As the controversial "fetal pain" anti-abortion bill nears a vote in the Georgia Senate, an Atlanta-area physican believes that several area clinic break-ins have a common purpose.

WSB-TV has quoted a physician as saying that physician intimidation is the apparent link behind the incidents that included the Georgia Obstetrical & Gynecological Society in Suwanee.

"They're treating us like terrorists," said Richard Zane, whose Atlanta Women's Health Center in Sandy Springs was burglarized in March.

More recently, the Georgia OB/Gyn office in Suwanee was broken into. In both crimes, laptops containing member information were stolen.

Zane added that he feels the break-ins were designed to "intimidate physicians from dispensing or arguing about this bill," according to the WSB report.

The station also reported that there has been a third break-in, in the Sandy Springs area, and that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is probing the crimes.

House Bill 954 says that any pregnancy terminated after 20 weeks must be done in a manner that brings the fetus out alive. It carries criminal penalties including prison time for physicians who violate this measure. 

HB 954 has cleared a Senate panel and is on the Senate's rules calendar for Monday, March 26.

In the Suwanee incident on March 17, a witness saw a man wearing black gloves and carrying a black bag run from the office and enter a black vehicle. The suspect exited the offices before the alarm sounded.

Dr. Anne Patterson, a Georgia OB/Gyn chairman, has said that medical experts widely believe fetuses do not fully develop connections related to pain until about 28 weeks.

Compiled by Steve Burns.