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"We've been warning them for weeks that something like this was going to happen, but they just won't listen," Spillar complains. "They say it's a local law-enforcement issue. We know that's not true. We've had cooperation from the offices of the attorneys general of Texas and New York when these kinds of things started."
Meanwhile, clinics are bracing themselves for another season of assaults. Melbourne is now the site of a 12-week training camp, organized by Operation Rescue, where about 25 men are learning tactics for blockades. Pro-choice activists who are monitoring the group contend that the men are also being instructed in how to stalk and harass. The convergence of pro-life forces has placed great strain on the area's sole abortion clinic, where about 30 protesters have been picketing for the past month. Merritt, the clinic counselor whose son was harassed, says when the murder of the doctor was announced to the protesters, they took up a chant: "One down! How many more?" That same question is now on the minds of many others.