Protesters’ Target Says Only 1 of 40 Was an Abortion Patient

Dr. Phillip Rand, whose office at the Midway Medical Center was blocked by abortion protesters Saturday afternoon, said Monday that only one of the 40 patients who had appointments with him on Saturday was scheduled for an abortion.

“We don’t do too many abortions,” Rand said in an interview. Rand, who has four offices in the city, is a leading obstetrician-gynecologist who has practiced in San Diego 30 years.

He said he may have been targeted because of his connection with Womancare Clinic in Hillcrest, where abortions are performed. “I happen to be a consultant to Womancare,” Rand said. “They refer their difficult cases to me.”

San Diego police arrested 128 abortion protesters in the hallway outside Rand’s office Saturday afternoon. In a move intended to trick police and counterdemonstrators, the anti-abortion group picketed three locations in Hillcrest Saturday morning, including one of Rand’s offices, but did not attempt to block patients from entering. While police and pro-choice groups focused on those sites, a separate group of abortion foes flooded the Midway Medical Center just before noon.

Rand said he was scheduled to see about 40 patients Saturday afternoon in his office at the Midway Medical Center, but neither he nor any of his patients was able to get past the abortion protesters who flooded the hallway outside his office.

Instead, he saw about 12 to 15 patients who needed immediate attention in the emergency room of Sharp Cabrillo Hospital, which is next door to Midway Medical Center.

“A lot of patients couldn’t come in,” Rand said. “We had emergency room care, but some just left because they couldn’t put up with it. . . . We either rescheduled them or they left.” The single abortion scheduled for Saturday was canceled, he said.