As the week long invasion by extremists piddled on, the feelings stirring in our city shifted a number of times. For me, as the days ticked by it became obvious that OSA has no power here. Their gruesome bullying tactics were not well received, even by some of our regular antis who were pushed out of their favorite posts on the sidewalk, and forced to park further away than usual.

The Clinic Escort’s detailed planning was highly effective, and as the days proceeded and people continually made it to their appointments, some protesters seemed frustrated, while others just seemed defeated.

On their final day, one preacher was positioned in the back alley with a sound system facing the staff entrance to the clinic. He was complaining into the mic about the news coverage from the week, which had started as quite a frenzy, and fizzled out as the news cycled on, like it does. This preacher whined “Why won’t CNN and CBS talk about the real issue here?!?! Why aren’t they talking about abortion??? That’s what we are here to talk about!!!”

Now of course there would be no point in me attempting to explain to this preacher that there is really no news to report about abortion, so I stayed at my post and continued my duties. In my head I had to chuckle about this whiny presentation from a defeated and delusional zealot. The circus being in town was news worthy, until it wasn’t. People making decisions about their bodies and their lives for their families and themselves is not news. That is normal everyday shit. Every day. Normal. Legal. And accessible as can be as long as we can do anything about it.