She pointed to an examination table with metal foot stirrups attached to the end, in a room with a charred number "3" on the door. On the ceiling above the exam table, angel fish swam in an undamaged poster.

"That's a hydraulic table. It's very heavy," Christianson told the moving man. "Everything's got to go out that back door. The floor in the front is not too stable."

In rooms where doors had been closed, the damage was limited to the effects of smoke, heat, and the water used to fight the fire. But the front rooms of the clinic told a different story.

The waiting room had once been decorated with pastel paint and cheerful white wicker furniture. On Friday, Feb. 17, two days after an arson fire destroyed most of the clinic, the room was a blackened mess.

In the receptionist's area an office chair, a desk, and a copy machine that had melted into a bizarre plastic sculpture could be identified. On the counter a clump of charred buttons, bumper stickers, and fliers still conveyed a sprinkling of pro-choice views.

"Against Abortion? Have A Vasectomy," read one bright pink button, partially melted into a mass of other buttons. Another said, "Sex Education Prevents Abortions."

Next to the pro-choice materials lay a singed stack of plastic cards showing women how to check their breasts for cancer.

In the counseling room, a wall full of pamphlets illustrated the range of issues addressed at the clinic. They talked about sexuality, birth control, sexually-transmitted diseases, women's health, growing up, abortion, and abstinence. Though dog-eared from the heat, the pamphlets were still readable. "Teen sex? It's OK to say no way!" "Your Pelvic Exam." "The Great Orgasm Robbery." "101 Ways to Make Love Without Doin' It." "AIDS—Think About It."

Down the blackened hallway, Christianson continued to give instructions to the moving man with a KSBY reporter and a cameraman in tow.

Suddenly the sound of Christianson's beeper pierced the acrid air. She called her temporary office on a cellular phone.

"The FBI wants to talk to me? Is it important?"

For Christianson, the past two days had been filled with questions from reporters, FBI agents, and federal Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents. But the biggest question of all may remain forever unanswered.

Laying the Blame

In the wake of the early morning Feb. 15 fire, fingers of blame have pointed at pro-lifers, pro-choicers, and even New Times.

Pro-choice activists condemned the pro-life movement for using terrorism to keep women from having abortions.

Central Coast pro-life groups also condemned violence against abortion clinics via press releases and phone calls to the media. But several of them suggested the pro-choice camp may have been responsible for the fire.

"Planned Parenthood and abortion clinics kill. The bottom line is when you go in and have an abortion, two people walk in [and] one person walks out," said Mary Alice Altorfer, a volunteer with Santa Maria Right to Life. "If they can kill, they can lie, and they can set a fire."

Christianson said that assertion is ludicrous. She questioned why the media would even report it.

"Is that responsible reporting? I think the media needs to ask itself that question. Obviously those types of statements are absurd."

Christianson said the blame for rising violence against abortion providers, no matter who set the San Luis Obispo clinic ablaze, lies with extremists in the pro-life movement who are fueled by anti-abortion rhetoric.

"They've got to curb the members of their group who are fanatics," she said.

In addition, she said the media may also share the blame for giving pro-life activists a soapbox.

The week before the clinic burned down, New Times ran a cover story profiling four members of the Central Coast's pro-life community. The headline described the movement as non-violent and low-key. The pro-lifers described themselves as peaceful.

Christianson said the New Times story may have sparked the fire.

"It may very well be the article led to something like this, because it made them look really good."

Making the pro-life activists seem "good and normal" would make them feel that what they are doing is right, she explained, and they may believe their cause justifies extreme actions.

"They're not people of great breadth of vision. Anytime you stir them up, they get encouraged. They get more positive strokes for doing something nuts."

The fire and the story "could be a coincidence," but Christianson doesn't rule out a link.

Others saw a strong connection between the fire and the people featured in the New Times story.

Jim Coles, head of the Central Coast Christian Action Council, said he received phone calls at home from people who accused him of having something to do with setting the fire.

Last Thursday, a day after the fire, Coles and several volunteers manned the pro-life information table at the San Luis Obispo Farmers Market.

"A guy came by and totally laid into us, like we're the arsonists," he said.

One anonymous caller to a church featured in the New Times story threatened retaliation for the clinic fire. The church had reluctantly hosted a pro-life presentation on the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

"We weren't prepared for the amazing association between us and the fire," Pastor Randy Nash of the Los Osos Christian Fellowship Church told New Times last week.

"The last [call] we got was on our recorder, and a man basically said it's time for pastors to be gunned down and churches to be burned down."

"What I sensed was deep, deep frustration."

Nash reported the disturbing call to law enforcement officials. He also sent out a press release saying the church is strongly opposed to violence, destruction of property, and "hateful dialogue directed toward people or properties connected to the pro-choice movement on the part of those who claim to be pro-life."

One of the more rational callers told Nash he was very angry about the fire, and he wanted to know how the church felt about it.

"We had a really good conversation. I think he was shocked that I was civil...that we could dialogue," Nash said.

The pastor said he would like to see more of that type of communication in the abortion arena.

"There's a tremendous need to be able to be better controlled and less emotional, and to listen more."

Starting Over

At a National Organization for Women rally on Monday, Christianson told a large crowd made up mostly of women that Planned Parenthood's services will not be interrupted by the fire.

"Terrorism has again not worked. It's not stopped one person from getting services. It's not stopped one person from getting an abortion if they need one. It's not stopped one person from coming to us to talk about birth control or abortion," Christianson said to cheers.

Many in the audience wore yellow or black armbands to show support for the clinic and a woman's legal right to abortion.

The seven-year-old clinic will be housed temporarily at San Luis Obispo County General Hospital while Planned Parenthood negotiates a lease for a permanent site at an undisclosed location. The county is renting Planned Parenthood several rooms at a low cost, Christianson said.

All services were expected to be resumed on Tuesday, Feb. 21. Abortions will not be performed at General Hospital, however. Planned Parenthood will offer abortions at various locations throughout the community.

Christianson told New Times the clinic would probably use its entire $50,000 insurance policy replacing office and medical equipment. There are no estimates on the damage caused by the fire at the Santa Rosa Street clinic yet.

The clinic needs money and volunteers to help remodel the rented rooms at General Hospital and the new location, Christianson said. Since the fire, Planned Parenthood has received thousands of dollars in donations from supporters.

On Tuesday, Cheryl Rollings, the executive director of the tri-counties Planned Parenthood clinics, said the FBI is continuing its investigation of the fire

She also said a $100,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to the arrest of the person or people responsible for torching the clinic. Anyone who has information about the fire is asked to call (800) ATF-4867.

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the National Abortion Federation of America maintain the reward fund, Rollings said.

Just as the clinic is picking up the pieces and putting them back together, local pro-life activists said they must do the same.

The fire has damaged the peaceful, non-violent image that the pro-life community has worked for decades to cultivate, several activists said.

"It's a setback. I would say so, even more so for us than for them, because they're going to be up and running and performing abortions in no time," said Coles of the Central Coast Christian Action Council.

"Unfortunately for us, we always get lumped in [with the terrorists]," he added.

Santa Maria Right to Life's Altorfer agreed.

"I feel like [the fire] affects our credibility here on the Central Coast," she said. "Everything we've worked for for the past 15 years is overshadowed."

***

With a few days between her and the fire, Christianson reflected on what had come to pass.

She said she had been warned through the Planned Parenthood grapevine about fires at clinics in Ventura and Santa Barbara just days before the SLO fire.

Christianson called local police and fire departments to let them know about the fires down south, and put them on alert for violence here. But she said she didn't think a fire or other violent act against her clinic was inevitable.

"I wouldn't describe it as inevitable. I think when you start saying things like that you've given up hope for our civilization."

In the New Times cover story on the local pro-life movement, Christianson had described the non-violent, civil relationship between herself and activists who protested at the clinic.

When asked what the fire has taught her, she said, "It's taught me being really nice doesn't protect you. There is no protection against terrorism, which is why we cannot tolerate terrorism in this country." ∆

This story ran in the March 1, 1995 issue of the San Luis Obispo County New Times.