Abortion clinics, federal agents on alert

Bracing for reaction in wake of Olympic bomber’s manifestoThe Associated Press
Updated: 8:51 p.m. ET April 14, 2005ATLANTA - Abortion clinics around the country are bracing for attacks after Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph issued his manifesto justifying the use of violence to stop “the worst massacre in human history.”

“When one of these extremists puts out a call to action, oftentimes others do try to follow in their footsteps,” said Vicki Saporta, head of the National Abortion Federation, which represents 400 U.S. clinics. “He clearly is speaking to the extremists who believe in justifiable homicide.”

Rudolph will get four life sentences without parole after pleading guilty Wednesday to carrying out the deadly bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and attacks at two abortion clinics and a gay nightclub. The blasts killed two people and wounded 123.

A federal prosecutor said Thursday she’ll recommend that a $1 million reward go to two men who tracked Rudolph moments after the last deadly blast, and who provided authorities with a license plate number eventually traced to Rudolph’s pickup truck.

In an 11-page manifesto handed out by his attorneys, Rudolph said the Olympic bombing was an attempt to embarrass the United States in front of the world for allowing abortion.

‘Abortion is murder ... force is justified’

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