The first thing I knew, going in, was that I couldn’t be “me”. I normally do not shy away from confrontation or controversy, but today wasn’t about me. I was there to try to make an awful situation somehow less awful for the women involved. It’s never fun to have to walk a gauntlet of people trying to intimidate you and bully you into their will, especially when they use photographs and blatant lies to accomplish their goal.

The urge is so strong to get right back in their faces, but we can’t.

I don’t know why these anti-abortionists are so strongly held in their deceit, but I have long noticed that the truth of abortion doesn’t sell the anti-abortion agenda, so they show pictures of 2-4 month old babies, smiling and dressed. This is not what is being aborted. Why lie? Because it serves their purpose.

It was an education for me.  As an atheist, I had thought of this as a conflict between atheists and Christians, but it wasn’t so much of an atheist/Christian fight, but a reasoning vs plea-to-emotion. Sure, they came armed with ‘facts’ that they might as well have made up on the drive there, such as stating that there is more evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, than ANY other event in history. I’m sure there are some history students who will be shocked to learn this.

I did try to be civil, if asked a question, no matter how ignorant I thought it was. I saw a sign they had that commanded people to obey the gospel. I mentioned to one of the other escorts, that I wondered which gospel they were referencing because of the errors and contradictions in them. I was asked to name the errors, and I’ll admit they aren’t worth committing to memory, so I admitted that I did not have them on recall. His response was that because I didn’t know any, they didn’t exist. Well, I don’t know a single person in the country of Ethiopia, so I wondered aloud to my friend if that also meant Ethiopia didn’t exist.

They made the claims that there were millions of people waiting to adopt the babies that were being aborted, but last time I checked, orphanages weren’t drying up, or running empty on kids. The most obnoxious guy there seemed to love getting right in people’s faces, and when I saw some people volunteering that were less formidable, I stepped in front of him, and towered over him. I don’t think others were intimidated by him, but until me it might have been possible for him to make himself believe he was intimidating. I guess his neck hurt from having to look up at me, because he moved on.

In some ways, it is easy to dispel their arguments, especially when they start picking and choosing from the Bible. Again, I did have to remind myself that this was not the time for that kind of encounter.

This doesn’t phase me, the insults, the name calling, the propaganda, but again, I can’t be strong for these women, just hope to shield them as much as possible.

Will I do it again? Absolutely, if only because I can. I think about what it would be like if this was my daughter, and she had decided to have an abortion. I don’t know that I could refrain from responding to the things the protesters say when it was someone so important to me.

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REMINDER: If you are interested in escorting, don’t forget the training on Saturday, April 13th at 9A.  Training is not required, but it’s helpful. Please see our Trainings for Escorts page or email us for additional information

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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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