The Boys Will Be Boys Approach to Punishing Abortion Clinic Violence

A couple of young guys torched an Albuquerque abortion clinic in December of 2007. According to the reporting of the Albuquerque Journal, "The motivation was personal, not political or religious." I guess they never heard of the much-used expression from the feminist movement of the 1970s -- "the personal is the political." And it certainly is, especially in terms of violence at reproductive health care clinics for women. According to the Journal:

Sergio Baca, who planned the Dec. 6, 2007, arson out of anger that his ex-girlfriend planned to terminate her pregnancy, was sentenced Wednesday to 46 months in federal prison. Chad Altman, the friend he persuaded to join in, got 40 months under plea agreements with federal prosecutors. Together, they are responsible for restitution of nearly $800,000. The clinic of Dr. Curtis Boyd was declared a total loss.

Rather short sentences for successful arsonists, in my opinion, especially for guys who violated the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances act and were charged with conspiracy. They probably won't serve all of that with time off for good behavior. There are marijuana offenders sentenced to federal custody for much longer than that. And this was certainly a ruinous, politically motivated crime in every way, as characterized by clinic personnel:

"These two men took violent action against us based on the belief that they were above the law; a belief that they were entitled to control a woman's life, her decisions and her body," said a statement read by Boyd's office manager. [emphasis mine]

... Baca and Altman "destroyed our clinic, endangered lives and denied abortion services to women they did not know, whose stories of need, endangered health and desperation they can neither imagine nor respect," Boyd's statement said.

U.S. Attorney Greg Fouratt, a Republican, doesn't see it that way:

Fouratt said it was not a case in which someone was making a political statement, as with the May 31 murder in Kansas of Dr. George Tiller.

"This was two ... knuckleheads seeking to deter one woman from having an abortion," he said. [emphasis mine]

Aw shucks, these guys weren't making a hateful political statement about women -- why, the "knuckleheads" were merely trying to exert their power and control over one woman's body. No big whoop, even if their actions resulted in their exerting their power and control over the clinic's future patients in the process. No misogyny nor intent to subjugate women and undermine their legal rights here. Move along.

Baca and Altman faced a mandatory minimum five-year sentence if they'd been convicted at trial. However, U.S. District Judge Conway made a deal:

Senior U.S. District Judge John Edwards Conway accepted plea agreements that specified the lesser prison terms, and told the men, "I have no idea why you two did that. It's the dumbest thing you ever did in your life."

Got that? Judge Conway asserted he had no idea why the guys burned down the clinic. Oh, it was just a dumb mistake. You know, boys will be boys. It was merely a juvenile personal grudge against an ex that sorta kinda got out of hand, resulting in the destruction of a reproductive health clinic -- thereby terrorizing its patients and personnel. Remember this crime wasn't some prank like throwing eggs at clinic windows or even disabling a clinic's security camera. It consisted of tossing gasoline on the clinic, lighting it and burning down place.

Is it really possible that U.S. Attorney Fouratt and Judge Conway don't see the dangerous and clearly political implications of a violent and destructive act performed by males to intimidate an ex-girlfriend into obeying the desires of the ex-boyfriend? Don't they understand that the reproductive health care rights of hundreds of other women were trampled on in the process? Can they possibly not get that this sort of vicious acting out is deadly serious, and not just some sort of juvenile prank?

If this is the way that acts of destruction against legal abortion providers and intimidation of their patients are viewed and minimized, we can surely expect more of the same. Especially in the current climate of right-wing extremism -- and even assassination -- related to this issue.

Baca and Altman might not be supporters of extremist groups like Operation Rescue, but they certainly exhibited a capacity for sick, domineering and controlling behavior towards women and their reproductive rights. In that way, they have more than a little in common with other perpetrators of violence against women's rights and those who honor them. To deem them "knuckleheads" who did a dumb thing is being part of the problem, not the solution, at least in my book.