Pro-life activist attacked outside abortion clinic, pro-choice activist arrested for assault !

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Posted at: 07/06/2011 10:24 PM
By: Heather Mills, KOB Eyewitness News 4; Danielle Flores, KOB.com

An anti-abortion protestor was attacked outside an abortion clinic in Albuquerque on Tuesday and the incident was caught on tape.

The victim, an activist, said the attack was unprovoked.

Bud Shaver said he was in the middle of a conversation with a woman, when he said she started kicking him and then cut his head with her keys.

“We were having a good conversation then all of a sudden she just started kicking me,” Shaver said.

The video, posted on YouTube.com, shows a woman yelling and hitting two people

. “She just started escalating into throwing punches with her fist and she had keys in her hands,” Shaver said.

He added that the whole thing happened so quickly, all he could do was defend himself. “There was nothing we could do, the only thing we could do was withstand the blows.”

In the YouTube video, Shaver shows the cut, calling it a “pretty significant wound.” It’s labeled on the video as a “deep bleeding gash.”

KOB Eyewitness News 4 got a look at the cut the day after the incident, showing a much improved laceration.

Heather Mills asked Shaver, “Do you think you’re blowing it a little out of proportion with the dangerousness of this attack?” Shaver told her, “No, the reason we responded the way we did with EMT and 9-11 was because my head was bleeding. I mean there was blood. I didn’t know the extent of the injuries that I had received.”

Albuquerque police said they receive a lot of complaints about Shaver’s protests at Southwestern Women’s Options, mostly because of the graphic nature of his signs.

APD officer Robert Gibbs said ultimately, it comes down to Shaver’s right to free speech.

“He was exercising his free speech that we are all allowed to with the First Amendment. That doesn’t mean you can get up and hit somebody or batter somebody,” Gibbs said.

APD said a criminal summons will be filed for the woman in the video.

She will be charged with one count of aggravated battery and one count of battery.

APD expects those charges to be filed on Thursday and at that point they will release the woman’s name.

Southwestern Women’s Options decided not to comment on this story, but said Shaver protests at the clinic regularly.

According to Operation Rescue….the pro-choice attacker has been arrested by police:

An Albuquerque woman who violently attacked peaceful pro-life activists outside a late-tern abortion clinic on Tuesday has been apprehended by Albuquerque Police and charged with one count of battery and one count of aggravated battery. Police have not yet released her name.

“I received a call from the Assistant Police Chief, and was informed as to the status of the investigation,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “After that discussion, I was impressed at the professionalism of the Albuquerque Police and their commitment to stop violence like this in their community. We have been guaranteed that the woman will face a judge and be held accountable for her actions. We really appreciate the hard work they are doing to keep everyone safe.”

Shaver, who works with Project Defend Life, began videotaping after the attack began, but images he captured show an angry and violent flurry of punches and kicks as the pro-lifers threw up their arms in a defensive posture. After the attack, the woman walked into the abortion clinic but left a few moments later.

Previously, other attacks on pro-life activists included a man threatening them with a gun and another person who jumped the curb in an attempt to run over peaceful men and women.

Ironically, this attack occurred just days after Operation Rescue released a powerful 911 recording made from another abortion clinic in Albuquerque, UNM Center for Reproductive Health, where a woman could clearly be heard struggling for life.

Operation Rescue has also obtained a series of 911 emergency recordings made from Southwestern Women’s Options where the violent attack took place that clearly indicate life-threatening abortion complications that required emergency hospitalization. OR plans to release the first of these recordings later this week.