The New York Times (Jan. 12, 1985), reports that some abortion clinic owners, such as Bill Baird who owns clinics in Boston and New York, are arming themselves. “We are in a state of siege, a state of war,” Mr. Baird said. “People are scared to death. Many clinics are folding, many doctors quitting. We are asking our supporters to hold on.” The owner of two abortion clinics in Northern Florida also said she now packs a pistol and that she has stocked hr “facilities” with numerous but unspecified “weapons.”
While other spokesmen or abortion clinics claimed not to be aware of this development, Barbara Methvin, executive director of a New York abortion clinic stated: “There is suspicion of every unusual person or package that enters this building. We’re in the process of making it as safe as possible. We don’t want to talk about what these measures are.”
Baird, whose abortion clinic in Long Island was firebombed six years ago, has accused delegates of the 1980 Right to Life convention of having conspired to do so. Spokesmen for this group rejected the allegations, as smear tactics, accusing Baird for seeking self-aggrandizing publicity to promote himself and his business interests.
