BY PETER THIERJUNG
GREENSBORO, North Carolina - More than 20 people picketed outside the Federal Building here May 9 to protest an arson attack that severely damaged the Piedmont-Carolina Medical Clinic, the city's only abortion clinic.

"Abortion: a woman's right to choose," "Stop the violence against women's rights," and "Keep abortion safe and legal" said the picket signs held aloft facing passing motorists. Many cars drove by, honked, gave thumbs up signals, and waved to protesters in support.

Members of the Greensboro National Organization for Women (NOW) chapter, high school, and college students, the Young Socialists, and other local political activists participated in and built the emergency action initiated by the Socialist Workers Party.

In the early morning hours of May 6, an arsonist pried open an air-conditioning vent on the clinic's roof, poured in flammable liquid, and ignited it. The fire caused tens of thousands of dollars of smoke damage before it was put out by firefighters. No arrests have been made. The FBI and the Federal Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have joined the investigation.

The attack was the second intentionally set fire in six years at the clinic. Robert Hugh Farley Jr. pled guilty in 1991 for the first fire and served time in federal prison.

Work has begun to restore the clinic, which clinic workers estimate will take more than a week. Jean Goldston, the owner, told the press that the facility will be reopened.

"The federal, state, and city governments must apprehend and prosecute to the full extent of the law those responsible for the attack," said Karen Kopperud, a spokesperson for the SWP told reporters.

She pointed out that the North Carolina legislature, like the federal government, is finalizing the most restrictive antiabortion bill since abortion was legalized. "We're at a critical point. For the first time Democrats and Republicans in Washington and North Carolina are making one kind of abortion technique explicitly illegal. This is part of creating an atmosphere that encourages these night riders to attack clinics with guns and fire."

On May 1, the North Carolina House approved the antiabortion bill that now goes to the state senate for ratification and then to the governor for his signature.

Sara Naff, a former administrator for the now-closed Women's Pavilion-Options clinic, joined the protest. Options had been the only other abortion clinic in Greensboro until a few weeks ago, when the landlord refused to renew the lease. "Even though we have the right to choose legally, if there are no clinics in our city, it creates a huge barrier," Naff told the press at the protest. "Finding a new location for our clinic proved impossible. For a year, and intensively for eight months, I worked with every broker and followed every lead for a possible site." Property owners did not want to lease to Options for fear of repercussions from antiabortion forces, Naff explained.

NOW member Sarah Gibbs said, "Now that there's only one clinic, we have to do what we can to keep it open and safe for women to go and use the facility."

A May 9 Militant Labor Forum featured a speak-out against the attack. Several activists attended and discussed the politics behind the drive against abortion rights and how to respond. "We have to turn the honkers into activists," said Dave Coker referring to supportive motorists passing the picket line. The protest and forum were announced and covered widely on television and radio, and in the Greensboro News and Record. An editorial in the News and Record against the arson attack publicized the Militant Labor Forum speak-out.  
 
 
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