Anti-abortionists turn sights on schools and hospitals in US-style campaign
· Catholic teachers targeted by pro-life website
· Police keep watch as tactics of hatred spread
Sandra Laville
Monday March 27, 2006
The Guardian
Anti-abortionists inspired by the militancy of the movement in America are adopting tactics associated with animal rights extremists in an escalating campaign of intimidation.
The latest victims of harassment by a group called UK Life League are the pupils and teachers at a Catholic girls school in Surrey. The head teacher of Woldingham School, Diana Vernon, has been accused "child abuse" for providing sex education for her 14 and 15-year-old pupils as required under the national curriculum. Activists are being encouraged to bombard Ms Vernon with hate emails.
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Earlier this month, a gynaecology nurse at King's College Hospital in London, who has been commended for her work, was the target of a hate campaign by the anti-abortion group. Her home address was posted on its website and she was accused of being a "cold-hearted baby killer".
Elsewhere, hospitals have been sent images of aborted foetuses and abortion clinics subjected to noisy demonstrations.
Police sources within the National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit (Netcu), set up primarily to tackle animal rights extremists, said it would be closely watching the activities of the Life League, and the man behind it, James Dowson, a businessman and self-styled vicar, who is a former member of the Orange Lodge in Northern Ireland.
"These tactics are akin to those of animal rights extremists," the Netcu police source said. "The posting of addresses on the internet and the way they are encouraging spam mails all sounds very familiar to us, which is why we are interested."
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