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Contents © 2000
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

SEPTEMBER 2000 LITTLE NOTES

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Demonstrators began arriving at 4:00 p.m., 90 minutes before Clinton's scheduled arrival. Secret Service and San Diego Police Department officers directed them to stand on the south sidewalk of Ash Street, across the street from the El Cortez main entrance.

Sidewalk protesters could see the El Cortez flagpole, where the gay rainbow flag was flying beneath the California state flag. Three other gay flags flew -- from the top of a nearby building, and two from residential balconies at 1333 8th Avenue.

California Life Coalition members displayed large abortion posters across from the El Cortez main entrance. As Davis supporters arrived, valets directed them to disembark their in the middle of the street. One pro-lifer spotted Planned Parenthood CEO Mark Salo. As he headed into the building, she yelled "Shame on you, Mark Salo! Shame on you for killing babies for a living! Shame on Planned Parenthood for killing babies!"

Local mainstream media organizations reported live from the scene. WB 5 TV reporter Bryan Black queried Brenna Sullenger of Operation Rescue West about the abortion posters. "Do you think [Clinton will] even see these? ...Do you think he'll notice that different issues are out here, or that there's any sort of competition with the groups?" When another woman told Black that she objected to Clinton's support for the homosexual agenda, he responded, "He's only got six months left in office. Do you think that is kind of wasted, to protest him?"

Lisa Sherman, a campaign aide for Susan Davis, told reporters that Davis would not be at the event because "She's going to be voting in Sacramento on some critical budget votes, and she can't miss them for a fundraiser." A News Notes reporter asked Sherman why she works for Davis. She answered, "Because Susan is good on issues I care about: education, health care, and the environment."

Davis fundraising volunteer Jane Bachta told a News Notes reporter, "I think it's absolutely great that the president is coming to do a fundraiser for Susan Davis. Susan Davis has been a great assemblywoman and she's going to make a great Congresswoman from San Diego." When asked why she thought so, Bachta replied, "Because Susan has experience, and she's devoted to education and working on getting more medical loopholes."

By 5:30 p.m., dozens of noisy protesters thronged the sidewalk. The Tyranny Response Team, a pro-second amendment group, beat drums and chanted "Clinton is a liar, Clinton is a traitor." Brian Bilbray campaign staffers held up anti-Susan Davis signs, including one that said "Susan Davis: Part of the problem." Others held signs that said "Clinton is the best president China ever bought," "Gun control disarms the innocent," "Tyranny--look it up," "Clinton = Castro's lapdog," and "It's the criminal, stupid."

Cal Ellis, 62, represented Demos (Democrats) for Decency. "This is the first time I've ever been on a protest. "It took me three hours to drive down here, but when I heard that Clinton was going to be here, I couldn't pass it up. Clinton is a total dirtbag." A co-protester, Bobbye, agreed. "He's shameful and dirty, and I can't stand him."

Terri Manriquez Brubaker, coordinator for Impeach Reno Now, passed out bumper stickers that said "Impeach Reno -- for the children." Discussing the common bond between all the protesters, she said, "As you can see, we have second amendment people, we have pro-life people, and school-choicers. And there's one thing we can all agree on: We don't like the idea of the Fourth Amendment being violated, which took place in the home of Lazaro Gonzalez, and it's the whole reason why our organization exists."

A woman named Melanie held a sign that said "Pro-Gun Mom." She said she was protesting "...the indecent behavior of Clinton and the morals that he's, or lack of morals that they've set for our society.... They [the Clinton administration] are using scare tactics.... I think it all leads to a lack of morals. I think a lot of problems is a lack of discipline in the family. They've made everybody so afraid to discipline their children." Her daughter Desiree, 15, concurred. "I don't like Clinton. I don't believe in what he believes."


ON JUNE 28, between 30 and 40 local pro-lifers gathered peacefully in front of a downtown Chula Vista abortion mill to express revulsion over the Supreme Court's decisions to keep partial-birth abortion legal and restrict pro-life speech. Clinica Medica para la Mujer de Hoy (Medical Clinic for Today's Woman) is located on H Street, west of St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church. The picket coincided with the Wednesday afternoon picketing and sidewalk counseling conducted since last summer, but the June 28 gathering was larger. "The partial-birth abortion ban [being overruled] really isn't going to have any effect on us here in California, because we didn't have a ban on partial-birth abortion," one picket organizer commented. I think there are a lot of things that are more devastating to the abortion industry than [the extent to which it benefited by] this ruling. We know that the number of abortion providers has been reduced. We just found out that there used to be 70 abortionists in San Diego County in 1993 and today, there are only 33. That's a significant drop. We know that young people are not coming in to take the places of abortionists. We know that, right now, there are two abortion providers [Planned Parenthood and Family Planning Associates] fighting over who's going to kill Kaiser babies."

The organizer expressed little alarm over the Supreme Court's eight-foot "bubble zone" ruling: "In San Diego, we have a 15-foot buffer zone right now, but it's not enforced. In San Diego County, we have fewer abortionists, two clinics are on shaky ground, Braemer lost his license, FPA lost their lawsuit and whether they can continue to stay in business is questionable right now; the same with these people [Braemer's clinics]."

The picket started off with group prayer for an end to abortion, before which the prayer leader ordered picketers, "If anyone wants to get through, don't block the doors" and admonished them to remain peaceful. There was little hostility from passersby and two picketers explained that they drove in from Spring Valley to participate after seeing TV coverage of the picket on Channel 7/39, which broadcasted its report across the street from the protest. Other media present included Fox-TV (Channel 6), Channel 10, and KOGO Radio. Several residents of the house next door to the abortion clinic emerged and ended up participating in the picket. About half of the picketers appeared to be under thirty. When the clinic's abortionist, Dr. Phillip Rand, exited from the rear parking lot, picketers lined up with their signs on both sides of the driveway so that he would see them as he drove out. (Rand has had at least 37 personal injury and malpractice lawsuits filed against him and declared bankruptcy in 1992. The Medical Board's web site indicates that the state has taken an "enforcement action" against him and that he has received a "public reprimand."

About 10 minutes after most picketers had left, two Chula Vista police officers entered the small office building housing the clinic. Ten minutes later they came out and approached two pro-lifers in a nearby parking lot. One officer described the picketers as "some of the most respectful people I've ever seen."

Clinica Medica para la Mujer de Hoy is one of ten Southern California abortion mills owned by Dr. Nicholas G. Braemer. Braemer's chain is based "on the concept which targets Hispanic women in certain key areas," according to a February 22, 1996 letter written by an accountant for Bugarin & Braemer Professional Management Corporation to a bank. According to a June 22 report in the San Diego Union-Tribune, Braemer agreed to give up his medical license and will stop practicing on August 1 "under a negotiated settlement with the Medical Board of California." Braemer stands accused of negligently injuring women and providing substandard services. "Braemer said his clinics will remain open, with another doctor as owner, but will not provide late abortions, as he did, between the 24th and 26th weeks of pregnancy," Susan Duerksen said, writing for the U-T.

Another cloud over the Chula Vista mill is the Chula Vista City Council's June 8 approval of a business complex to be located on the northwest corner of H Street and 3rd Avenue, near Clinica Medica (across the street from the South Bay Courthouse). The $57 million Gateway Chula Vista project's first phase should be completed around February 2002 and the entire project should be completed in 2005.

Abortions are performed at Clinica Medica on Wednesdays, from approximately 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursdays, from approximately 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.; Fridays, from approximately 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturdays, from approximately 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Currently, sidewalk counseling takes place on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings.


THE SCRIPPS HEALTH SYSTEM'S recent affiliation with Planned Parenthood's new Encinitas abortion mill was publicly exposed for the first time when pro-lifers converged on the Encinitas Scripps Hospital complex on July 15. Some 60 protesters lined the public sidewalk in front of the hospital on Santa Fe Drive for two and a half hours. They displayed the usual pro-life signs and signs such as "Scripps 'Pimps' for Planned Parenthood," and "Scripps Hospital: 'Abort' Planned Parenthood!" Several passing cars made supportive gestures; the most threatening hostile gesture was a drive-by squirt gun attack, not entirely unwelcome in the summer heat. One Scripps Hospital security guard observed the picket from about 20 feet away. Newsmen from Channels 10 and 7/39 covered the protest.

Among the protesters were members of a pro-life youth group. "We think about growing up in that generation where one third has been wiped out," one member commented. "Abortion didn't happen in a vacuum. [There are] all of the problems that are associated with abortion that were handed to us to deal with. It seems like the generation before us doesn't even want to listen; they don't want to hear it. They're very 'me-centered.'" The young man disclosed that his father had wanted him aborted, asserting that "that's not uncommon in our generation. A lot of us had noble mothers."

Shortly before the picket was scheduled to end, a man wearing a martial arts uniform, accompanied by a woman, threatened to display pornographic material in front of young children accompanying protesters if the pro-lifers did not leave.

Planned Parenthood's new clinic in Encinitas stands behind a small medical office building, located behind Scripps Hospital. The sign on the building housing the abortion clinic reads "Women and Children's Health Clinic." The words "Planned Parenthood" are visible through double glass doors inside the other building. Several cameras are mounted on the clinic's exterior, and according to the Scripps Hospital guard, the PP clinic has its own "armed security." Although the local Planned Parenthood lists the clinic's street address on its web site, it does not indicate that it is located within the Scripps Hospital complex. It is nowhere mentioned on the Scripps web site, not even in the "Other Encinitas Campus Facilities and Programs" section of its "Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas" page.

The seclusion of its Encinitas abortion mill contrasts with Planned Parenthood's Mission Valley "surgery only" facility, site of high-volume auto traffic and frequent, visible pro-life picketing and sidewalk counseling. PP filed a lawsuit against pro-life picketers at its Mission Valley location in March 1999 and in June 1999 obtained a preliminary injunction. "Here you have this alliance between Scripps Hospital and the largest proponent of killing children in the world," said one protest leader, when explaining the reason for the protest. "They [Planned Parenthood] are in direct competition with murderers like Communist China, Fidel Castro, Stalin and Hitler." When asked his opinion on why PP has gone to lengths to minimize notice of its new clinic, he responded, "They don't want to be known as a child killer. You see, PP has taken over the Kaiser contracts and other HMO contracts. They want to be looked upon as being a respectable medical organization."

Southern California's two abortion giants, Family Planning Associates and Planned Parenthood, recently battled each other in Orange County Superior Court over a contract to provide abortions for patients referred by the Kaiser Permanente health maintenance organization. The trial ended on June 5 in a settlement reached in the judge's chambers. Testimony given during the trial revealed that PP receives abortion referrals from San Diego-area HMOs such as Scripps Health, CIGNA Health Care and the Community Health Group. Further investigation revealed that after acquiring the Scripps abortion contract in 1998, PP leased space from Scripps Hospital in Encinitas, where it opened the clinic.

It offers abortions through 22 weeks of gestation, as does the Mission Valley facility. Dr. Fred Hopkins performs abortions at the Encinitas facility. (He made national news by crediting the John Irving novel, The Cider House Rules, with having inspired him to become an abortionist.)

Over the past several months, the Scripps Health network has been plagued by internal problems. The May 21 San Diego Union-Tribune reported that "doctors at Scripps hospitals are now in open revolt.... Some doctors are taking patients to other hospitals. The nursing and support staffs are demoralized. Cleanliness at hospitals and other services have suffered. Patient complaints are on the rise. And in a recent national assessment of patient care, five Scripps hospitals scored below average. If things don't improve quickly, the reputation of this excellent, world-renowned institution will be tarnished." June was a particularly turbulent month for Scripps Health: It closed its hospital in El Cajon due to large revenue losses, the U-T reported that several Scripps physician groups have accused the system's administrators of raiding funds for patient care, and a medical laboratory filed a lawsuit against it for breach of contract, unfair competition and attempting to steal trade secrets. Mercy Hospital, a Catholic health care institution, joined the Scripps Health network in 1995.

In an August 17 telephone conversation, Megan Richards, Scripps Communications Office spokeswoman, told a News Notes reporter that the only information she could provide was that Scripps leases space to PP on the campus of the Scripps Hospital complex in Encinitas, mentioning that she was aware that this had become "a hot topic over the last few months." She stated, "Since we're a community organization, we can't discriminate."


KFMB NEWS ANCHOR MICHAEL TUCK'S Perspective on Monday, July 10 denounced the pope's criticism of the gay pride parade in Rome. "When religious leaders voluntarily step into the public arena and try to influence public issues that affect all of us then their words invite both scrutiny and outside criticism. Pope John Paul II has voluntarily entered that arena." Tuck informed his viewers that the parade was lead by a Catholic priest, not mentioning that he was defrocked. He quoted the Catholic Catechism's call for compassion and respect for homosexuals. He ended with "The saddest irony is that the Vatican has now spoken out far more forcefully about a gay pride parade than it ever did during World War II about the deportation of Jews and homosexuals to concentration camps."

Michael Caine, editor of The Daily Catholic website (www.dailycatholic.org), outraged by Tuck's editorial, offered a tape of it to the diocese. Communications director Bernadeane Carr told him he should take his complaint to the Catholic League. Caine told this reporter, "You can bet this wouldn't happen in a diocese like Denver or Lincoln. I just don't understand why they won't fight back."

Rory Trup, a local Catholic who has done research on the Church's role in the Holocaust, called Channel 8 to request time for rebuttal, but was refused. "All he has done is take a popular rumor and spread it without checking any of the facts. No one in the media is reminding people that when Pius XII was elected pope, the German papers denounced him as an enemy of Nazism. Hitler always viewed the Catholic Church as his enemy and more than 5000 Catholic priests were killed in the concentration camps."

In an interview July 18,Tuck was indignant when asked where he got the information for his commentary: "I've been a reporter for 30 years and nobody's ever asked for my sources!" Tuck then cited reading accounts of the parade from Reuters and AP.

Tuck complained, "A lot of people say that when you disagree publicly with the pope that it's Catholic bashing. Doesn't it then follow that when the pope speaks out and disagrees with gays, it's gay bashing?" When reminded that the pope never called gays "evil," Tuck retorted, "That's why I put in there that the pope would never deliberately cause harm to anybody -- I'm saying there are those people who are bigots. People who are grasping at straws to justify their bigotry will grasp at this."

When asked to justify his remarks about Vatican silence on the Holocaust, Tuck invoked the July 16 re-run of 60 Minutes, where Ed Bradley interviewed John Cornwell, author of Hitler's Pope, a book that paints Pope Pius XII as indifferent to the plight of Jews during World War II. Convinced that Bradley's piece was definitive and fair, Tuck cited several statements from the program. "If you want to talk about laying out a case -- and this wasn't just based on Hitler's Pope -- it really lays out a strong argument that he really didn't do much at all, though certainly, individual Catholics did.

"The truth is -- and I'm an Episcopalian -- I have probably more respect for this pope than any that I know of. This man has been inclusive, he has done wonderful things, he's good-hearted, in frail health he's traveled the world over to reach out to the less fortunate. I just simply disagree with him on this issue."

Subsequent correspondence between Michael Caine and Tuck are available at www.DailyCatholic.org/issue/2000ed.htm


ACCORDING TO ITS WEBSITE at www.mccsd.org, the mission of the Metropolitan Community Church of San Diego, pastored by Reverend Tony Freeman, "is to help people experience God's unconditional love, and this site is just one of the ways we seek to accomplish that. May you find it informative and helpful and even a step that will lead you to a more personal relationship with Jesus Christ."

The church offers traditional, contemporary, and bilingual worship services and the Rosary every "Sunday, at 10:15 am in Room 3 upstairs." By clicking other links within the website, visitors can learn more.

Following the "All About Us" link, visitors learn that "MCC San Diego is a member of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, a denomination of over 300 Christ-centered churches worldwide begun in Los Angeles in 1968."

Through the "Fellowship Opportunities" link, visitors can read about "Fellowship Opportunities to get to know others that share your interests and love for GOD [sic]," including "Couples 2X2," "Women and Womyn Ministry," and "Leather Outreach." The Leather Outreach, according to the website, "meets on the 2nd Sunday of each month at the Old Mill Café, 3949 Ohio St., right after the 11 am service."

What the website fails to disclose, however, is that the San Diego church sponsors other "fellowship opportunities" on church premises. Since at least November 1999, the church has hosted monthly meetings and workshops for several of San Diego's homosexual leather, fetish and sadomasochism communities, including the "Gay Leathermen Only," "Leather and Sister Hood," and Club X groups. Workshops for these groups are announced through e-mail notices or listed on the groups' websites.

The gay leathermen is a member of the San Diego Leather Leadership Coalition, "an umbrella organization for the leaders and volunteers from every kink/fetish/BDSM group in town," according to the Leather Leadership Conference website at www.leatherweb.com/LLCIII/. According to the Deviants' Dictionary at http://public.diversity.org.uk/deviant/, BDSM stands for "Bondage and Discipline, Domination and Submission, Sadism and Masochism. Catch-all term much used in North America to lump together those perves (perverts) who play with physical pain and those who don't, reflecting a concern that the term SM, with its associations with pain, is not always appropriate."

According to its website at www.clubxsd.org/index.htm, "Club X is San Diego's pansexual leather/SM/fetish group. Our primary goal is that of education with secondary goals of activism and social activities. We hold monthly meetings to this end. Among those are regular workshops that cover various aspects of safe, sane, consensual, and fun leather/SM/fetish play. We also hold regular social gatherings, special events, play parties, fundraisers, special interest group meetings, and our monthly Board meetings. We are also the parent organization of the West Coast's biggest and best leather/SM/fetish convention, LeatherFest San Diego!"

On November 1, 1999, the Metropolitan Community Church hosted a "Fisting for Beginners" workshop for the gay leathermen group led by Bill Freyer, the founder of Red Hankies San Diego. ("Fisting" is the act of inserting one's entire fist into the anus or vagina.) According to an e-mail announcing the event, "It will be a wild demonstration/lecture, and no actual fisting will be done on the premises, but a videotape will supply the missing visuals."

According to statements on his website at http://members.home.net/rhsd/About-RHSD.html, Freyer started the red hanky group in 1989 because "I saw the need for an organized group into Fisting in the San Diego area... It is my aim to bring together people that have the same interests. These interests of course being ass play; fisting, toys, dildoes, [sic] etc."

On February 7, 2000, the church lent its meeting hall to the gay leathermen for a "Whipping 101" workshop. According to a February 6 e-mail announcement, the workshop was to be led by "...Mark O'Keefe, who is Mr. San Diego Leather 1997, and a very, very wise and courteous leatherman.... Even if you have NO interest in whipping or heavy scenes, it's still fascinating and educational."

In a May 10 e-mail notice, the gay leathermen announced an upcoming four-part discussion series to be held on Metropolitan Church premises titled "How to be an Effective Top." On June 5, 2000, the leathermen held a "Leather Swap Meet" at the church meeting hall. An e-mail announcement prior to the event urged members to "Bring your Leather, or toys, cleaned & ready to sell, trade, swap, or give to that someone special. This will be happening inside the meeting hall, the MCC has asked us NOT TO speak to [sic] loudly, or display or show off things out in the patio area, or anywhere in public view.... Please remember that there are other events that happen at MCC while we are there, & that this is a church."

In recent months, the leathermen have held "[Leather] History and Protocol" and "Ask Daddy Anything" workshops at the church. According to the Deviants' Dictionary, a "daddy" is "A role taken on by some dominants or tops that mimics that of a parent: the style is likely to be 'kind but firm', perhaps with (a) little deliberate pain-giving or cruelty except in punishment scenes."

The Metropolitan Church hosts a monthly meeting and discussion for the gay leathermen. According to an e-mail notice, the planned topic for the July 3 meeting was "Water Sports." The Deviants' Dictionary defines water sports as "A euphemism for playing with piss."

The topic for Club X's April, 2000, workshop at the church was "Single Tail Whipping," presented by Mark O'Keefe. According to an April 21 e-mail announcement from Madoc Pope, co-chair of Club X San Diego, "We had hoped to have the City Attorney's Office conduct a workshop on Domestic Violence Awareness but were unable to secure their participation in time for this month.... Mark has many years of experience making his whips sing and his bottoms dance.... [the workshop] will take place on Wednesday, April 26th, at the Fulton Hall of the Metropolitan Community Church. This is located at 4333 30th Street, which at the intersection of 30th and El Cajon in North Park. The workshop will start at 7:30 PM and run until 9. All our [sic] welcome to attend with admittance free for Club X members and just $5 for non-members."

In May, 2000, Club X held an "S&M 101" workshop at the Metropolitan Community Church. According to a May 16 e-mail message from Madoc Pope, "This month our workshop will be a 'SM 101' and be presented by Travis Curley. Travis has been presenting this excellent introduction to SM for several years now. It has proven very effective and well received at all of the "Human Sexuality" college classes he has presented it to as well as to all the police department orientations and sensitivity training sessions he has taught it at.... This workshop will take place on Wednesday, May 24th, from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm. The location is at the Fulton Hall of the Metropolitan Community Church...."

When asked by for details about the church's weekly Rosary, minister of administration Lee Bowman explained that it is not led by a priest and that "people with a Catholic faith background" participate in it. When asked how praying a Rosary squares with whipping, fisting and S&M workshops, Bowman said, "We have a very diverse community, including several leather groups, and the church has its own leather ministry." He added that the church would never "endorse or condone" any actual activities in these workshops. When asked, "And yet it's okay to talk about unsafe and dangerous sex practices and show visuals?" he answered "Yes."

The San Diego church is not the only Metropolitan Community Church to hold perversion workshops. A June 4 e-mail message announced that the "AVATAR Club Los Angeles June Program Meeting" topic, "Clothespins, Clips & Clamps," would be held June 28 at "MCC in the Valley, 5730 Cahuenga Ave., No. Hollywood." The message gave the following description of the meeting:

"Presenter: Daddy Don. Besides hanging up clothes to dry, this demo by a well known Avatar Top, will show how clothespins, various clips and clamps can be used safely to enduce [sic] the most exquisite pain and suffering."


AL GORE ON NBC'S "MEET THE PRESS," July 16, 2000 (excerpts cut-and-pasted from "Meet the Press" website, checked against videotape):

Tim Russert: Mr. Vice President, you said that the presidential election, this presidential election, will decide the future of the Supreme Court.

Vice Pres. Gore: Yes, very much so.

Russert: And people immediately turn their attention to Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court decision....

Gore: Right.

Russert: ...which allowed abortion. I want to ask you a very simple question. Do you believe that life begins at conception?

Gore: No. I believe there is a difference. You know, I believe that the Roe vs. Wade decision wisely embodies the kind of common sense judgment that most Americans share.

Russert: In 1987, let me show you a letter you wrote to your constituents, and put it on the board. "During my 11 years in Congress, I have consistently opposed federal funding of abortions. In my opinion, it's wrong to spend federal funds for what is arguably the taking of a human life.

Let me assure you that I share your belief that innocent human life must be protected, and I am committed to further this goal." You went on with the Washington Monthly and gave an interview which says, "It is quite correct that a position like mine in opposition to the federal funding of abortion results in unequal access to abortions on the part of poor women. Nevertheless, I feel the principle of government not participating in the taking of what is arguably a human life is more important." When did you change your mind on that principle?

Gore: Ten, fifteen years ago. I can't give you the exact day. It's been quite a while ago. And here's the reason I changed. I talked to a lot of women, who taught me about the kinds of circumstances that can come up and the kinds of dilemmas that women can face. And the circumstances are so varied. I've come to the very deep conviction that a woman's right to choose must be protected regardless of the woman's income. Now, I've always supported Roe v. Wade and I've always opposed a constitutional amendment to take away a woman's right to choose. I changed....

Russert: But you did vote to define a person as including an unborn child.

Gore: Well, that was a very odd procedural vote on the Siljander Amendment years ago. [On the videotape, Russert is heard saying at the same time, "No, it was a substantive vote."

Russert: When do you think life begins?

Gore: I favor the Roe vs. Wade approach. Let me just say, Tim, I did....

Russert: Which is what? When does life begin?

Gore: Let me just say, I did change my position on the issue of federal funding. And I changed it because I came to understand more from women. Women think about this differently than men.

Russert: But you were calling fetuses innocent human life, and now you don't believe life begins at conception. I'm just trying to find out, when do you believe life begins?

Gore: Well, look, the Roe vs. Wade decision proposes an answer to that question....

Russert: Which is?

Gore: ...which is, in my view, a commonsense approach that there is a developmental process during which the burden kind of shifts over time. And they say -- you know, they talk about the burden being different, burden of proof different in the first trimester than the third trimester. I mean, that's the way the Supreme Court has addressed it. And incidentally, it was just reaffirmed by a narrow one-vote margin, 5-to-4. The justices chosen by the president elected this November will determine whether or not a woman's right to choose is protected or taken away. I will protect a woman's right to choose. Governor Bush has sworn to take away a woman's right to choose. He has told Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson that he will make appointments that will be very pleasing to them. That's not difficult to interpret. And, you know, the court picked by the next president will shape the Constitution's interpretation for the next 30 or 40 years.

Russert: Do you believe there should be any restrictions on a woman's right to choose?

Gore: Yes, the ones in Roe vs. Wade.

Russert: Should there be a restriction on minors getting abortions without parental consent?

Gore: Difficult question, because there are all kinds of circumstances where you have some children kind of raising themselves, in situations where their families are fractured and they're in trouble and they have nobody to turn to.

Russert: You could have a judge order that, but you voted against it.

Gore: Well, I mean, I think that you need to let that be worked out in the context of a woman's right to choose. There are all kinds of different circumstances and....

Russert: But a child needs permission to have her ears pierced.

Gore: I understand.

Russert: You don't want parental permission for an abortion.

Gore: You know, some of the provisions that have been proposed on this have been a backdoor effort to eliminate a woman's right to choose. I think that there should be discretion to recognize the unusual circumstances where it's obviously in the best interests to allow the choice to go forward.

Russert: But a simple bill which said, "Parental consent is necessary. If it's an abusive situation, where the child's living alone, then a judge can intervene."

Gore: Well, I'd want to look at that. I think that -- think you have to have a common sense standard.

Russert: Right now there's legislation which says that a woman on death row, if she's pregnant, she should not be executed. Do you support that? [Russert refers here to USSC §3596(b), enacted in 1994: "A (federal) sentence of death shall not be carried out upon a woman while she is pregnant."]

Gore: I don't know what you're talking about.

Russert: It's a federal statute, on the books, that if a woman is pregnant and she's on death row, she should not be executed.

Gore: Well ... [chuckles] ... I don't know what the circumstances would be in that situation. I would ... you know, it's an interesting fact situation. I'd want to think about it.


CURRENT SCHEDULE of regular events sponsored by the California Life Coalition:

--Each Saturday in La Mesa: Sidewalk counseling at Family Planning Associates, 8881 Fletcher Parkway, from 8-11 a.m. Contact Cheryl at (619) 562-3519.

--Each Saturday in Chula Vista: Helpers of God's Precious Infants Catholic prayer vigils at Clinica Medica Para La Mujer De Hoy, 335 H St. 6:30-9:00 a.m. Contact Duke at (858) 274-9316.

--Each Tuesday in North County: Picketing and literature distribution at Dr. Kung's abortion mill, 120 Craven Rd., San Marcos, from 8-10. Contact Heather at (760) 471-8785.

--Each Wednesday in Chula Vista: Picketing and sidewalk counseling at Clinica Medica Para La Mujer De Hoy, 335 H St. 4-6 p.m. Contact Cheryl at (619) 562-3519.

--Each Friday in Clairemont: Picketing and sidewalk counseling at California Women's Medical Clinic 4282 Genesee from 8:30-10:30 am. Contact Cheryl at (619) 562-3519.


A "REVENGE OF THE (TED CROOKS) RECALL" FUNDRAISER was held on Saturday, August 19, at West Hills Christian Fellowship to introduce conservative candidates running for a variety of elective offices this November. Approximately 100 people attended the event, which included a video tribute to assemblyman Steve Baldwin and speeches by Baldwin, state assembly district candidate Jay LaSuer, American Independent Party founder Bill Shearer, and San Diego County Board of Education incumbent Jim Kelly.

During his speech, Baldwin, serving his final term in the state assembly, thanked attendees for their support and spoke of his successor candidate, Jay LaSuer, who faces El Cajon City Councilman Todd Keegan in November. Baldwin voiced concern over the future of the Republican party. "I've witnessed the leftward drift of the Republican party," he said. "I'm concerned that conservatives are being demoralized.... We have a problem in the Republican party."

Baldwin said that he had recently received a letter from the state Republican party castigating him for endorsing Steve Klein's candidacy for the San Diego County Board of Education. Klein, a member of the American Independent Party, is running against Republican Ernie Dronenburg for the board seat left vacant by the death of Gene Brucker last year. Baldwin said, "I told the state Republican party what they could do with the letter," adding that Klein's Constitutionalist philosophy and values are more in line with true Republican values than those of many card-carrying Republicans.

Jim Kelly added that "Dronenburg has completely sold out to the San Diego Union-Tribune and the liberal educational establishment. He's the polar opposite of Steve Klein."

In addition to Klein, Kelly introduced the following candidates for elective offices: Priscilla Schreiber and Bill Trask for Grossmont Union High School District Board. Schreiber and Trask, both members of Skyline Wesleyan Church, are running against incumbents Tom Page and Michael Harrelson. Page and Harrelson, along with Board president Ted Crooks, voted last year to insert "multicultural studies" into Grossmont's hiring and curriculum. Their actions led to an unsuccessful effort earlier this year to recall Ted Crooks. Other candidates: William Baber for the La Mesa-Spring Valley School Board, Ken Davies for the Lemon Grove School Board, Dave Kidder for El Cajon City Council, Taghrid Bakeer for Cajon Valley School Board, and Suad Hijazin for Sweetwater Union High School District.


PRESS RELEASE from California Life Coalition "announces its plans for Life Chain 2000, to be held on Sunday, October 1, from 2-3:30 p.m. along busy Balboa Avenue. Churches and groups from all over San Diego County will form a chain bearing signs which read 'Abortion Kills Children'....

"After the Life Chain, there will be a Vote Pro-Life Rally at Lindbergh Park on Eckstrom one block south of Balboa near I-805, from 3:30-5:00 p.m....

"Here is a partial listing of sponsors: California Life Coalition, California Pro-Life Council, Christian Men United, Christian Youth United, Good News, Etc., San Diego News Notes, The Christian Times, Casa De Oro Baptist Church, West Hills Christian Fellowship, Lake Murray Evangelical Free Church, Trinity Church (Presbyterian), Calvary Chapel of La Mesa, El Cajon Wesleyan."

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