Planned Parenthood clinic's fence a flashpoint

Along the edge of the parking lot at Planned Parenthood's B Street clinic, a red cedar fence is taking shape.

Its purpose, clinic managers say, is to protect the privacy of patients seeking everything from immunizations for babies to testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases to abortion.

But the fence is rising amid what is being called 40 Days for Life, a nonstop anti-abortion vigil. The 8-foot-high barrier, planned long before the vigil took root, has since become a lightning rod for protesters.

The vigil, a nationwide effort organized by a nondenominational anti-abortion coalition, targets Planned Parenthood and other agencies that provide abortions.

In Sacramento, an estimated 800 people are registered to take part at Planned Parenthood facilities on B Street in Sacramento and in Roseville, the only two Planned Parenthood clinics in the area that provide abortions. On Wednesday afternoon, a half-dozen protesters stood vigil outside the partially built fence.

Protesters pray, hand out literature and talk to patients as they enter or exit the clinic during business hours. They remain at the site at night, playing music and carrying lighted candles.

"We are here to offer women hope, those who are in despair about an unplanned pregnancy, and to offer them emotional and financial support," explained Elizabeth Pierini, who was standing in bare feet on the sidewalk outside the clinic. "We are here in peace, and want to maintain a peaceful, prayerful presence."

Katharyn McLearan, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, described their effort differently.

"Nothing they are doing is helping," McLearan said. "The biggest tragedy is that Planned Parenthood serves 5 million men, women and children, and they trust us for reproductive and general family health, and it's awful they would be subjected to harassment and intimidation when they are seeking basic health care services."

But the conflict has become more complicated.

In addition to prayer and quiet pamphleteering, 40 Days for Life also has taken aim at River City Fence Co., hired by Planned Parenthood to erect the fence.

"We have talked to employees on site to encourage them to reconsider their business affiliation," explained Wynette Sills, an event organizer.

On its Web site, www.40daysforlife.com/sacramento, the group urges readers to boycott the fence company and to write letters and make phone calls to protest their work at the clinic. The Web site features photographs of the company's trucks and its workers, and a statement: "Please let them know that working with Planned Parenthood comes at a price."

On Wednesday, patients who had driven or walked past the protesters did not describe the vigil activities as harassment or intimidation.

Patients who talked to The Bee seemed nonplused by the group's activities, which consisted mostly of prayer in hushed voices. Absent were the gruesome posters of bloody fetuses and shouts of "baby killer" long affiliated with anti-abortion demonstrations.

"It's definitely their right," said a 17-year-old girl at the clinic, waiting for an appointment to obtain birth control. "I just don't agree with what they are saying."

The Bee is not naming the teen to protect her privacy.

The girl said she has friends who have come to Planned Parenthood and were confronted by aggressive protesters, some of them waving graphic photographs, especially on the days abortions are provided.

Pierini, who'd stood vigil since 8 a.m., said the current effort is different because participants had to sign a "statement of peace," prohibiting graphic images, profanity, signs, vandalism, physical or verbal abuse or blocking driveways.

As for the fence, she acknowledged it will pre-sent an obstacle to their work, but added that it won't prevent them from their mission.

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's Dorsey Griffith, (916) 321-1089.