Sep 18, 2007 5:51 pm US/Central
Abortion Foe Plans Denver, MN Convention Protests
Denver, Colo. (AP) ―
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The group also plans to protest in the Twin Cities, site of the Republican convention, especially if the GOP nominates Rudy Giuliani, who supports abortion rights. (File)
CBS
An anti-abortion minister vowed Tuesday to go to court if the city tries to bar him and other abortion protesters from confronting delegates to the Democratic National Convention next year.
Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, said he plans to have 2,000 protesters encircle the Pepsi Center, the arena where the convention will be held in August.
Mahoney survived the first test Tuesday when Pepsi Center officials questioned his right to hold a press conference on the sidewalk outside the privately owned arena, then allowed him to continue.
Mahoney said his group was barred from protesting at sites of both national conventions in 2004. He said he plans to fight any attempts to bar the group from confronting delegates next year, citing his First Amendment rights to free speech.
"The Democratic National Convention should be a celebration of the First Amendment, not a crushing of the First Amendment," he said.
Mahoney said his group also plans to protest in the Twin Cities, site of the Republican convention, especially if the GOP nominates Rudy Giuliani, who supports abortion rights.
Mahoney said he expects abortion to be major issue in the 2008 campaigns because the next president is expected to have at least two appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could reverse Roe vs. Wade, the case that opened the door to legal abortion in the United States.
Ron Perea, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said arrangements have not been completed for the Denver convention but said security is a priority.
"We are committed to getting people in and out of the convention safely," he said.
State Democratic Party chairwoman Pat Waak said security will be tight but the party would respect the thousands of protesters expected to show up.
Danielle Versuys, a Loveland resident and member of an anti-abortion protest group that plans to protest with Mahoney at the convention, said children born after 1973 are the first generation under liberalized abortion laws and she expects a large turnout of young people for the convention.
"We are a voice for the children and we will not be silenced illegally," she said.
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According to GOP.com, the Republican Party was born in the early 1850's by anti-slavery activists and individuals who believed that government should grant western lands to settlers free of charge. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected as the first Republican Party president.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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