Tag Archives: clinic

A Study in Sidewalk Counseling

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Before I started escorting, I always viewed the word “counseling” in a positive light. The advice of a knowledgeable expert to assist in coping with life events is positive. Counseling to me implies an impartial, truthful examination of facts from someone with training to help.

Now, I always have a negative reaction as soon as I hear the word “counseling” because I think of the antis and their sidewalk counseling. Like so many terms, they were purposeful in their choice to describe their actions. They have taken a positive word and changed its meaning, like “choice” was made to mean something negative when they use the word. Instead of a positive outcome for the clients and companions “counseled” by the antis on the sidewalk, there is a heaping on of incorrect information, shame, blame and judgment. If any of the clients do not take their advice, the antis turn from gentle words to ones meant to hurt.

Sometimes escorts just watch and listen. We are able to pick up a lot of details without interfering with a client’s actions or decision. There are times it is hard to stand by passively, but when action would only add to the chaos surrounding a client, we wait for a signal they need our assistance. We do not interfere when clients or companions want to talk to the antis. Firm belief in every person’s right to make their own decisions helps us to be witnesses instead of participants.

There was a morning last month escorts were witnesses. The sidewalk drama played out before us for almost 30 minutes. It was a study in how “sidewalk counselors” work.

This story started with the client and a companion pulling to the curb around 715a. We approached and said our normal statements about going to the abortion clinic and explained our orange vests. The reaction from the companion was not friendly, but they listened and decided to park in the $3 parking lot. We let them know we would come get them when the doors opened.

Around 730a a companion parked in the AWC lot. An escort asked if this young man was looking for someone going to the EMW clinic. He answered yes and stopped to talk to the four AWC staff in their parking lot to greet him. An escort overheard part of their conversation and apparently the client and he were in AWC until 5p the day before. He hurried to the entrance of EMW saying, “She’s in there.” All four of the AWC staff followed him.

At the same time, escorts were walking the client and her companion to the door of the clinic. They met at the door. The young man grabbed the client’s arm and tried to hold her back from entering. The companion who had come with the client, pulled her other arm and got her into the clinic door. The young man followed them into the sign-in area. The entire time the four AWC staff were standing at the property line saying, “You don’t have to go in there. Your mother can’t make you do this. Come out and talk to us.”

After a short time, the young man came back to the AWC staff standing at the property line. All four of them were talking to him. “Pull her out of there. What they are doing is illegal. It is illegal to coerce someone into killing their baby. Go tell her they are breaking the law.” He went back into the clinic.

This was repeated four times with variations in the words, but the meaning was the same. The escorts watching were treated to “You say you are pro-choice, but you are only pro-death,” comments when they were waiting for him to come back out.  The last time he came back out, the clients had already gone back for counseling by the EMW staff. During all of this, the EMW staff allowed him to talk to the client and escorts didn’t interfere with his entrances and exits from the building.

The staff of AWC know, or should know, the trained staff of EMW counsels each individual client to make sure they aren’t being forced into their decision. They will turn clients away if they are not sure or if there are questions about coercion.

This morning will always be engraved by two snapshots in my mind of the people involved. The first is of the client pulling away from the young man, tears in her eyes and repeating, “No. I want to do this.” The second is of the young man, head down and shoulders slumped, facing the sidewalk counselors as they walked away from him saying, “You didn’t try hard enough.”

We need to call them something other than “counselors.”

Sidewalk Snippet ~ {6/3/13}

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There were two clients and their companions waiting for the doors to open. Of course, we heard the usual things being said to them by the antis while they waited. “What’s the harm in taking 10 minutes to have an ultrasound next door to find out if you have a viable pregnancy?” “You don’t have to do this. We are here to help.” “Stand up for her. As a man you are called upon to protect her.”

Then D decided to up the rhetoric a little from what she usually says. “She looks really young. Do you know they will take her down to the basement to kill her baby and you won’t be allowed to stay with her? What kind of a place doesn’t allow you to stay with her?”

The answer in my head was, “Every outpatient clinic in the US.” I have never seen clinics with spectator seats or benches to have family members watch. Never. How safe would that be? Dermatologists don’t even allow non-patients in to witness procedures. Have you ever had a family member sitting beside you when you have gone to the dentist?

Sometimes the logic used fails to connect to reality.

Sidewalk Snippet ~ {5/27/13}

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We watched the car pull into the monthly rental parking lot at 7a. The driver got out carrying a briefcase and purposefully started walking down the sidewalk across the street from the clinic. We continued watching as they crossed the street at the light and then approached the clinic. We joined them close to the clinic doors and guided them to the correct building.

D didn’t notice them until just before they crossed the property line. Her greeting was, “You don’t have to kill your baby today.”

When we were across the property line and close to the doors, I explained to them about when the clinic doors opened, the orange vests and protesters. Then we talked about where they were parked. The monthly rental lot will tow unauthorized cars, so we needed them to move their car to the $3 lot. I offered to walk back to the car and show them where to park and how to pay.

When we reached the car, we stood for a long time talking about what they could expect from the antis. “Will they touch me? Will they stop me? Don’t they have anything better to do? Don’t they have jobs? Why do they come out here to hurt women? ” Some of the questions answered with reassurances the antis would not stop them or touch them, but they would talk to them and try to hand them literature.

A look of apprehension crossed over their face, “Will they say worse things? That lady (meaning D) has already said horrible things to me.” I reassured them we would be there talking to minimize the words of the antis and we would get them in as quickly as possible.

We moved the car successfully to the $3 lot. I reminded them we would come get them when the doors opened and not to roll their windows down to anyone not wearing an orange vest. Before the car was turned off, another anti approached their car. The client handed me the money for parking and shut the car door while the anti was still talking. The client remained in their car while I fed the money for parking into the pay box.

Two escorts walked the client back to the clinic when the doors opened without much interference from the antis, just one anti trailing behind them who gave up after a short distance.

This never makes sense to me. How you can proclaim you “just want to help” and literally terrorize clients? We cannot stop the antis from saying words meant to hurt and shame, but when we have a client so obviously upset with their speech it is distressing to me. I find myself asking the same questions the client did.

Family Event Photos

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The Saturday after Mother’s Day still saw a lot of anti-abortion protesters at the clinic. There were about 200 of them.  At one point another escort asked me what one anti’s name was and I answered, “I don’t know. That is one I haven’t seen, but I can’t remember all of their names. There are a lot of new ones out today.” An anti overheard me and said, “Yes, and there will be a lot more of us from now on. Get used to it. You aren’t going to win.” Psychic predictions from the sidelines.

Among the new groups was one of young people carrying shiny, new fetal-porn posters. I noticed a lot of Operation Rescue labels in the bottom corner of these new posters. This particular group had brought at least twelve posters, about four feet wide by two and one-half feet high each. All of them, old posters and new, displayed a graphic image of what was supposed to be an aborted fetus or sonogram pictures of a developing fetus. One person could carry each poster and after all of the clients entered the clinic, they lined up across the property line facing the waiting room windows. There were so many of them and the posters so large, they had to stand three deep and raise the posters up so all of them could be seen.

I know I should have taken a photo of them for you guys, but I neglected to do so. You will have to  just imagine the spectacle spreading across the sidewalk just beyond the clinic entrance. The sidewalk was so blocked, escorts discussed strategies for moving around them in case any clients arrived late. Luckily, we didn’t have to implement those plans.

This May 19th article by Robin Marty in RH Reality Check caught my attention. It was published the next day and described exactly what we are seeing at EMW. Marty describes this tactic perfectly:

  • Public protest of abortion using graphic material has been a staple of the anti-choice movement since the early ’80s, when activist Joe Scheidler advocated it as a means to engage in protest and “sidewalk counseling” in his handbook Closed: 99 Ways to Stop Abortion. From fliers with graphic pictures that were handed out at public events and marches to larger photos outside of clinics where women would be terminating pregnancies, Scheidler was an enthusiastic advocate for the power of a gruesome image, although he did recommend that the ones at clinics be positioned away from the person doing the actual “counseling” of women prior to their entrance into the clinic in order to not scare them. He also encouraged the use of such photos at pro-choice events or when picketing the homes, private offices, clubs, and places of worship frequented by providers.

And, the new twist in those plans is:

  • Still, for the most part the target remained adults, and adults in places where anti-choice advocates assume the majority would support abortion rights. That is beginning to change as more protesters are seeking to give the photos wider distribution, and directly affect those under the age of 18. High schools  are becoming a favorite protesting place of late, with one “truth truck” driver stating that the giant photos of “dismembered fetuses” displayed on the side of his truck are the only way to get the message across.

Bringing the graphic photos to public events where young people are expected has backfired for the extremists more than once. Parents object to the politicizing of school events or family-friendly events. They object to their children being exposed to the photos. When and if a parent talks to their children about reproductive issues and abortion should be left up to the parents’ judgment. It is just one more way the anti-abortion groups prove they do not respect anyone’s right to decide unless it is to agree with their anti-abortion views.

Almost two years ago, protesters targeted a child’s middle school back-to-school night. Why was this child a target of their signs? The father of the child is the landlord for an abortion clinic in Germantown, MD. After public outcry about the graphic nature of the protests, this landlord decided to fight back. Voice of Choice was formed to help others targeted by these extreme tactics. 

The antis do not seem to listen to public outcry or reason. They are stepping up the in-your-face efforts at locations that have nothing to do with reproduction or abortion. This week in a Texas high school, abortion photos were found in the girl’s restroom. The… “material was scattered all over the restroom.”

The US isn’t the only one to see this uptick in distribution of fetal porn. In Calgary this month, 50,000 photo postcards were distributed in an effort to “reopen the debate on abortion.” Their target audience are residents in the ridings of “MPs who voted against a motion to study when life begins.”

  • Melanee Thomas, an associate political science professor at the University of Calgary, questions the organization’s tactics.

  • She says the postcard campaign may be aimed at young people.

  • “Part of it is to try to convert the young to a very particular way of seeing this issue, one that is, I ought to say, not legally balanced and not constitutionally balanced with the way that we have the Charter set up in Canada.”

Targeting the young is not a new tactic for the antis. They bring their children to protest at the clinics. It is their idea of a family event and it is a learning experience for their children that frequently reverses in adulthood. This story is only one example of how minds change from our childhood adherence to our parents’ doctrine to our own viewpoint through discussion, research and reading non-religious and/or scientific articles of the facts surrounding abortion.

Marty believes the distribution of fetal photos to the young seems to be about this message:

  • The message implied is clear: If you want these pictures to go away, ban safe abortion. Until you do exactly what they say, they will continue to bring their protests everywhere people gather. Especially family events involving children.

Good luck with that plan. Fostering outrage against your group rarely seems to sway people to a particular viewpoint.

We need to broaden access to abortion not ban it. We need to broaden access to birth control to prevent unplanned pregnancies, not make birth control harder to obtain.

We need to support individual reproductive choices.

Sidewalk Snippet ~ {5/20/13}

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We stood there counting. There were 9 antis out this morning; Donna and 8 men. Four of them circled the block; continuous motion in an attempt to reach any client before escorts. It wasn’t really a full block, more like a half of a city block. Their circle took them past the CPC, through their parking lot, down the alley behind the clinic and between two buildings on the other side of the EMW clinic to reach their starting point again.

They greeted each escort as we arrived, but continued circling. I counted and in a five-minute period they reached their starting point 6 times. Power walking for harassment. This particular group always reminds of a school of sharks. They all dress in dark clothing and are in constant motion.

The other antis divided their time between praying at the clinic windows, preaching at the clinic windows, or talking to clients in the parking lot and on their walk up the sidewalk.

It would intimidate me to face a group of men determined to interrupt my trip for needed healthcare. That’s the purpose.

When Calling Doesn’t Help

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The client and companion pulled to the curb right at 7a and the client jumped out of the car immediately. We explained the clinic doors didn’t open until 7:30a. They replied they knew, but wanted to wait by the door because they wanted to be the first into the clinic.

We then explained the orange vests and protesters, and that the protesters would talk to them while they waited, but wouldn’t cross the property line. The client replied, “Oh, I know all about them. I went into their so-called clinic last week by mistake. It was horrible and I missed my appointment. I want to be sure I get in first this time.”  

We explained the $3 parking lot to the companion and let them know we would be there to help them there after we walked the client to the door.

D was right there before we took two steps towards the entrance, telling the client to “just take two minutes to come to A Woman’s Choice. They aren’t open anyway. What harm will it do?” The client replied, “Get away from me. I have already been there and know all about that place. I don’t want you to talk to me.” Of course, D didn’t listen. She continued to talk to the client while they were standing by the door.

Two escorts stayed at the entrance with the client while I went across to the lot to help the companion with the payment box. The companion decided to wait a little while in the warm car before standing by the door.

When I came back to the door, the client was shaking, upset and yelling at D to leave them alone. After I heard her say to D three times, each successively louder, to “Leave me alone,” I told D, “She has asked you to leave her alone three times. Now you are harassing her.” The expected, “I’m not harassing her. I just want her to know her options,” was the response. Then she continued to talk to the client and the client again told her to leave her alone.

I turned to the client and said, “You can call Police Dispatch and report her for harassing you if you want. I’m not sure what they will do, but you can call.” The client indicated they would like to call and I gave them the phone number.

While the client was waiting for the police, the companion also came to the door to wait with the client. I met them halfway down the sidewalk and said, “I’m glad you are here,” while catching them up with what had happened.The client and companion were together by the door while they waited for police response..

Two squad cars came within minutes. D reached the responding officer first and gave her version. When the officer talked to the client they were told D could say anything she wanted to them because of “free speech.”Sigh. Sometimes it works to call the police and sometimes it doesn’t. It all depends on who responds and their views on abortion.

After the officer left, D turned to me and said, “You are just a busybody.” However, D and the other protesters did leave them alone after the conversation with the officer, but this particular client had two unpleasant trips to the clinic. I worry that I contributed to the second unpleasant trip by suggesting they call the police.

Actually, police presence had the antis subdued until the majority of the clients went into the door. After they went in, an anti who regularly prays by the curb noticed it was quiet, picked up the fetal porn poster, and stood at the entrance shouting, “Do you know about Jesus? If you haven’t heard about Jesus you need to.” D actually waved her away after a few minutes.

Politics and your view on abortion should not determine how you interpret harassment. Freedom of speech doesn’t mean others cannot be offended by your speech or they cannot ask you to stop talking to them.

New Escort Story ~ by Anonymous

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I am a new escort. I cannot speak for all new escorts, but I hope that my post will give both potential future escorts and more experienced escorts some insight into what it is like to be a new clinic escort.

I first heard about the escort group when calls were put out for extra assistance on the day before Easter. My husband and I are very pro-choice, and decided to put our values into action by volunteering as escorts. The email said that you were expected to not engage/argue with the protesters and I figured I could handle it. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect in terms of the number of protesters (or their volume) but figured there might be people holding signs and yelling. My husband and I were given clinic escort vests and a brief rundown – ask people if they want to be escorted, walk at their speed, don’t engage with the protesters, don’t touch the protesters (or they’ll cry “assault!”), keep talking even if it’s just about the weather, to just keep the client’s attention away from the screaming.

In the chaos, I somehow found myself escorting from the $3 lot. (Please know that this is unusual! New escorts typically undergo a lot of shadowing before actually escorting). It was a quick frenzy of jaywalking (at the client’s request), shouting protesters, and emotion. My mind didn’t even have time to process everything that was happening. One protester ran up to me and bumped into me, trying desperately to reach the client. Everything in my mind cried out, “You will not hurt her!” and in a moment of intense (and selfish) need to feel like I could protect the client, I put my arm around her. The client, her face set with determination, yelled back at the protesters. Just as she reached the door, a protester wailed out, “Don’t DO it, darlin’!” and as suddenly as it had began, it was over. The client was inside the clinic.

It was then that I met one of the senior escorts, as she pulled me aside and helped me to realize that I had just broken one of the fundamental Points of Unity – asking the client’s consent (not just to be escorted, but also to be touched). My heart sank. With the panic of the crowd subsiding, I knew she was right. Logically I had known that, but in the chaos of the moment, there is no logic. As my husband and I walked back across the street to the parking lot, I started to get choked up. I hadn’t realized it was going to be so intense. The raw emotion felt too overwhelming.

We stayed a bit longer. I turned in my vest, thanked the other volunteers, got to my car, and started to cry as I tried to process my first escort experience.

I found myself at the escort training two weeks later. I think I oscillated between “I really want to do this” and “I don’t think I can handle this!” about ten times during the two-hour training.

The same experienced escort from my first experience encouraged me to try again, this time during a weekday morning when the sidewalk tends to be quieter.

My second time escorting was on a weekday morning. Now armed with non-sidewalk training and a deeper insight into the Points of Unity, I felt more confident. Being assigned the sole job of observing for that morning was incredibly helpful. I breathed more, forced myself to mentally slow down the events, allowed myself to process everything at a calmer rate.

In processing my somewhat unique start to escorting, I have realized that I (perhaps like many new escorts) was misdirecting energy during my first experience. In the chaos, I allowed myself to think that clients needed protection. This is not an unusual thought, I suppose, when you actually get a glimpse of some of the more vocal and hysterical protesters. The whole experience felt dramatic, frenzied, and full of helplessness. After the training, I saw clearly that the experience was about empowerment. We provide the space for clients to be empowered by always asking consent, by remaining calm and quiet, and by not engaging with the protesters.

Psychologists often speak of learning as a process of using what you know to navigate the world. People use mental scripts to guide expectations of what to do in new situations. For example, a mental script for ordering food in a restaurant can help you learn how to order food at a drive through.

There is no script for escorting on the sidewalk. Nothing in my life had prepared me for the chaos from the protesters. All of the implicit, unspoken rules we use for engaging with people in our daily life (turn-taking, respecting personal space, not yelling at strangers) seem to be forgotten by the protesters. For new escorts, facing this bizarre situation with no mental framework for guidance is a disorienting and chaotic experience! The escort training (both formal and on-the-sidewalk training) has been helpful in providing guidance. Even so, as a new escort, it feels very unsettling to not have a mental script to help me process events on the sidewalk. There is nothing in my daily life that helps me relate to this bizarre occurrence of people showing up daily to harass other people who are just trying to make the walk from their car to their doctor’s office.

To the more seasoned escorts: I am trying, I am listening, and I will do my best. I will probably still beat myself up for mistakes, no matter how many times you tell me not to. I still feel anxious at times, even though you teach me the “thousand-yard stare” that gives me a serene face to present toward the protesters. I am still trying to manage my emotions in a way that will allow me to provide a calm presence for the clients and their companions. And despite all of this, I will still show up to escort, even though there is still a part of me that doubts that my money wouldn’t be more helpful than my physical presence. As one experienced escort put into words, “I don’t think I can do this, but I know I have to do this”. How very true.

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REMINDER: Our annual  fund drive Pledge-A-Picketer is NOW!

The Saturday before Mother’s Day is the biggest protester day of the year.  It also is the date  where we count protesters for donations to support the pro-choice effort and the escorts.  You can pledge a certain amount for each protester showing up that morning. If you prefer, you can also make a straight monetary donation.

Use this form to make your pledge:

 

 

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Sidewalk Snippet ~ {5/6/13}

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Spring in the Ohio Valley means a lot of rainfall. As I have said before, this always has good and bad associated with it as far as escorting is concerned.

We had no problems getting clients and companions to the clinic entrance. There were fewer antis out, but most stayed grouped under the overhang. While our walks were wet, we had only a couple of antis walking the sidewalk with their umbrellas. The clients were able to walk without a lot of interference.

However, when we reached the entrance we had to navigate around antis with their umbrellas up blocking the entrance. When I said, “You are blocking the entrance,” to one anti who works for AWC the reply was, “No, I am not.”

Three antis were standing with their umbrellas up across the entrance. The companion had to push a little to get through and bumped the anti’s umbrella. I pointed out she blocked the last client only to be told, “He got in.”

Yes they did, but it is still blocking when huge umbrellas are added to the people.

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REMINDER: Our annual  fund drive Pledge-A-Picketer is NOW!

The Saturday before Mother’s Day is the biggest protester day of the year.  It also is the date  where we count protesters for donations to support the pro-choice effort and the escorts.  You can pledge a certain amount for each protester showing up that morning. If you prefer, you can also make a straight monetary donation.

Use this form to make your pledge:

 


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Blog Comments ~ by FML and Servalbear

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Ever wonder why your comment doesn’t always post right away? We have a closed system for comments. We try to get to them quickly, but every comment is reviewed before appearing on our site.

We have a Comment Policy in order to have a safe space for readers to interact with our authors. This safe space is important because feelings are strong and tempers flare easily when we write about abortion and other reproductive justice issues.

We’re not alone in this problem. Most blogs about reproductive justice, political and human rights eventually post something about the comments their articles generate. It may be like Shakesville’s “Short Rules: Be nice. Be thoughtful.”  The policies may be long and detailed so there isn’t any doubt as to why a comment is rejected.

In any case, no matter how general or detailed the rules, there are usually people who feel entitled to make comments against the stated policies. Called Internet Trolls, they “…post inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as a forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.”

They may be offensive, abusive and threatening. They all come packaged with a sense of entitlement. Their comment is an exception to the rules because they want a voice ~ their voice ~ to be heard, no matter how unwelcome it is.

Trolls can be exhausting.  One of our favorite blogs about violence toward women and rape no longer exists.  The stress of reading these comments was overwhelming for the author. So even if those troll comments aren’t posted, there is a human being who reads them; someone who internalizes the whole venomous scope.

We attract our own trolls. Depending on the article, there can be a lot of them or just a few. Every week ~ just about every single week ~ we get five or six comments from a particular anti.  Every comment from this person gets deleted.

A Huffington Post article April 1st by Colleen Glenney Boggs asks:

  • Must trolls — those posters of negativity and vitriol — be part of the Internet public sphere? Must we accept them, or can we do something to improve Internet culture? How do we banish the trolls without closing off the dialogue that is so vital to our democracy?

No, we don’t have to accept posters of negativity and vitriol. We screen comments and bar the trolls. We do not have to allow them to derail our conversations. We can foster courteous, safe conversations with our readers.

On our blog, comments that go straight to the Trash may be:

  • Anti-abortion, derogatory to groups you don’t derive your personal identity from, personally attacking an author and/or other commenter, or ~

  • If it includes arguments invoking the words Hitler, Holocaust, slavery, eugenics, genocide, Margaret Sanger, abortion mill, murder, deathscort, God, Jesus, sin or Bible.  We are not going to get into the same argument we have had a thousand times before.

Several of us discuss any comments that may be in question. We will make a group decision to publish or delete a comment. We may go back to the commenter and ask them to clarify their comment if we are in doubt.

To sum up:  this is a clinic escort blog.  It is a collective effort with many authors contributing. Sometimes we get things wrong and we encourage conversation and input from our readers to set us straight on facts. We encourage personal stories and interaction between authors and readers.

Trolls are not welcome here.  We are not tired of deleting the comments of our persistent troll, and we’ll continue to delete them ~ well, forever, I guess. It is time well spent.

This blog is written for the readers. This blog is written to raise awareness of the continuing struggle to make reproductive choices accessible to everyone.

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REMINDER: Our annual  fund drive Pledge-A-Picketer is NOW!

The Saturday before Mother’s Day is the biggest protester day of the year.  It also is the date  where we count protesters for donations to support the pro-choice effort and the escorts.  You can pledge a certain amount for each protester showing up that morning. If you prefer, you can also make a straight monetary donation.

Use this form to make your pledge:

 

 

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Sidewalk Snippet ~ {4/29/13}

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It was raining again and it was an easy morning for escorts. There were just a few antis out.

We had several very empowered clients and companions. It is always a privilege to witness them navigate around the antis with ease. Several companions thanked the escorts for what we do, including physical pats on the back from a couple of them. Clients were upbeat and seemingly unphased by the words the antis said, sailing peacefully into the clinic.

As the morning’s activity was winding down, the antis were getting more aggressive with their words and walking two antis to every client. Still, the clients ignored them.

One of the last clients coming in had two companions. I was able to explain the difference between protesters and escorts before we were joined by two antis. In my explanation, I added the phrase, “You can ignore the protesters. This is one place you can be rude.” The client pointed to one companion and said, “That’s why we brought him.” The two antis zeroed in on the two companions because the one brought to be rude was talking to them. The client and I were able to walk in front without interference, sharing our amusement over the comments being exchanged.

Before the morning was over, the pedestrians on the sidewalk joined in. One runner stopped in front of the two prayers across from the clinic entrance. He asked them, “What is going on here?” One answered, “We are praying for the babies. This is an abortion clinic.” The runner answered, “You have been deceived by Satan. This is not Christianity. You are wrong to be here.” Then they continued running down the sidewalk. The “We will pray for you,” shouted after them was met with a curse tossed over a shoulder.

If I had one wish, I would wish for no antis in front of the clinic. If this wish cannot be granted, this day was the next best thing.

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REMINDER: Our annual  fund drive Pledge-A-Picketer is NOW!

The Saturday before Mother’s Day is the biggest protester day of the year.  It also is the date  where we count protesters for donations to support the pro-choice effort and the escorts.  You can pledge a certain amount for each protester showing up that morning. If you prefer, you can also make a straight monetary donation.

Use this form to make your pledge:

 

 

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