California IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Abortion Foes Told to Pay Fees

A Sacramento judge has ordered anti-abortion groups to pay an abortion clinic’s $99,000 legal bill for a three-year legal battle. Superior Court Judge James Long ordered the fees for the Feminist Women’s Health Center Clinic, which in May won an injunction prohibiting protesters from blocking entrances or harassing clients. Long wrote that the protesters and Operation Rescue left clinic officials no choice but to seek legal help to “maintain unobstructed ingress and egress from the clinic.� Clinic administrator Shauna Heckert said the ruling would help assure that women are allowed the legal right to clinic services. “We are ecstatic with the decision,� she said. “It sends a very big message to anti-abortion protesters--that if they choose to go beyond freedom of speech and harass clients, that they will suffer the consequences of their actions.� Jay Baggett, one of the defendants, said: “It is outrageous that people who pass out literature on the public sidewalks can be punished.�