BANGOR – Increasingly disturbed by the graphic nature of signs used by anti-abortion protesters, members of St. John’s Roman Catholic Church are taking steps to ensure that parishioners who finds the images offensive aren’t confronted by them on their way to and from worship services.

The signs held up by protesters in front of the York Street church between the 9 to 11 a.m. Sunday services last weekend depicted a dismembered bloody fetus and Holocaust victims.

“We have no objections to the signs. It’s the pictures,” said the Rev. Richard McLaughlin, who recently replaced the Rev. Jerry Gosselin as pastor.

“This is just an attempt to suppress free speech,” said Terrence Hughes of Orono, leader of the protest.

The weekly appearance of the signs in front of St. John’s has been a source of consternation for some parish leaders, who say they’ve been provoked to the point where they’ve asked the 3rd District Court for a protection from harassment order against the sign-carriers. The court is considering the request.

To block the signs, parish members have formed a human fence between the signs and the church. On a few occasions, police officers were called to have the protesters removed.

In addition, McLaughlin said he has lodged child abuse complaints with the Penobscot County District Attorney’s Office because of the traumatic effect he says the photos are having on children.

As of Tuesday, nothing had come of the request. District Attorney R. Christopher Almy was out of town and did not return telephone calls.

Hughes, a University of Maine professor, also has turned to the legal system, filing for a protection from harassment order, which has not been granted.

He said he made the request after a member of a Knights of Columbus honor guard allegedly grabbed his 11-year-old son while the child was taking photos of the protest. Others formed a line to block his signs, he said.

One of the region’s most vocal and visible abortion opponents, Hughes, 64, said he has been protesting at the church since June because parish leaders declined to prohibit Gov.-elect John Baldacci and other “pro-abortion politicians” from using church facilities for fund-raisers and other events. Baldacci, whose stated position on abortion is pro-choice, is a member of the parish.

Baldacci could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

McLaughlin said it was his understanding that while Baldacci attended a dinner at the parish hall recently, it was “not a political event.” Others in the parish agreed.

As Hughes sees it, Catholic church facilities should not be made available “to advance the political careers of politicians who support abortion.” Hughes said he won’t stop picketing until the Diocese of Portland implements a diocesewide policy to that end.

“While everybody has a right to express their views, Hughes should find more productive ways,” said Lee Umphrey, communications coordinator for Baldacci’s transition team.

According to McLaughlin, parishioners are “very upset” about the photos on the signs.

“Some parents have told me that their kids are traumatized,” he said. “They cry and hide behind their mothers’ skirts. I have heard numerous accounts of children who wake up scared in the middle of the night.

“One little kid whose mother was pregnant saw the picture and was absolutely terrified that the same thing would happen [to his mother’s unborn child],” McLaughlin said.

Hughes said he had yet to see a child disturbed by the photos. He said adults were the ones who took issue with them.

Hughes said reaction to the pickets has been mixed: “It varies. Some people ignore us, some are angry, but usually one or two will come up and tell me I’m doing the right thing.”

To him, the range of reaction suggests “internal turmoil in this parish.”

Most parishioners ignored Hughes as they rushed to their cars during Sunday’s hailstorm, though one man shielded a child’s face against his arm as he hurried her by. “Keep your eyes right here,” he said. “This idiot doesn’t care about children.”

The only one who approached to hear what Hughes had to say was Nina Filippini, 10, a pupil at All Saints Catholic School.

“What’s that?” she asked as she stood in front of a larger-than-life photo of an aborted fetus.

Hughes matter-of-factly explained it was a fetus removed from its mother’s body by a doctor who “gets a lot of money for doing it.” He described the procedure and said abortion occurred because Baldacci, the state’s next governor, had cast votes as a congressman allowing it.

“I think he’s kind of preaching to the choir,” Nancy Filippini, the girl’s mother, said later. “We’re on his side.”

“I think he could use gentler ways to get his point across,” said Filippini, a pro-lifer who counseled pregnant women before moving to Maine from Florida. A better way, she said, is to remove perceived barriers to childbirth by helping pregnant women obtain health care and by teaching parenting skills.