Protest in Richmond

Saturday, a demonstration took place in Richmond, Virginia, where I used to live. The protestors were motivated by a bill that had been under consideraton in the Virginia legislature that would have required intra-uterine probes for any woman seeking an abortion.

The probes are not necessary for medical reasons, as everyone agrees. Their purpose is to persuade the woman not to abort the embryo. Undoubtedly, the legislature wanted to shame women into carrying the pregnancy to term. Governor McDonnell had said he would sign such a bill into law if it reached his desk.

At about two p.m. the demonstrators, mostly women, but augmented by a kind of "men's auxiliary," arrived at the grounds of the state Capitol and entered, where three state police officers tried unsuccessfully to stop them. By 2:15, many of them had bypassed the officers and were on the Capitol steps, chanting and singing. Additional officers arrived within a few more minutes and began to move the demonstrators back.

Most of the protestors allowed themselves to be herded away from the steps, but about thirty sat down on the steps and refused to leave. They loudly asserted their First Amendment rights of free speech, free assembly, and petition.

Police officers began to remove the members of the sit-down protest, presumably under arrest, though the videos don't show any handcuffs or anyone being loaded into police wagons. It was now 2:30.

The state police SWAT team arrived, and moved into position between the Capitol and the demonstrators. Helmeted and shielded, they slowly advanced on the crowd, forcing them off the Capitol grounds. The SWAT team was buttressed by four officers armed with automatic rifles who remained on the steps. By 3:00 the protest was over.

Judging by the videos being made at the scene, I thought the police behaved well, once the decision to call in more officers was made. Officers trying to remove the protestors from the Capitol steps did not use any force I could call excessive, and the SWAT team moved people back professionally. I do doubt any charges could be made against the people removed, since it did not appear that sufficient care was being taken to prepare documentation of the arrests.

What bothered me was the decision to call in additional officers at all. There did not seem to me to be any compelling reason to boot non-violent citizens off the Capitol grounds their tax dollars pay to maintain. The few officers present at 2:00 could have fallen back to the doorways and blocked them. It was a Saturday, so no business was being conducted inside, certainly nothing that was liable to be disrupted. The demonstrators would have gone home when it got dark anyway. Why confront them?

And now a word about the contemplated legislation. It is abominable to force an unnecessary medical procedure on any woman for political purposes. Abortion still stirs deep intense emotions, but the way to reduce the number of abortions is to provide sex education to our younger population, make contraception available, and see to it that any woman who is pregnant and undecided about continuing it knows there is a loving supportive nation around her, ready to nurture her and the child she would have.