Abortion Protesters Arrested At Dole’s Office

An all-afternoon vigil by anti-abortion activists in the lobby of Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole’s personal office led to the arrests of eight people when the building closed for the evening Friday.

Capitol Police officers outnumbered those participating in the prayer vigil three-to-one when the Hart Senate Office Building officially closed at 6 p.m. The demonstrators, who went limp after refusing to leave voluntarily, were dragged one-by-one and without incident to a police van.

Dole, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, customarily uses his majority leader’s office in the Capitol and did not see the demonstration orchestrated by Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition.

The demonstrators refused to leave voluntarily unless Dole promised, among other things, to support an amendment that would bar abortion under any circumstances, even if the life of the mother were in danger.