Copyright 1999 The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News
March 22, 1999, Monday, CITY EDITION
SECTION: LOCAL, Pg. 1C
LENGTH: 792 words
HEADLINE:
OPPONENT OF ABORTION, WIFE FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY
BYLINE: GENE WARNER; News Staff Reporter
BODY:
One month before the Operation Save
America demonstrations will hit the streets of Buffalo, the key local organizer
and his wife have filed for bankruptcy.
The Rev. Robert L. Behn and his
wife, Bonnie, both longtime activists in the local pro-life movement, filed for
protection from creditors March 10, according to U.S. Bankruptcy Court records.
And in an interesting twist, the Behns' biggest creditor -- by far -- is
a Main Street abortion clinic where they have spent many hours demonstrating
against abortion.
Mrs. Behn owes $ 35,260 -- more than three times the
couple's assets -- to Buffalo GYN Womenservices. She was fined $ 10,000 in 1992
and later was ordered to pay $ 25,260 in legal fees for violating a federal
court order governing the conduct of anti-abortion demonstrators. Glenn E.
Murray, an attorney for the Pro-Choice Network, believes the bankruptcy filing
should serve as a warning to anyone considering violating the federal court
order during the upcoming Operation Save America, scheduled for April 18 through
25.
"These are just some of the consequences that law-breakers can
expect at the Spring of Life reunion," Murray said.
The Behns and their
attorney, Denis A. Kitchen Jr., denied any link between the bankruptcy filing
and the upcoming demonstrations.
"For one thing, the nature of
bankruptcy is such that you don't go bankrupt because you think you may incur
future debts," Kitchen said.
Mr. Behn, 60, said the bankruptcy was
prompted by recent medical problems that forced him to retire from his Conrail
job, where he has worked for 38 years as a yardmaster.
"We've tried
since January to keep up with things and just can't do it," he said.
Mr.
Behn doesn't believe the abortion protests forced him into
bankruptcy.
"No, it was my health," he said.
But Murray sees a link between the civil fines and the bankruptcy
filing.
"They did it to themselves," he said. "They wouldn't have this
magnitude of a problem if they had obeyed the court order."
One issue
that no doubt will be argued in Bankruptcy Court is whether the
$ 35,260 in civil fines owed to the abortion clinic and its
lawyers would be discharged in bankruptcy proceedings.
"Our position is that they would be dischargeable under the
bankruptcy law," Kitchen said. "They're basically civil
judgments."
But Murray cited two examples of case law, arguing that
those debts cannot be discharged.
"These judgments, now amounting to
more than $ 50,000 with the interest, are simply not dischargeable in bankruptcy
because they are penalties for willful disobedience of a court order," Murray
said. "That strikes at the fabric of the judicial system."
Last
November, Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, filed for
bankruptcy in an effort to avoid paying massive debts to
women's groups and abortion clinics that have sued him. Terry
owed a combined $ 1.6 million to the National Organization for Women and Planned
Parenthood.
The Behns reiterated that they have no intention whatsoever
of paying anything to the clinic.
"How could I ever give a penny to the
people who are doing this atrocity to children?" Mrs. Behn asked after the $
10,000 fine was imposed seven years ago. "I would be sending a donation to
Womenservices for baby killing."
In August 1992, U.S. District Judge
Richard J. Arcara fined Mrs. Behn and another woman $ 10,000 each after ruling
they harassed a patient outside the Buffalo GYN Womenservices clinic in October
1990. Arcara's court order prohibited protesters from going within 15 feet of
the clinic entrance, from blocking anyone entering the clinics and from
continuing to speak with patients after they have asked to be left alone.
All told, starting in 1992, six pro-life activists and a local
anti-abortion organization have been hit with $ 200,000 worth of fines and legal
fees, owed mostly to local clinics and doctors.
Most of it remains
unpaid.
Several pro-life doctors paid a $ 20,000 fine that the Rev. Paul
H. Schenck owed the federal government. And Buffalo GYN Womenservices garnisheed
part of Mr. Schenck's wages from a local church before he left town.
The
Behns' bankruptcy filing seems to back up Murray's claims about the deterrent
effect of the fines.
"A judgment like this puts someone in a position of
having nothing in their name or exposing their income and assets to collection,"
Murray said. "That makes people think twice about violating a court order."
In their bankruptcy filing, the Behns listed $ 11,200 in assets,
including a 1994 Buick Century, and $ 60,071 in liabilities, including the
amount owed to the abortion clinic. The Behns listed their only current income
as $ 1,800 per month from Mr. Behn's railroad retirement income.
GRAPHIC: Buffalo News file photo Rev. Robert Behn: he
and wife owe $ 35,260 in fines.
LOAD-DATE: March 24,
1999 
