History of abortion activism in Jacksonville: Protests, arrests and even a pipe bomb

Jacksonville has a long history of abortion activism from both sides of the debate.

As the discussion around abortion heats up in Florida while two bills move through the Legislature that would ban abortions after 15 weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest, here is a look back at what has been happening in Northeast Florida, particularly in the 1960s through the 1980s.

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From pipe bombs to protests to the opening and closing of multiple clinics, Northeast Florida has seen it all.

• In 1967, House Chaiman Gordon Blalock, D-Jacksonville, failed to save a bill in a judiciary committee that would remove "archaic" abortion laws from the books that were scaring doctors into not giving abortions out of fear of it being considered a crime. But the Senate then voted to pass a bill that liberalized Florida's abortion laws for the first time since 1868t, allowing for women to get an abortion in the cases of rape and incest.

• According to Jacksonville Journal articles from late 1972, after the passing of a "liberalized" state abortion law, some nurses spoke out as vocal opponents of abortion. Both Baptist and Methodist Hospital performed abortions at the time, and struggled with nurses requesting to change floors away from the unit that performed abortions.

• In 1972, then-Attorney General Robert Shevin said doctors could perform abortions on unmarried women between the ages of 18 and 20 without parental consent. He had previously issued an opinion that unmarried pregnant women between those ages were considered minors.

• The old federal courthouse in downtown Jacksonville was and is a preferred place for both anti-abortion and pro-choice protesters to gather, especially in January each year to mark the passing of Roe v. Wade.

• In 1973, shortly after the passage of Roe v. Wade, a Jacksonville Health Planing Council voted to deny a certificate of need for what would have been the city's first freestanding abortion clinic near St. Luke's.

• But it wasn't long before two abortion clinics opened in the city anyway in 1973, with an overage of 60 abortions per week. One was a non-profit Women's Center and the other was the Ladies Center, a freestanding profit clinic in the new St. Luke's Professional Building. Both only handled first trimester abortions. At the time, over half of women getting abortions there were residents, but people were traveling from across Florida and out of state as well.

• In 1979, Rev. Martin Lutz of Jacksonville, who also operated the Women's Center for Reproductive Health, joined a lawsuit to overturn laws requiring the state to start licensing abortion clinics.

• In 1985, the seventh annual Florida Abortion Council held a series of meetings and workshops in the Hilton Hotel in downtown Jacksonville. Hundreds of anti-abortion advocates protested outside.

• In 1988, a federal judge in Jacksonville, John Moore, ruled that a new state law requiring unmarried minors to obtain parental consent for abortions wouldn't be unforced and was unconstitutional. Instead, a minor could appeal to a judge to decide whether they are mature enough for an abortion. This law still stands today.

• In 1989, then-Gov. Bob Martinez asked for a prohibition on abortions for women more than 20 weeks pregnant if the fetus could be proved viable. It did not pass. Martinez also requested a special session just on abortion, which did not happen.

• An unusual move in any time, in 1989 abortion clinics in Jacksonville opened their doors to the media to counter claims that the clinics are "inhumane." At the time, abortions in Jacksonville could only be performed up to 12 weeks.

• That same year, abortion clinics in Jacksonville said they would turn away pregnant minors seeking abortions without parental or judicial permission after Chief Circuit Judge John Santora said teens don't need court permission because Florida's law requiring it was unconstitutional. It left pregnant teens seeking abortions caught between the courts' refusal to act and the clinics' fear of prosecution.

• Three abortion protesters were arrested for trespassing after entering a Jacksonville women's clinic as about 75 people marched and sang hymns outside. The anti-abortion protesters were met at the clinic by about 65 pro-choice supporters and dozens of police officers on July 1, 1989.

• In February 1989, 88 protesters were arrested in Jacksonville after they sat in front of the entrances of a San Marco women's clinic during the first Operation Rescue protest in the city.

• In July 1989, 45 supporters of anti-abortion minister Rev. Jay Haug of Mandarin protested outside of the Duval County Jail after Haug was sentenced to 10 days in jail for an earlier protest where he was charged with trespassing.

• In 1992, five runners conducted a nine day, 350 mile run from Miami to the Shrine of Our Lady de La Leche in St. Augustine in support of anti-abortion movements. The Cemetery of the Innocents, which the athletes visited at the church, is still there today.

• A 28-year-old Jacksonville doctor who worked at University Medical Center stopped traveling to Melbourne to perform abortions after protests outside of his home and office made him concerned for his safety in 1996.

• In 1993, Fernandina Beach doctor John Britton was shot to death outside of an abortion clinic in Pensacola.

• In 1995, abortion rights activists suspected a pipe bomb that detonated outside of a tax collector's office was actually meant for the All Women's Health Center, which provided abortions. That same year, suspicious packages including a fake gun and a ceramic fetus were mailed to that clinic.

• Danny Lovely, a prominent anti-abortion activist at the time and a Jacksonville resident, offered to give a trophy to anyone who killed an abortion doctor. Lovely had previously taken a trophy to the funeral of Britton.

• In the mid 1990s, clinics began hiring uniformed, off-duty police officers to guard their buildings and patients after an uptick in violence nationally. Three local clinics were visited by federal marshals who evaluated their security measures.

• In January 1995, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office held a security and safety seminar for employees of Planned Parenthood of Northeast Florida, even though Planned Parenthood had not yet started doing abortions yet.

• In the spring of 1996, Planned Parenthood of Northeast Florida announced its plans to open a new clinic in Jacksonville as well as a $750,000 fundraising campaign to buy a building. The announcement came on the heels of the closing of three abortion clinics in Jacksonville in 1995, leaving only two operational.

Katherine Lewin is the enterprise reporter at the Times-Union covering criminal and social justice issues in Northeast Florida. Email her at klewin@jacksonville.com or follow on Twitter @KatherineMLewin. Contact her for her Signal number to share anonymous tips and documents. Support local journalism!

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Abortion activism in Jacksonville through the years, from activism to violence