is acceptable. We pray that this troubled woman is brought to justice and gets the help she needs with her anger and grief issues."
Previously, other attacks on pro-life activists included a man threatening them with a gun and another person who jumped the curb in an attempt to run over peaceful men and women.
Ironically, this attack occurred just days after Operation Rescue released a powerful 911 recording made from another abortion clinic in Albuquerque, UNM Center for Reproductive Health, where a woman could clearly be heard struggling for life.
Operation Rescue has also obtained a series of 911 emergency recordings made from Southwestern Women's Options where the violent attack took place that clearly indicate life-threatening abortion complications that required emergency hospitalization. OR plans to release the first of these recordings later this week.
Operation Rescue is asking the public to help protect peaceful pro-life activists and their ability to continue saving lives by calling the Albuquerque Chief of Police and demanding the arrest of the woman who attacked Shaver and his associates.
Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz
Voice: (505) 768-2200
E-Mail: rschultz@cabq.gov
About Operation Rescue®
Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation and has become a strong voice for the pro-life movement in America. Operation Rescue is now headquartered in a former abortion clinic that it bought and closed in 2006. From there, Operation Rescue launches its innovative new strategies across the nation, exposing and closing abortion clinics through peaceful, legal means. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to stop abortion and ultimately restore legal personhood to the pre-born in obedience to biblical mandates.
