Builders unite to stop abortion clinic

Building contractors in Austin, Texas, have organized a city-wide boycott to prevent construction of a Planned Parenthood clinic that will perform abortions.

The builders want to make sure concrete, building materials and workers are not available to erect the $6.2 million facility, planned for a site south of downtown where the project is scheduled to break ground today, the Associated Press reported.

"We're going to do everything we can to stop it, slow it down and make it more expensive," said Chris Danze, an Austin concrete contractor, according to the AP.

Danze, chairman of the Austin Area Pro-Life Concrete Contractors and Suppliers Association, said every concrete supplier within 60 miles of Austin is on board with the boycott.

The facility is scheduled to open by fall 2004, the AP said.

Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capital Region currently does not perform abortions in the Austin area.

Spokeswoman Danielle Tierney dismissed the boycott's impact.

"Our plans are under way and we have a great deal of support from our community," she said, according to the AP. "Tactics like this sometimes come with the territory."