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Demonstrators Oppose Vatican Views
Antiabortion Protester Carrying Fetus Arrested Outside Planned Parenthood
By David A. Fahrenthold, washingtonpost.com April 25, 2004; Page C07
Washington, DC -- An abortion rights protest at the Vatican Embassy and the arrest of an antiabortion activist downtown started the street action the police expect to culminate in a march of hundreds of thousands today.
The March for Women's Lives, in support of an agenda including safe abortions, sex education and birth control for women is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. with a gathering on the Mall.
Organizers have obtained a permit for 750,000 people, and police say they expect a large turnout.
The march route will take demonstrators through downtown, then to the Mall for a rally near Third Street from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Traffic is expected to be disrupted around the Mall and downtown for much of the day, and Metro officials said they have added trains and expect heavy ridership. Spokesmen for both U.S. Park and D.C. police say their forces will have hundreds of officers on duty.
About 1,500 counter-demonstrators will dispute the main event's messages, leaders of antiabortion groups said. They said they will line Pennsylvania Avenue NW between Seventh and 15th streets NW as the march passes.
D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said yesterday that the first priority for police will be to prevent problems between the two sides.
"Any clashes between demonstrators and counter-demonstrators, we'll try to keep those to a minimum," he said.
Ramsey said preparations for today's events were made easier because police already were out in force yesterday for protests against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
Yesterday, the first small demonstrations, far from the World Bank headquarters, dealt with reproductive issues.
In the morning, a couple of hundred protesters rallied at the Vatican Embassy on Massachusetts Avenue NW and criticized the Catholic Church's opposition to abortion and birth control.
As the rally ended, demonstrators laid red carnations near the embassy, which they said symbolized women who had died because of pregnancy-related causes.
Also yesterday morning, D.C. police arrested a California man for carrying a fetus in a jar during a protest in front of an office of Planned Parenthood at 16th and L streets NW.
Jeff White of Twin Peaks, Calif., was part of a demonstration by the antiabortion group Operation Witness when police officers took the fetus, said group spokesman Gary McCullough.
McCullough said police arrested White, 46, after discussing the incident for about a half hour.
Police said White was charged with illegally exhibiting a dead body, a misdemeanor that carries a possible penalty of 90 days in jail or a $200 fine.
McCullough said the fetus was the result of a miscarriage, not an abortion, and had been given to White by a doctor in California. He said his group had displayed fetuses at demonstrations in other cities without any trouble from police.
"It's not uncommon to illustrate the pro-life position with 'This is what's at stake,' " McCullough said.
Also yesterday, activists from both sides of the debate mingled among those with anti-capitalist banners protesting the IMF and World Bank.
Phil Eddy, 21, wore a T-shirt that read "Abortion Is Homicide." Eddy also wore anti-IMF buttons, and his opposition to abortion was met with a mix of confusion and hostility by some protesters.
"I fight for life, whether that's by protesting war in Iraq or standing up for someone in a sweatshop, or on abortion," said Eddy, who came with a group from Lancaster Bible College in Pennsylvania.
"A lot of pro-lifers are on the same side as the people here, actually," he said.
Jet Tilley, 52, a Planned Parenthood employee, came from Spokane, Wash., to support abortion rights.
"I wanted to come to see who's out here," Tilley said among yesterday's anti-globalization protests. "We certainly have issues in common in terms of global justice and women's lives."
Staff writers Del Quentin Wilber and Monte Reel contributed to this report.
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