WASHINGTON, July 8, 2002 (LSN.ca) – Actor Martin Sheen, Martin Luther King’s son, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and anti-war activist Kathy Kelly were among the left-wing activists supporting pro-life leader Joe Scheidler in his appeal of the racketeering ruling against himself and other select pro-life leaders.
The National Organization of Women-spawned RICO ruling against Scheidler threatens the free speech rights of minority groups, suggested the left-wingers while distancing themselves from the pro-life stand in testimony before the US Supreme Court. “I do not support banning abortion or harassing and threatening abortion providers or their patients,” said Stephen Zunes, a pro-abortion political science professor at the University of San Francisco who used to get himself arrested at anti-nuke demonstrations. “[But] many of the organizations that have been responsible for badly needed social reforms in this country—ranging from the civil rights movement to women’s suffrage to labor rights—could have been similarly targeted.” King’s son noted that the movement to abolish slavery “could easily have crushed the protesters if the theory of extortion adopted by the court of appeals had been available to them.” In its brief to the court PETA argued: “It is not enough to show that there were violent acts committed by unidentified anti-abortion protesters.”
See full coverage from the Chicago Sun Times: https://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-rico07.html