When State Sen. Edward Kasemeyer (D-12th Dist.) held a breakfast fundraiser June 18 at the Patapsco Council Knights of Columbus hall, 15 to 20 picketers pounded the sidewalk along Frederick Road in protest.

Many of the picketers were Knights of Columbus members from other councils who objected to the renting of the hall to a pro-abortion official, an action specifically forbidden by Knights' policy.

Senator Kasemeyer has a consistent pro-abortion voting record. In the last General Assembly session, he joined in the vote to send a bill banning partial-birth abortions back to committee, effectively killing the bill. He also voted against two amendments to restrict state abortion funding.

'I thought [the hall rental] was a scandal,' said Dr. Michael Hargadon, Grand Knight of the St. Charles Borromeo Council, who was among those protesting.

'It is disgraceful that this happened,' said Larry Wild, a member of the Ascension Council in Halethorpe. 'We are supposed to be an association of Catholic men who support the Church and the Pope, and are proponents of Catholic teaching, which is that abortion is murder.'

Mr. Wild picketed the fundraiser carrying a sign reading, 'Judas Sold Out for Thirty Pieces of Silver--How Much Did You Get?'

Knights of Columbus councils generally do not own property; instead they set up a separate home corporation, which owns and operates their building. A hall manager, who may or may not be a member or the council, runs the home corporation.

Philip Asplen, who became state deputy for the Knights of Columbus on June 30, said that he met with the officers of the Patapsco Council on July 1 regarding the hall rental incident and was told that the rental was not made in the name of Kasemeyer, and that there was no knowledge that it was for the senator.

Mr. Asplen said that the state deputy's office learned of the situation only 24 hours before the actual event.

'We spoke with the Cardinal's office and the Supreme Council. We were told that they had signed a contract. The best we could do was advise [the Patapsco Council] to have a signed statement.'

The pause that refreshes Pro-Life Action Leage director Joe Scheidler enjoys a Coke while waiting to be interviewed by Cal Thomas on PBS in Philadelphia. Joe is awaiting a possible injuction against pro-lifers pursuant to his conviction on racketeering charges in Now v. Scheidler

The statement, which was distributed to the protesters, said that the council did not support or endorse the event, and that rentals are handled by an independent home corporation.

'I've been pretty sickened by [the Patapsco Council's] excuses,' said Mr. Wild. 'The hall managers are not dictators. They serve at the behest of the council.'

Mr. Wild maintained that the Patapsco Council knew beforehand that the rental was to Kasemeyer and knew of his voting record. 'They chose to overlook information that Defend Life and Maryland Right to Life had on him.'

Dr. Hargadon said that he and others had contacted Edwin Cogswell, Grand Knight of the Patapsco Council, two weeks before the rental to voice their objections. The council, however, decided to go ahead with the rental, apparently because they did not want to breach their contract with the senator's fundraising group.

Mr. Asplen said that he couldn't fault Patapsco for being afraid to breach a contract, but that they are taking steps to assure such a situation does not recur.

'The Grand Knight has told me they are changing their contracts so they can refuse such contracts, and also cancel any contracts' made inadvertently that would violate Knights of Columbus policy.

As for the June 18 incident, the state deputy said, the Patapsco Council 'is very embarrassed by it.' Phone calls by Defend Life to Mr. Cogswell were not returned.

Threats of arrest for criminal trespass have temporarily stopped Harrisburg pro-lifers from their weekly picket of a Catonsville abortionist, but they have vowed to return.

Every Tuesday morning since July, 1997, four Harrisburg pro-lifers have been making the 1-hour, 45-minute drive to the office of Dr. Delhi Thweatt on Old Ingleside Avenue to protest the doctor's abortion activities at Harrisburg's Hillcrest abortion clinic (See 'Harrisburg Four Haunt Ingleside Avenue Abortionist,' Defend Life, Feb.-March, 1998).

On the morning of May 19, only two of the four--Marge Compton and Ed Snell--made the trek.

They were picketing on the sidewalk opposite Dr. Thweatt's office, adjacent to the rear of Westview Federal Savings and Loan Association, when Baltimore County Police Officer K. Cox approached and warned them to leave, or they would be arrested and charged with criminal trespass.

The savings and loan had made a complaint to the police, alleging that the sidewalk was private property, said Mr. Snell.

'Marge had two of her nine children with her; I couldn't risk arrest,' said Ed, a long-time activist who has been arrested many times and once spent three months in jail for his pro-life activities. They left the premises.

Not one to give up easily, however, Ed, accompanied by Ralph Griffin, a licensed surveyor, later went to Towson and obtained copies of blueprints of the savings and loan property from Baltimore County's land survey office.

Preliminary calculations showed that the sidewalk in question is public property. Then, early in the morning on July 1, he and Griffin came down and actually measured the road.

Their physical measurements confirmed that the sidewalk is part of the public right-of-way, said Ed. Acting through local attorney Larry Litt, they are attempting to inform the police of their findings.

The Harrisburg pro-lifers plan to resume their picketing of Dr. Thweatt in mid-July.

'If the police arrest us, we'll have to take it from there,' said Ed.

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