The director of the West Alabama Women's Clinic was arrested for disorderly conduct towards police and peaceful pro-life witnesses outside her abortion clinic last week.
World Net Daily (WND) reports that approximately 200 members of the pro-life organization Operation Save America (OSA) assembled on July 17 for a prayerful protest.
The abortion mill director, 57-year-old Gloria Gray, emerged from the facility and was angered by the pro-life group. She was especially angered by someone who tried to share the Christian message with her. She began to scream at the protestors and to shake her fist in their faces.
"We were just standing there holding signs," OSA spokeswoman Pat McEwen told WND, "and she came out and began threatening people, harassing them, and insisting 'You will be arrested today!'" A member of OSA told her, "No, ma'am, you will be arrested today."
When nearby policemen asked her to stop, she refused, saying, "I will do what I want. I will not obey you." The police attempted to prevent a public disturbance, but she refused to comply.
She was promptly arrested, handcuffed and taken to jail. Gray immediately posted bail and was released. She has a trial hearing set for the weekend of August 21.
In a recent interview published in the National Women's Editorial Forum, a registered nurse at the Women's clinic, Lorrie Foss-McGaha, accused the pro-life group of showing up with an improperly dated permit.
Pat McEwen told LifeSiteNews.com that their permit was indeed scheduled for the following day. Nevertheless, OSA says that they had already informed the police that they would be protesting a day early, and the authorities had no problem with the new arrangements. The police were aware that the group would be coming a day early, and their main concern was that any public altercation would be avoided.
Foss-McGaha also accused the pro-life group of clogging up the parking lot and trespassing on abortion clinic property.
Addressing this point, McEwen told LifeSiteNews.com, "We were not causing any problems, otherwise the police would have told us to stop. The parking lot is not only the clinic's parking lot; it's a public area. Most of us were on the street. We wanted the signs to be seen by the passers by."
She continued, "Unfortunately whenever something happens, it always gets exaggerated. Nobody was blocking traffic. And if anything like that had happened, the police would certainly have stopped them. Police just wanted to keep it peaceful."
Commenting on the event, a recent OSA press release stated, "In many cities the God given authority is used wrongfully — to oppress Christians and squash 1st Amendment rights. In one city, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the police use their authority correctly, defending the innocent and keeping order. The spirit of Christ loves order. The spirit of Jezebel hates authority."
This incident, however, was the opposite of what happened in Birmingham, Alabama, only three days later. According to a second OSA press release, OSA director Rev. Flip Benham was arrested outside of the New Woman All Woman Abortion Clinic for the "disorderly conduct" for reading the Bible with other peaceful protestors.
McEwen told LifeSiteNews.com, "The clinic was close, but he was not reading to them. He was reading from the Bible. Our permit said we could use the microphone for directions for our people. I think the police were just looking for a way to arrest him."
