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In Touch With LifeSavers
features in-depth accounts of babies who have been saved
and women who have been helped by LifeSavers Ministries, along with
news about upcoming LifeSavers events and other ministry news.
In Touch With LifeSavers is published occasionally, when funds
allow.
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Weekly Ministry Focus
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Pro-life kids assaulted,
threatened with arrest
Bakersfield police officers threatened to arrest four
adolescent boys last Monday because the boys brought pro-life
literature inside the waiting room of the FPA abortion
chamber. Although the boys said they were assaulted as they
left the waiting room, the officers chose not to believe them.
Instead, the officers used the
incident as an opportunity to
intimidate LifeSavers team
members with an imaginary
court
order and a distorted
interpretation of the law.
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Kids outraged by abortion
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The boys were walking by
the abortion chamber on their
way to a fast food restaurant when they noticed a jar filled
with plastic models of 12-week preborn babies. "They
shouldn't kill babies -- that ain't cool!" one of the boys
exclaimed. Debbie* gave the boys some pro-life literature,
and after reading it, they decided to share what they had
learned, hoping to save some the lives of some "little kids."
The boys walked upstairs to try to give literature to the
girls in the waiting room. "Don't let them kill your baby," the
boys begged. "There are people down there who can help
you." When the boys were told that they had to
leave, they immediately complied, starting to
walk downstairs.
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Teresa Avlos
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According to the boys, FPA security guard
Teresa Avlos then grabbed one of the boys,
ripping his shirt, and hit each of the boys, even
though they were already heading down the
stairs.
Within a few minutes, two police cars
arrived. Officer Rich Winslow handled the situation as if it
were some sort of sinister conspiracy, alleging that "at
[Debbie's] direction, she sent these juveniles in...., and they
went in, and started distributing the pamphlets, which is in
violation of the court order."
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BPD Officer Rich Winslow
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"What court order?" Tim*
asked Winslow.
"Uh, you gotta stay so many
feet away, you can't do these
things," Winslow claimed.
"There is no court order,"
Tim responded.
"Well, regardless if there's a
court order, this is a business, and
they can trespass who they need to trespass, or who they want
to, or people that cause disturbances," Winslow said. He
contended that if the boys had gone upstairs "at Debbie's
direction," she had violated the trespass law.
Realizing that the boys were no longer present, the
officers asked Debbie if they could search her home. Debbie
refused, knowing that the boys had never been in her home.
In less than an hour, the boys returned from the
restaurant, not realizing that the police had been looking for
them.. "I was walking upstairs trying to give the people some
papers, so they didn't have to abort their kids, so they
could have a life" one of the boys explained. "When she told
me I was trespassing, I got off."
Then "she grabbed me by my shirt and hit me."
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BPD Officer J. Borton
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Officer J. Borton responded condescendingly to the young
men's passionate concerns, saying "I understand you guys are
young, and if you believe in something, good for you, you
know, I'm happy for you.... I want you to know what the
laws are, because I'm guessing you don't know what they
are."
"But she committed a crime -- she hit us!" one of the
boys responded.
Borton explained that he understood
that Avlos had "grabbed" the boys,
saying "That's her job. Her job is to stop
people from trespassing."
"But assault is a criminal matter,
officer," Tim contended.
"I know that," Borton said. "We're
not gonna enforce it today." A citizen's
arrest would also be ignored, according to the law
enforcement official.
Tim asked Borton why Winslow had tried to enforce a
non-existent court order instead of enforcing the law.
"Perhaps he was mistaken," Borton responded.
Chuck Thompson, owner of R. Stanley security company
(employer of Avlos and the other guards), came to the
abortion chamber during the incident, instructing Avlos to
"mace" anyone else who stepped on the property.
More news from Weekly Ministry Focus Vol. 3 No. 5
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