E-Mail This Article to a Friend LOOKING BACK Salvi attacks echo into present day BY DEIRDRE FULTON

Ten years ago this Thursday, on December 30, 1994, John C. Salvi III stormed into two Beacon Street women’s-health clinics and opened fire. The 22-year-old New Hampshire man killed clinic receptionists Shannon Lowney and Lee Ann Nichols, and wounded five other people. He left women and their health-care providers scared and angry, but more resolved than ever to stand up to violence and intimidation.

Here’s how Phoenix reporter Peter Carbonara described the aftermath:

The term "abortion wars" no longer sounds like pro-life hyperbole. And both Brookline battlefields — the Planned Parenthood clinic at 1031 Beacon Street and Preterm at 1842 Beacon, about two miles away — bear unmistakable signs of casualties. There are impromptu memorials, lit candles, piles of bouquets, notes and slogans written in chalk on the sidewalk: WE WON’T FORGET YOU, LEANN and HOW MANY MORE — THE KILLINGS MUST STOP.

At both sites, there’s been a small but steady stream of people, all of them somber, some in tears, to pay their respects. Typical was Ann Marie Polillo, who made the 45-minute drive from Wrentham just to lay a bunch of flowers outside 1842 Beacon and stand for a few minutes in the cold. Nearby, another young woman knelt on the curb. An older woman in sunglasses stood and wept.

In the decade since Salvi’s horrific attacks, according to the National Abortion Federation, clinics nationwide have reported 2434 acts of violence (everything from vandalism, butyric-acid attacks, and death threats, to murder), and 82,299 acts of disruption (such as hate mail, picketing, and bomb threats).

So, yes, the battles rage on.

In memory of Shannon Lowney and Lee Ann Nichols, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts will host "A Service of Memory and Hope" at the Arlington Street Church, at 4 p.m. on January 12. All are welcome to attend.