I have to keep this short because it is nearly 3:00am and I have an early meeting tomorrow. Just returned from a long day in San Francisco which began with the sentencing hearing of my friend Walter Hoye. Walter was arrested last year for violating Oakland’s newly enacted “bubble” statute, which prohibits approaching, without permission, within eight feet of anyone entering an abortion clinic. The law is modeled after the Colorado statute upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in Hill v. Colorado in 2000.
Anyway, Walter was convicted in January of two counts of violating the statute – each of which carry a maximum penalty of a $2000 fine and/or one year in jail.
At the hearing today, the judge attempted to offer Walter 3 years probation on the condition that he agree to stay at least 100 yards from the Oakland clinic where he was arrested. The DA had recommended probation and a ”stay away order”, stipulating that if Walter did not agree to the sentence, he should be required to serve the maximum 2 year jail term. This for holding a sign and handing out pamphlets with alternatives to abortion.
As it turned out, Walter did not agree to the stay away order! He did agree to abide by the law, but he would not – could not – forfeit his constitutional right to speak on the public sidewalk at 200 Webster Street. Nevertheless, the judge tried to impose the “sentence” three times and each time painted himself further into a corner. I think the judge was shocked that anyone would risk his freedom simply to inform women that they have choices to abortion. As a result, Walter will return for another hearing next month while the judge scratches his head.
Here is an example of the type of egregious behavior Walter has been convicted of. Please note that Mr. Hoye is not the woman in the orange vest (that would be a clinic volunteer), nor is he shoving his sign in anyone’s face.
The San Francisco Chronicle wrote a decent piece on today’s events – complete with this fully loaded quote from Katrina Cantrell, executive director of Women’s Health Specialists:
“When anyone restricts access to reproductive health services, every woman affected is a living example of a colonized body.”
Wow. Did she really say that? First of all, Walter never restricted the access of women (“colonized” or not) to the abortion clinic. He simply asked them if they were interested in hearing about their choices. Aren’t clinic directors part of the ”pro-choice” movement? If so, why this unfounded paranoia when another choice (besides the one that puts $$$ in your purse) is suggested?
Second, I object to the term “reproductive health clinic” as a euphemism for abortion clinic. Just call it what it is. Because “reproductive” it certainly is NOT.
Finally, the idea that a woman’s relationship vis-a-vis her unborn child resembles that of a ”colonized body” is indefensibly ignorant…at best. It is not just wrong…it is exactly wrong. Not only is the phrase “colonized body” pregnant with all kinds of imperial and racial overtones, the inconvenient fact is that if anyone is the colonizer in this absurd analogy, it would be the mother. The fetus is merely the “colonizee,” subject to, and at the mercy of, his or her protector.
Since Katrina brought it up, let’s see what role the Women’s Health Specialists play in the colonization scenario. Because the clinic provides the colonizer a means of ridding herself of her unwanted populace, I guess it would be the Royal African Company pillaging the West African Coast for lucrative human commodities.
Maybe she’s not exactly wrong after all.
