European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 20, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Not stance u vis it Jill Lawrence the supreme court majority that upheld protective Buffer zones around abortion clinics said the Case had nothing to do with the views of abortion protesters. It was their tactics that did them in. The ruling deflated the anti abortion movements chief argument against curbs on its protests and also against a new Law that makes it a Federal crime to Block Access to abortion clinics in a 6-3 decision the High court said it was constitutional for authorities to enforce a 36-foot Buffer zone around a Melbourne fla., clinic to protect patients. And staff from threats noise physical interference and other forms of harassment. A there is no suggestion in this record that Florida Law would not equally restrain similar conduct directed at a target having nothing to do with abortion none of the restrictions imposed by the court were directed at the contents of petitioners message a said chief Justice William Rehnquist writing for the majority. Abortion opponents have used tactics ranging from bombing and arson to kidnapping and death threats. One doctor who performed abortions David Gunn was killed by an abortion protester. Yet some in the anti abortion movement continue to maintain they Are being victimized for their views rather than their tactics. As the ruling was released on the last Day of the courts term the anti abortion american life league was appealing a Federal judges decision that the clinic Access act was constitutional. The leagues president Judie Brown said the Law was not viewpoint Neutral As the judge ruled but intended a solely to prevent pro life activities near abortion clinics Quot and to limit her sides Freedom of speech and religion. Jay Sekulow a lawyer for operation Rescue another anti abortion group had a similar reaction a it appears the court singles out the pro life message and targets it for exclusion a he said. The court strongly reaffirmed women Slegal right to abortions two years ago even while allowing states greater leeway to restrict them. Its latest ruling upheld the 36-foot Buffer zone but struck Down As too restrictive an order Banning certain activities within 300-foot zones around the clinic and its workers Homes. A. David Garrow author of Liberty and sexuality a voluminous new Book about How the Legal system has handled sexual matters said the combined rulings reflect a a very conscious desire to try to turn Down the  but Justice Antonin Scalia writing for the three dissenters said the majority judgment has a deceptive a appearance of moderation and solomonic  he said the restrictions that were upheld would have been candidates for summary reversal in any other context a a but the context Here is  a Scalia contends the Law singles out members of a particular group arid restricts their rights even when they have broken no Law a a it is True that peaceful protesters will not be allowed to set foot inside that 36-foot Boundary. Ironically they were done in not by their ideological enemies but by their allies people in this Florida Case who harassed clinic workers minor children when they were Home alone who disrupted operating and recovery rooms with their loudspeakers and bullhorn who caused hypertension and anxiety in patients to the Point that they needed More sedation and were at greater risk. The clinic Access Law and the courts racketeering decision have had Little discernible Impact on the protest groups that use such offensive frightening and illegal tactics. They apparently Are not chastened by the latest ruling either. A the courts determination will have no effect on our work a Don Treshman of the Houston based Rescue americas Aid thursday. A we must continue to do As our lord commands us and work at the a abort Aries to save mothers and babies from the horror of the abortion   of the american life league meanwhile said her group will continue its Challenge of the clinic Access Law a fall the Way to the United states supreme court if  but its hard to see what Good that would do when even the chief Justice an established abortion opponent does no to buy the Basic premise. Quot c the associated press. Pressures in i the question was scurrilous on the face of it. A is he a real general or is he an equal Opportunity general Quot so asked a member of the audience about it. Gen. Calvin . Waller the Deputy commander of . Forces in the persian Gulf who was then in the news for saying publicly that his command was not yet ready to begin the ground offensive against Iraq. Unable to deny the logic of Waller a remarks since it was Well known that the . Vii corps armoured divisions that would make the main attack had not yet completed their move from Germany the questioner fell Back on an and Homine attack. One of the oldest of logical fallacies it is an Appeal to prejudice Tather than to reason. That attack was easy to answer since Waller then a major had been a student of mine at the army a command and general staff College Many years before. 1 knew As did his military contemporaries that head made his three stars the old fashioned Way. Head earned them. Although the equal Opportunity legislation that began in the 1960s made major inroads into civilian society within the military the turning Point for Black soldiers had been the battlefields of Korea a decade earlier no one gave them Equality. They earned it with their bravery and their blood. When the need for infantry replacements forced the integration of combat units in 1951, Black soldiers such As l. Douglas Wilder then a Rifleman in the 17th inf regt and later the governor of Virginia proved that they were indeed equal. In the 1970s, civil rights activists unwittingly began to undercut that hard earned status by demanding not Only Equality of Opportunity which was Well on the Way toward achievement within the military but Equality of output. After some initial fumbling especially by politically Correct Carter administration appointees the military stuck to its guns. Merit not race would continue to be the criterion for selection and promotion. Black soldiers would compete on their ability not on their race. The result was the Colin powells and Calvin wallers and Roscoe Robinsons and Dallas Browns and Chappie Jameses and the hundreds of other senior Black officers who Are admired and respected throughout the ranks. As was said of it. Gen. Julius Becton when he took command of a corps in Europe it Wasny to the color of his skin the russians had to worry about. It was the color of the combat decorations on his Chest that he had earned on the Battlefield in Vietnam. Now the entire Battle is being re fought this time on the integration of women into the military. Just As with Black americans women have served officially and unofficially in almost every War since the beginning of the Republic. And like Black americans once Inte Harry g. Summers grated within the ranks they proved their Worth beyond question on the Battlefield. Just As after the korean War no one could question the fighting ability of Black soldiers so after the persian Gulf War no one could question the role of women on the Battlefield. Like it or not women in the . Military Are Here to stay. They earned that right by their Battlefield performance. The surest Way to reverse those gains is to try to use gender rather than ability As the criterion for promotion and advancement. This would have dangerous ramifications. To be competitive for promotions say the activists women must be equally represented in the ranks of combat soldiers. Irrelevant to their logic is the very real Issue of whether women have the physical strength to serve As infantryman As tankers or As artillerymen. But it is not irrelevant to the military a Raison do etre which is to destroy the enemy a armed forces on the Field of Battle. Carrying on in the Fine tradition of Carters Secretary of the army Clifford Alexander who in the name of some psychedelic civil rights Agenda once rescinded an order that All members of a tank Crew speak English while on duty Togo West Clinton a Secretary of the army has now decreed that Equality of promotion not Battlefield Victory is to be the criterion for assignment. If he succeeds in his Endeavor he will ensure that senior female officers of the future will indeed be not generals but a equal Opportunity  c los Angeles times