By Gretchen Keiser

Eight men involved in the pro-life movement were arrested Friday, Aug. 22 in DeKalb County after the group, some chained together, conducted a sit-in at an abortion clinic.

It was the second sit-in at Northside Women’s Clinic, 3543 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, where, according to state figures, 1,043 abortions were performed in 1983 and 2,928 performed in 1984, or approximately nine percent of the state total for 1984 of 32,996 abortions.

The eight protesters went inside early in the morning and chained themselves together in the waiting room, while others marched outside, according to Sheila Mallon, pro-life representative for the archdiocese, who witnessed the event. Two of the eight, who were not chained, were removed almost immediately by police, while the other six, after futile efforts to cut the chain, were dragged from the clinic still chained together, Mrs. Mallon said.

“The marchers outside cried aloud in anguish at the sight of the bodies being dragged and banged across the driveway and then jammed helter skelter into the police wagon,” she said. Mrs. Mallon also said one Chamblee police officer called out to the staff of the abortion clinic that if they wanted to sue the protesters he would tell them how to do it.

Cathy Hoffer, whose husband, Craig, was one of the eight arrested, said all eight were charged with criminal trespassing and will be arraigned Nov. 3 in DeKalb County Court. Bond was set at $3,000 for one man and $2,000 for three others, all four of them had taken part in the first sit-in. Four others who were first offenders had bond set at $550 each. A property bond was put up to gain the release of the eight.

The Georgia Right To Life organization, which is ecumenical, has a direct action committee organizing picketing and sidewalk counseling at abortion clinics, but those taking part in sit-ins are doing so at their own initiative, Mrs. Hoffer said. She and her husband both took part which led to the arrest of 10 people in the first action, but decided only one should act the second time, she said. “We are going to be pleading not guilty, saying we were trespassing to save a life,” said Mrs. Hoffer. For example, if a child was drowning in a swimming pool, it would be legal to violate a no trespassing sign to save the child’s life, she said. Protesters plan to use the same defense of “necessity.”

The cross-over from legal protest to non-violent resistance in the pro-life movement is happening around the country, Mrs. Hoffer said. “I think it’s a general outrage” over the continuing deaths by abortion, she said, and a progressive awareness for longtime abortion opponents that “obviously we’re going to have to do something more than write letters and talk about it.”

Thirteen years after the U.S. Supreme Court landmark abortion decision, “People are finally saying, ‘Look, 13 years, how much more can we take?’” she said. “I’ve heard that sentiment expressed hundreds of times.”