A man was arrested Saturday, August 28, outside Southwestern Women's
Options, a late-term abortion clinic operated by Curtis Boyd in
Albuquerque, New Mexico, after he threatened to shoot two pro-life
women who were offering help to abortion-bound women.
The unidentified man and his wife were escorting their daughter into
the abortion clinic when the wife and daughter walked over to the
pro-life women to discuss alternatives to abortion. The man became
angry and ushered his family members toward the clinic.
"When we come out, I'm going to put a bullet in your head if you talk
to her," the man told the pro-life women, whose identities are being
withheld for their security.
Witnesses said that the man then lifted his shirt to show the women a
dark object that was partially tucked into his trousers. The women
recognized the object as a gun and called the police.
"The police responded appropriately and took him away in handcuffs,"
said former Operation Rescue intern Bud Shaver, who arrived on the
scene in time to witness the arrest and the clearing of the clinic by
police.
"They cleared Boyd's clinic to search for the gun SWAT style. Everyone,
including staff, had to come out with their hands up."
The area was cordoned off and the clinic was closed to patients for
nearly two hours while police conducted their investigation.
It is currently unknown if a gun was recovered by police or what
charges were brought against the man.
Death threats against pro-lifers have been viewed with greater concern
in the wake of the shooting death of activist Jim Pouillon of Owosso,
Michigan, who was gunned down last year as he held a pro-life sign
outside a local high school. The killer admitted that he murdered
Pouillon because he did not agree with his public abortion protests.
Shaver told Operation Rescue that he has been threatened a number of
times since he has been in Albuquerque, but the police never responded
in the way they did on Saturday.
"We are thankful that no one was injured and that the police took
appropriate action," said Newman. "Violence against pro-lifers has
become something that we have to guard against every day. Those who
reach out to women in front of abortion clinics should not be afraid to
continue to do so, but should always have security and an awareness of
their surroundings in mind."
Click
here
to view the photos.