Cold and rainy Tuesday morning
Hello, it was raining and cold on Tuesday morning.
Donna needed her hands to clutch her black umbrella, so at least the gruesome CHOICE sign wasn’t around. However, she kept using her body and the umbrella to block the sidewalk. There were only two safety escorts present: a man who has escorted for 11 years and myself.
A young black teenager came around the corner of 2nd and Market, alone, shivering in the cold, carrying her own umbrella. Donna, already blocking the clinic side of the sidewalk, angled in, walking beside the young woman, herding her toward the street side of the sidewalk, and ultimately cutting her off.
Now I ask you to picture this: From the edge of the sidewalk, we have one large tree, surrounded by deep puddles of water on the sidewalk, edged by a young black woman holding her umbrella, who is pinned there by a short and soft-spoken white woman so determined to make herself heard that her own umbrella is layered up underneath the client’s umbrella, while her face is up in the young woman’s face.
“Is she allowed to do that?”
I ask my fellow safety escort. I’ve only been doing this for a couple of weeks.
“She can say anything she wants on the sidewalk,” he replies.
I step closer, on the inside track of this sidewalk cowgirl hogtier roper brand ‘em and drag ‘em to the fake woman’s choice clinic person.
To Donna’s left, I am facing the young girl underneath the two umbrellas. Tears are rolling down her cheeks.
“You don’t have to talk to her if you don’t want to. Do you have an appointment at the clinic?” I ask, although I already know in my gut that she does.
She looks into my eyes, nods, wipes the salty pearls from her face, yet cannot move forward without wading through the puddle or somehow pushing past Donna.
I spread my arms, angling my hands toward the sidewalk, my right hand just between the client and the anticlient, and say, “You can go this way if you want to.”
The woman nods, turns to her right, walking past my arms. Donna calls out, loudly for her,
“Sweetheart, she doesn’t care about you. She just wants to kill your baby.”
Later, I warned Donna to not block the sidewalk. I even had to tell her that if, while walking behind me, she ever banged on my shoulders again with the prongs of her umbrella, I would break her umbrella in half. She said,
“Sweetheart, I would not hesitate to prosecute you.”
I only wish.
Bad sad mad morning
Today was hard.
I’ve been on a semi-hiatus for a while, due to oversleeping, being out of town, and feeling the need for a bit of a break. But I managed to get my butt out of bed this morning, and I’m glad I did.
We had 6 escorts this morning, and not very many protesters, but the 10 or 15 that were there were pushy and horrible (what else is new though, right?).
Towards the end of the morning, a woman walked up, crying. Her support person was nearby, and Angela ran over. Angela evidently knows this woman, and also really loves targeting people of color. Angela was freaking out, trying to push through our circle of escorts, screaming that she knew the woman and that the woman wanted to talk to her. But the woman was crying so hard she could barely walk, let alone answer any questions about whether or not she actually did want to talk to Angela.
Then something kind of amazing happened. As we escorts were making really slow progress towards the door, an inch at a time, several people that were already inside of the clinic (and I’m not clear if they were with the woman coming in or not, but I believe at least one person was with another client) came outside. They held the woman’s arms and walked her up to the property line, pulling through Angela and Donna and all of the other really excited protesters. They created a space for her to make it up to the property, and really did what we try to do as escorts. It was so amazing to see that. Angela was still yelling, and Brady was losing it, but the client made it through the gauntlet, past the harassment of a supposed friend.
I’ve never cried at clinic, or ever even come close. That was one thing I was really concerned about when I first started going (and before I ever went that was a big concern, that I would just break down and be a mess), because sometimes I just get weepy. TV shows can make me cry, seeing other people cry can make me cry, and sometimes I just need a good cry to let go of some stored up shit. But nothing at the clinic has ever made me so sad. It’s also the first time I’ve seen some very even tempered escorts really get upset. It’s hard not to just want to get violent and angry and sad when a woman, so upset and crying so hard she can’t talk or walk, is being SCREAMED at by a “friend,” by someone who “cares,” not to mention strangers who can’t mind their own business.
This is a time that people really need support, and love, and a friend to tell them that they will be ok, that they are making the right choice because it’s what they are choosing for themselves based on their situation. Angela doesn’t know what’s going on with this woman, whether she had an unwanted pregnancy or had a very wanted but nonviable pregnancy. And screaming “I know you talked to ____ from our church last night, she told you I’d be here and she was right! Don’t do this, NO!” is not support. It’s not coming from a place of love, understanding, respect. Or even a place of basic common decency.
Days like today, I really hate how ugly religion can make some people. It’s hard not to be completely bitter towards religion, which is a shame because for so many people it manifests in a very beautiful way. But all I can see on mornings like this one is how hideous and hateful religion can be.
So for this morning at least, I’m going to re-focus my attention to the friends and partners and support people who go in with clients. They set aside their own beliefs and are there to support a friend. And sometimes that’s what it takes to be a good friend – shutting up about your shit and what you feel is best and standing beside someone when they need you. Thank you thank you thank you support people. You make me feel better about the universe.
WHY I VOLUNTEER AS AN ABORTION CLINIC SAFETY ESCORT
About one year ago, my 20-year-old daughter went to the clinic for an abortion. Her boyfriend and I went with her. We parked around the far corner, cattycorner to the White Castle. The anti-abortion (so-called “prolife”) demonstrators were on us in a heartbeat. I was on one side of my daughter and her boyfriend was on the other. “Just ignore them,” we said to ourselves and to each other during that long, cold walk down the sidewalk to the clinic.
As we turned as a united trio toward the entrance, underneath the front covered area, definitely no longer on public property, a man rushed forward, then stepped right in front of us, determined to convince my daughter to not have the abortion. He stepped right in front of us, facing us, blocking the door, right up in our faces, still yelling and preaching.
All the calm – – albeit nervous – – . determination to “just ignore them” evaporated. Sorry, but when you threaten my child, all bets are off. Mess with my child? Seriously? Really? Really????? Shiva, The Lioness, and Mamma Polar Bear all reared up in me. I totally lost it. I was screaming, shouting, cursing, so loud and so long that before I knew it, we had pushed him out of the way and were inside the entryway. I was still yelling at him. My daughter, my calm, sensitive, centered, intelligent, beautiful, loving daughter said, “Mom, it’s okay. You can stop shouting now. He’s gone. It’s okay. You can calm down now.”
Rarely have I been so ashamed of myself. Normally, I would never speak to any human being that way. Normally, I would never scream and yell and curse worse than any sailor, especially not at a complete stranger. Although I was still shaking with rage & terror (they do use terrorist strategy, don’tcha know?), I also felt guilty, ashamed, like I owed that man an apology for treating him so horribly.
Yes, I have grieved the loss of that could-have-been grandchild. It was never mine. It was never my decision to make. And just as I supported my daughter in making this difficult, personal, private choice as best she could, I today support her decision to not go public about her abortion. It was her life, her body, her heart, her mind, her soul, her pregnancy. It was her choice and I support her completely.
However, for a year now, I have thought from time to time about how cruelly and uncivilly I behaved towards a complete stranger. That man probably felt compelled to say and do those things, based on his understanding of his ideas about God and morality. He probably believed he was trying to save an unborn human life. He couldn’t see that he was terrorizing and traumatizing three born human lives. The dilemna of how to resolve both my anger and my guilt have been answered in my volunteer work as a Clinic Escort.
Every day this week, I have been there as early as humanly possible, given my penchant for late-night tin roof sundaes, volunteering as a Clinic Escort. I started doing this a couple of weeks ago. Strangely enough, there were no weekday morning Clinic Escorts a year ago. When I went with my other daughter earlier this year for her own abortion, it was like orange-vested angels arrived to surround us and walk us in with care, respect, and dignity. We were so grateful for them. I wanted to do that, too. I hope and pray that I can control my temper, continue to provide the opportunity of safe passage to the women and men who arrive in the predawn hours at the clinic. I also hope and pray I can extend the same calm, respect, and dignity to the protestors, no matter how rabid, loud, violent, or insane they become.
Thank you for giving me a way to make a living amends to the stranger I went off on.
- Anonymous
why i escort
by an anonymous guest blogger
I escort for myself. I have had three pregnancies in my life. All unplanned. Two ended in much wanted, much loved, much doted upon children. One ended in a miscarriage, for which I am incredibly grateful. Through sheer luck, both of my term pregnancies came at times when I could consider having a child. I recognize that it is luck, and I feel blessed to have been in the situation I was with both of those pregnancies. I also feel blessed that the third ended in a miscarriage, and that I didn’t have to abort. I escort to remind myself that not everyone has my good fortune.
I escort for my children. I have two children, a son and a daughter. But I don’t just escort for my daughter. The anti choice crowd is constantly attempting to chip away at our rights and liberties. They target women openly and aggressively because it is still socially acceptable to discriminate against and try to oppress women, but they won’t stop there. I escort because if I don’t stand up now for womens’ right to have agency over their own bodies in every way, if I sit quietly by while they place restrictions on birth control, abortion, birth options, IVF, etc., then by the time my daughter reaches reproductive age, she might not have control over her reproductive health (and therefore her life) at all. And I escort for my son, to show him that women are strong. That they don’t need to be “cared for”, but respected. That they are his equals. I escort to show both my children that some things are worth fighting for.
I escort for the clients, who represent all women. Some clients march into the clinic, heads high, unperturbed by the hateful, pushing, bullying antis. I escort for them. Some women, clearly upset by the chaos, cling to me. I hope that I am the calm, steady strength that they need me to be. I escort for them. Most women fall somewhere in between. I escort for them. My heart fills up for all of them. It fills with respect for them, that they have the wisdom and courage to make the decision about what is best for them. They are the ones who are doing the hard work. I escort because I want them to know that they don’t have to do that work alone. I also escort for future clients, with the fervent hope that one day, they won’t need us out there.
I escort for America. Because the Constitution and the rule of law still mean something to me. Because the right to be free in our persons (Fourth Amenmdent) is an inalienable right. The anti choice crowd likes to crow about America being a Christian nation, or that the framers never intended abortion to be a right, that’s why they didn’t specifically include it. Both of these are flat out lies. America is not, never was, and was not created to be a theocracy. And I escort so that it never will be.
I escort for all women. Because women should not be bullied. Because women deserve comprehensive health care. They deserve to go to a doctor, in their own town, and to be able to walk in the door without harassment and aggravation. They deserve to make their own health care choices, not have the government or a preacher or a husband or a boyfriend or a rapist decide for them. Women deserve the respect and acknowledgment, even from themselves, that they are smart enough to know when they can and cannot raise a child.
I escort for the antis. Because they need to see true compassion. They think they are modeling Christian love and morals, but they are not, and true Christians should be appalled at their claiming of the banner. I am a woman of faith, although my faith looks very different from theirs or yours. I know, in my soul, that there is no higher power in the universe that would condone what these people do. And my faith compels me to be a good person, to show compassion to people who need it. And I believe that by doing that, I can affect the change I want to see in the world.
I escort for women who say “I would never have an abortion.” Because there might come a day when they need an abortion. It’s well and good to say that you would never want to have an abortion. But here’s the catch – nobody says “I hope one day I get to have an abortion, because I really want one!” These women that I escort into the clinic, they didn’t grow up hoping to some day be walking into an abortion clinic, through all the madness and hatred. I would ask that all the women who say they would never have an abortion stop and think for a moment. What if it were a problem pregnancy that was killing you? Would you leave your loved ones behind? If you already have children, as most women who seek abortions do, would you leave your children behind? What if your pregnancy sunk you into such a deep depression that you couldn’t care for yourself or your kids? What if that depression made you have continuing thoughts of hurting yourself or someone you love? What if you are raped, and emergency contraception fails (or, thanks to the efforts of the anti’s, you can’t get it at your pharmacy or hospital)? What if your baby has no brain? No face? No heart? Do you know what you would do in all of those cases? I don’t. But I do know that there might come a day where I am faced with making a very difficult choice, and no one else has the right to make that choice for me.
sisters for life rally 2009
Escorts, escorts everywhere!
October 24, 2009
Escorts: 70ish
Protesters: 60ish
Cops: 1 County Sherriff, 3 LMPD patrol cars with lights
This week we expected to be bombarded with anti-choice protesters. The Kentucky Right to Life conference was in town and usually that means an up tic in protester numbers. So we made the call out to our regular Louisville folks, those brave souls who come out on Mother’s Day and Easter to help people navigate their way through hundreds of anti-choice protesters to enter the clinic.
We especially love our friends of faith who come out to show that not all people of faith choose to express that faith through judgment and condemnation.
But what made this past Saturday a little extra special is that we also had a crew of escorts come in from out of state, multiple states in fact. We had escorts from South Dakota, Kansas, Massachusetts, Illinois, Indiana and New Jersey. Many of these intrepid travelers had participated in the defense of Dr. Carhart’s clinic in Bellevue, NB. They met some of the Louisville’s clinic escorts there and thus the national networking of reproductive justice supporters began.
After plane rides and 15 hour drives, we all met for food, drink and a little southern hospitality, before descending into the work of a mini training of escorting tactics for the following morning. And while we are aware of the aggressive climate here it is often hard for people new to the scene to believe what actually happens to women trying to access abortion services.
And after a far to short sleep we were up and ready to go early. Wanting to be in place early, we all showed up around 6:45am. We began to create our walls of escorts to hold the door space around the door from the anti-choicers who like to crowd the clinic entrance. We also created a human door way from the street onto the sidewalk in front of the door to allow clients to bypass the gauntlet of protesters down the sidewalk. And by the time our regular prayers showed up there was a solid block of clinic escorts to provide a little bit of personal space for clients. And we waited for the extra anti-choice protesters to show up.
But they did not materialize. In fact, we had a really small crowd of protesters, fewer than most Saturday mornings. Where we usually see 40-70 regular protesters, this morning’s measly 60 did not impress, especially with folks in from across the state for their annual convention. I suppose one might argue that they were busy setting up for the conference, and maybe they were. But let me tell you, we had more escorts than protesters for possibly the first time in my 10 years.
This does not mean however that it was not a rough morning. With so many escorts and so few protesters our regular chasers were feeling a little under pressure. Mary was especially rabid this morning. She was really pushy approaching cars before clients were able to get out, blocking their doors and really getting up in their ways. It took our most skilled escorts to maintain any kind of personal space for the clients with her in pursuit. Larry David (the guy who trapped a client’s friend in the bathroom at White Castle, banging on the door yelling at her not to kill her baby) was very much his usual unhinged self, chasing clients and shoving escorts.
But over all it was a pretty typical morning at the clinic, escorts escorting, anti-choice protesters screaming and pushing, women making their way through crowds of people yelling at them every Saturday morning.
This may have been a typical morning at the clinic, but this is not normal.
Normal looks like women accessing abortion services just like any other medical services.
Just like regular people.
One of our vising friends writes for World Can’t Wait, and this is the piece they wrote Zombieland, USA. It’s a great piece and I highly recommend the read.
Womanizers
I made a tribute to some of the dudes that come out to tell women what they should and shouldn’t do with their bodies. It’s an interesting phenomenon. This video is more for entertainment value than anything else, using a lot of footage I’ve taken and a lot of pictures I’ve taken.
I would like to point out that while some of the male bodied/male presenting people that come out can be really horrendous and pushy and entitled, many lady protesters are worse. So don’t take this to mean that it’s all dudely dudes that come out, or that they are the worst (I think that Donna, Angela, Mary, other Mary, Pregnant Lady, etc all support the statement that female identified protesters are pretty awful). But it’s strange because none of these dudes have had a pregnancy scare (maybe their partners have had scares, but they’ve never had to pee on the stick and wait those long minutes to try and find out what’s up). They’ve never had to honestly take a step back and think “This is a decision I have to make for my own life – what is honestly the best option for me?” Maybe they’ve decided that for other pregnant people in their lives, but you get my point.
Anyways, it’s such an obvious, basic issue, but who are they to say what’s right for women? And, lets take the gender out of this and get at the biggie: what right does ANYone, male or female, have to evaluate someone else’s situation and make the “best” choice for another person?
So, without further ado, my tribute to the kind of men that are probably not very good in bed (because really, I don’t imagine that men who don’t respect women are very good at sex, respecting their partners needs, etc.):
Archbishop came and went, abortion still a woman’s choice
Saturday October 10, 2009
Escorts: 30 (rocking it out ya’ll)
Protesters: 120ish
Cops: 1 regular sheriff deputy, 1 police escort for the Archbishop and one random cop driving around the way.
This piece is posted over at rhrealitycheck.org and well worth the read about our lovely visit with Archbishop Joseph Kurtz. Thank you Shannon, you are awesome!
Here are a few videos from that day.
sure does inspire one to faith, all that mournful singing.
the regulars were a little wound up what with the Archbishop coming and all.
All in all, the day was a bit anticlimactic for us as escorts. We had fewer anti-choice protesters show up than we expected and for the most part it was a ‘normal’ Saturday at the only abortion clinic in Louisville Ky.
A little safety and little sanity
The men at the abortion clinic, the anti-abortion men who were standing there today like sentries; the pray-ers were almost all male today, except for a couple of nuns and a young woman or two. The Puritan Fathers and their side-kicks; they are the gauntlet, reciting their rosary. They fling the prayer like darts.
HailMaryfullofgracetheLordiswiththeeblessedartthouamongstwomentandblessedisthefruitofthywombJesus
and I can’t help it, I answer too in my head:
HolyMaryMotherofGodprayforussinnersnowandatthehourofourdeatha men.
But worse than that was Yellow Shirt, he must have been 6’3”, right in front of us, walking backwards, yelling, “Don’t kill your baby, abortion is wrong, abortion is always wrong, it would be wrong for me to rape you, that would always be wrong, for me to rape you would always be wrong, and abortion is always wrong, it’s wrong for you to kill your baby,” louder and louder, over and over.
It makes me think about all the women who get raped, not just here, but in Rwanda and the Congo and in countries where women count for even less, have less power, than they do here. Really, it is like he says, I guess, rape is a choice too, and – are we supposed to be grateful that he’s not choosing to rape anyone today? Or at least not right now?
And if there’s a man with the client, Yellow Shirt says, “Be a man, don’t kill your baby, listen to me brother, men don’t kill their babies, be a man, don’t let her do this, don’t let her kill your baby…”
I think about my friend Mike’s mother, years ago, back in the 40’s, when she was having Mike, she was in a military hospital, her husband, Mike’s Dad, was a kind of high ranking officer, and he was out somewhere when she went into labor.
So they called him, and he told them “don’t let her have that baby ‘til I get there.”
So they didn’t, you know, they actually tied her legs together so she couldn’t have it ‘til he got there.
It messed Mike up too – gave him Bells Palsy – paralyzed him on one side, his shoulder and his arm. When he was 11 or 12 they developed a surgery that fixed it, so he got the use of his arm then. But you know, they frigging tied her legs together because her husband said, “Don’t let her have that baby til I get there.”
And crazy Mary today, cause it’s not just men, and crazy Mary was so crazy today, leaning on me, pushing on me, trying to get closer to the woman. And Mary too, chanting, “Don’t do this, it’s wrong, you’ll regret it, look at this, you’ll be sorry, don’t kill your precious unborn baby, just look at this, look at this,…” trying to shove a picture of a fetus in the client’s face.
I never thought I’d be escorting at the abortion clinic. I have so much ambivalence about abortion. Kind of like war. I hate it, wish it didn’t exist – but I wasn’t out there screaming “baby killer” at the soldiers that came back from Vietnam, and didn’t think anyone else should have either.
There was a guy on a bicycle at the clinic today, he wasn’t with any of the regulars, he was alone. He stationed his bike so it was halfway across the sidewalk, so it would be hard to get by with a client.
And A, who I’ve known forever, was there, and Crazy Mary was there, and A started reading the agreement that the “40 Days of Lifers” are supposed to have signed out loud.
She’s reading it to Mary, and Mary’s just grinning, and A’s reading it over and over, “I will not verbally harass anyone, I will not have physical contact with anyone,” and so on, getting louder and louder, “I will not verbally harass anyone…” and then Mary’s saying, “I’m not, you are,” and laughing and getting louder and louder and finally I say real quietly, “A, I don’t think engaging her is helping right now,” and she looks at me, and laughs, “I guess it’s not,” and stops.
And then she starts talking to the guy on the bike, and she says he’s not supposed to block the sidewalk, and then he calls her a bitch, and says she needs to shut her mouth, he says something about some people deserve to die, but innocent babies don’t, and he rides off; and then another girl says he was telling her that he’s got guns, that he got a gun license because of things like this where he has to defend himself, and we all thought, oh, shit, and kind of half expected him to ride around the block and come back shooting.
But he didn’t.
And when we told the security guard about it, the guard even seemed concerned and said to let him know if bike guy came back. Which I’m sure would be a big help.
It was when Dr. Tiller got killed that I started thinking maybe I should escort. Sure, the “pro-life” people kept saying, oh, no, they didn’t mean that anybody should kill anybody, but it felt like they were thinking something different. They sounded so innocent, and at the same time there was this undertone that maybe sometimes you had to be violent to save lives. It pissed me off.
Dr. George Tiller
The guard at the clinic was quite chatty today – he was talking about how when there’s physical contact, if both sides are involved, if there’s contact on both sides, it’s both their faults. I said it was kind of hard, when Mary came up and started leaning on me, it was hard not to have physical contact back since she was pushing against me, and I’d have to knock into the client to move away from her.
He said that he thinks of the situation as sort of like if a whole bunch of people were waiting to buy tickets for a concert, and there’d naturally be some arguments and people saying, he pushed me, and no, I was here first.
I nodded like I agreed, sure I could see his point, then I mimed thinking real hard and I said, “Yeah, I see, but – gosh, really – we’re not all here for the same reason. Like, we’re not all here to buy tickets.” And I’m still acting like I’m really thinking, which I guess in a way I was, and I say,
“I mean, the clients are the only ones that really belong here…” pause, “and they just want to get to the clinic…,”
pause,
“and legally I think they’ve got a right to do that,”
big pause,
“and the protesters are actually trying to stop them from getting to the clinic – and”
quickly
“I wouldn’t even be here if the protesters didn’t harass them like they do.”
He looks at me with some amazement, and I say with a shrug,
“So, I don’t know…”
He says,
“Well, what I’d like to do is get some of these other people together first thing on Saturdays, you know, them other people, not youall, and just go over with them these rules, you know, just tell ‘em, this is the way it’s gonna be.”
Now it’s my turn to look amazed, and I hope I look admiring too, I say, “Wow. That’d really be cool, wouldn’t it?”
you walk through that crowd
And then there’s another car in the parking lot, and crazy Mary heading for it, along with some other chasers and just one escort, so I flash a smile at him, and cross the street.
But what really did it for me, got me down here at seven o’clock in the morning on a Saturday morning, was the Catholic church’s response to that situation in Central America, or maybe it was South America, with the nine year old girl. Did you hear about it? The little girl had been raped by her step-father, raped repeatedly, and was pregnant, she was pregnant with twins. She was nine. The doctor told her mother that she couldn’t possibly carry twins to term, that it would kill her. So they all agreed that an abortion was necessary to save the little girl’s life. And the Vatican rose up, in all its authoritarian glory, and said they were all excommunicated – the doctor, the nurses, even the little girl’s mother – they were all excommunicated. Reminded me of the Red Queen screaming, “Off with their heads!” But of course lots of other people besides me didn’t like it either, in fact, so many people complained that the Vatican apologized – yep, they came back and apologized, said that they had been wrong. Said they should have expressed some compassion for the little girl, acknowledged how awful it was that this had happened to her, before they excommunicated everyone.
D’s escorting too, today, and I’ve known him a long time too. Towards the end today, when he realized what was going on with crazy Mary – he said, speaking softly,
“I realized every time she was with a group, it seemed like there were bodies flying,”
and of course there weren’t really, but it does feel like it. So he came across the street and said he was just going to stay on her.
“Where ever she goes, I’ll be there,” he said.
And sure enough, the next client, Mary started trying to move in on the side and Dan was just there, between her and the client, and he’s too big for her to reach around, and too strong for her to shove around, and he’s so gentle and calm that somehow the tension level went way down instead of up. And I was so grateful, both at the moment and now. It helps to remember how his power felt warm and reassuring and safe.
And really it’s good to remember just that, when the world starts to feel all too white male dominated, too hierarchical, too Puritan-Father, it’s good to remember that men are also D, and K, it’s good to remember all the others who, you know, use that masculine power for good. Who aren’t scared of equal and don’t believe control is the only way to go. Who, together with A and M and A and all of us, are working on bringing a little safety and a little sanity to the clinic.
Every Saturday morning.
Welcome to Every Saturday Morning
Hi.
Every Saturday morning between 30ish and 60ish people show up at 7 am to protest at and harass women entering EMW Women’s Surgical Center.
Escorts provide emotional and tactical support to clients of EMW. We do this by using our bodies to create personal space for the people entering the clinic. We meet clients at their cars, identify ourselves, ask for consent to walk with them to the door, then escort the client and support persons into the clinic.
We do this because clients of the clinic are often met at their cars by protesters. Between 2 and 5 protesters will follow/chase a client from their car parked in the public lot across the street to the private property line; talking at them, handing out literature, attempting to steer clients into the fake clinic down the block, shouting misinformation, slowing their pace, blocking the door and impeding clients any way they can.
While all of this is going on there are another 30ish-60is protesters lining the sidewalk in front of the clinic door, praying the rosary, holding signs, shouting at women and creating traffic in front of the door.
This happens because this is the only abortion clinic in Louisville KY. The only other clinic in the state is in Lexington. EMW owns both clinics.
This is a pro-choice blog.
Every Saturday Morning is mostly about my experiences escorting. But I will add a few thoughts regarding reproductive and sexual justice, gender, health, education, empowerment and what ever else seems applicable.
Dec 6, 2008
Escorts: 7
Protesters: about 40
Cops: 2
Ohmygod it was cold this morning, 20 degrees with a wind chill of 16 and flurries throughout the morning. We have been a little short on escorts the last few weeks cause life happens. Good for us, the fundies have not been getting out too much either.
Mary was all worked up this morning. The first client I walked in was a young woman and her mother. Mary was pulling on one of the other escort’s arms and trying to grab the coat of the client waving around a flier with the images of ” dead babies” around. She [the client] clearly said to Mary “No thank you, please leave me alone”. Mary then tried to shove the escort so she could pass by along the fence.
At this point the escort and I were on either side of the client and her mother. I hear the escort yell at Mary to let go, and they ended up aginst the fence. I didn’t see what happened, and kept on with the client. As we walked down the sidewalk, I saw Mike, Mary’s Hubby, running past me videoing.
The client was a little freaked out as we began going down the gauntlet.
The protesters have begun this new tactic of stepping out of the prayer line towards the client and yell at her, all the way to the door. There have always been one or two to do this occasionally but not like this.
One woman at the end of the line would say “adoption” as we walked past. Others yell “don’t murder your baby”, or whatever, at some point it just becomes loud. And with all of the people stepping in the way, there was no way to keep walking without having to go around them.
Finally, we almost get to the private property line, and Donna, Angela and Straw Beard all attempting to hand the young woman and her mother lit while blocking their path . There are two escorts by the door. One stepped out onto the sidewalk and created space for the client to walk through. As the pair walked up the escort stepped aside so they could get through the protesters. The other escort opened the door for them and we all walked into the clinic anteroom. Both the client and her mother had tears in their eyes and were a little shaken. They both expressed their dismay at how loud and aggressive the protester were. I let them know that most if not all of the protesters would be gone when they were on their way home. And tried to give them a little encouragement.
Back out on the streets, a bunch of the fundies were yelling at the cops that the escort needed to be arrested (I find this always gets me what I want with cops). Eventually it all died down with no arrests, the cop told Mary to quit shoving people and back off.
At some point later in the morning, the cop said to the escort in question that if she would stay home the protesters would not act so aggessively.
Way to excuse the perpertrator of their bad behavior.
So this escort began having the same conversation that we always have with the cops regarding the clinic.
We train our escorts in conflict mediation, de-escelation tactics, providing emotional support and discourage interations that would engage the fundies.
This is not the culmination of our “Pro-Choice” activism. We work all over our region with lots of people to improve the definitions of access and empowerment in our community through reproductive and sexual justice.
My thoughts this week have been occupied with ideas of defining access in my region and what do I want access to mean? Undue Burden has been so watered down that we expect to have to fight to get in the door. The threshold of burden is so high that we take for granted that access is so much more.
Emotional intimidation is undue burden.
Harassment is undue burden.
Having to beg, borrow and roll pennies to afford the cost of an abortion is undue burden.
Verbal abuse and name calling is undue burden.
A Waiting Period is undue burden.
Having to drive 3 hours to a clinic is undue burden.
All of these things hurt all of us. And why can’t we recognize that Reproductive and Sexual autonomy are not privileges granted to those who can afford them? or to those who have the ability to jump through hoops, or push past protesters or what ever else gets in the way of medical care…
Dec 13, 2008
Escorts: 9
Protesters: 50-60
Cops: 3 (I think ?)
looking down the gauntlet to the clinic door, south side of Market St. 45ish protesters.
Overall it was a quiet morning.
Still really cold, low 20s this morning at 6:30am. Lots of protesters this morning, there was a bus from a mountain bible college with mournful silent night carols and “dead baby” signs.
Angela and crew from the fake clinic across the street diverted one couple into their clinic mid way through the morning. It was a classic divide and conquer technique. The fundies were standing very close to the client, two talking to her, one talking to the partner away from the client, and several more standing around praying. All of this happened on the north side of the street a little bit down from the fake clinic’s doors.
One of the escorts walked over and made sure that they were ok, and they said they were and decided to check out the fake clinic. All of the fundies hurried this couple in the doors and disappeared.
In general, I think the fake clinic is representative in their approach of many lifers around the country. They are bound and determine to provide inaccurate, strongly gendered, information that denies the existence of body and sex positive interactions. Bullying and condemnation round out the list of emotional manipulation used to keep people disempowered.
I think they suck.
That being said, if a client wants to check out their services, great. Whatever this person needs to make a good decision I encourage them to look. But I also encourage them to understand where they are getting their information and to be aware of the bias of the facility they are visiting.
I am interested in creating spaces where people are able to make informed decisions based on their own evaluation of their lives. But without being sold the fear mongering and emotionally manipulative package the abstinance only camp has worked up.
It is so important that we recognize not every person who decides to terminate a pregnancy has a set of circumstances that diapers and computer classes will effect.
The count from the protesters was 11 clients empowering themselves to access safe, legal reproductive and sexual medicine.
Dec 13, continued
This post is me expounding upon one of the many things I find upsetting about the culture I see at the clinic. I want to preface this post with the statement that I am being judgmental of the protesters. I stress throughout my dialogue regarding sexual and reproductive justice that it is dangerous to assume that we know what someone else experiences in their life. But this is one of those moments where I am irked by the inability of the protesters to see much of anything.
Something I have noticed in general about the protesters as a group is being consistently inappropriately dressed.
I don’t get it.
They show up in twenty degree weather with no hats or gloves, or in thin socks and Capri pants. They will kneel in the rain and wind chill and I guess they think they are being humble or tested or something.
And fine if that is how they find god, Enjoy.
The thing that really gets me is when they drag their children out and do the same thing.
Up by the private property line a family with 5 or so small children were praying completely inappropriately dressed. These children were so cold, they were crying and hopping up and down and miserable.
One of the escort began making loud conversation with me regarding the lack of appropriate clothing. Over the rosary, we openly pointed out their lack of gloves, hats, bare ankles, and shivers.
Eventually a protester, not their parent, went and got the girls some blankets and wrapped them up, and over and hour later the family went home.
I acknowledge that many families do not have the resources to adequately dress for cold weather. But as my friend the escort pointed out, the fake clinic across the street has children’s clothes to give out.
My point is that the clinic is not an appropriate place for children. I think it is an aggressive and hostile environment that is complex and can be very confusing for kids.
It is incredibly audacious to bring your blue lipped 3 year old to call another person a murder.
So I am sorry to not have written for a few weeks. The week before christmas I was visiting friends in New Orleans and thus missed clinic. Usually I make it a point of looking up and visiting abortion clinics while I am traveling, but I did not manage to actually go see any on this trip. However I would like to comment on abortion access in LA.
Like KY, LA is a state that has a mostly rural population with a few metropolitan areas. There are not great statistics regarding access in LA post Katrina, however, in 2005 there were 9 abortion providers in the state. 92% of counties in LA had no provider in 2005 and 62% of women lived in those counties. Teenagers must get consent of at least one parent, there is manditory 24 hour in person counseling, and public funding is only available for abortions to save the life of the mother, or cases of rape or insest. All of these stats come from the Guttmacher Insitute, guttmacher.org.
A few providers in the NOLA area:
Causeway Medical Clinic
3040 Ridgelake Drive
Metairie, Louisiana 70002
504-837-1272 or
Toll Free: 800-749-7265
http://www.abortion-new-orleans.com
Women’s Healthcare Center, Inc.
2701 General Pershing St.
New Orleans, LA 70115
(504) 899-6010
(888) 899-6011
Fax: (504) 899-4483
mail@womenshealthcarecenter.com
Midtown Medical (504) 895-0990
3500 Saint Charles Avenue # 100,
New Orleans, LA 70115
DISCLAIMER: I have not spoken with or visited any of these clinics. I can not tell you anything about them, their services or how they treat their clients. Please use a critical eye when contacting any abortion clinic, ask questions and make sure you feel comfortable with the provider. Also make sure you are speaking with an abortion provider and not a fake clinic. Specifically ask if they provide abortions or referrals for abortions. If they do not give you a direct answer keep pressing.
Deccember 20, 2008
So it is now January, and I am just getting caught up on posts for the clinic.
As I said before, I was in New Orleans Dec 20 and the report from that week was great.
It was really cold, in the single digits with a gnarly wind. Towanda, one of our regular escorts for the last decade, said it was one of the most calm mornings at the clinic that she had ever seen. There were no protesters chasing clients from their cars to the clinic door; most weeks we have as many as 6 chasers. There were 10 or so escorts and just a few (25) protesters praying.
As I was not there for tis week I don’t have much to say other than:
Good work escorts for being so dedicated to showing up at 7 am in single digit cold to encourage and validate female bodied people’s access to abortion and other reproductive medical care. I am eternally impressed by and grateful for your strength.
January 9, 2009 by andy
January 9 2009
Escorts: 10
Protesters: about 55
Cops: 1 and he stayed warm and dry in his car parked at the corner of 2nd St. and Market were he could not see either the door of the clinic or the parking lot.
It was rainy and in the low 40s this morning, just lovely.
We were busy this morning; we escorted approximately 20 clients in an hour and a half. The protesters were behaving badly all morning.
Angela again recognized the support person of a client this morning. She apparently knew the niece of this woman and began calling out “S_____’s aunt, come out of there, I’m calling S_____ and we can talk about this”. Angela then called this woman’s niece and they began trying to figure out who the client was. When Angela got off of the phone it sounded like the niece was going to try to call the support person. I went inside and spoke with the intake nurse letting her know that this woman may need some extra support. The intake nurse said she already knew and they were talking with the client and the woman. I can’t begin to describe my disgust at this behavior. I have never seen anyone be so disrespectful and intrusive into other people’s lives as Angela is on a regular basis. There are so many things wrong with this scenario, it is hard to know where to begin, but I will start with:
First if this young woman had wanted S __ to know she was having an abortion, she would have told her.
Second it is not Angela’s right or responsibility to out this woman to her family. Angela has no idea what family dynamics are involved.
Third this act is intended to intimidate and shame this young woman as well as her support person. The impetus behind this type of invasion of privacy is to dominate the decision making process with fear and concern for what others will think.
This type of power dynamic creates an environment where the 1 in 3 American women who will have an abortion in her lifetime, is made to feel the need to hide this normal part of her reproductive life from the world.
Make no mistake, this is about power.
Who has the efficacy to make decisions in women’s lives? Do we allow people like Angela to harass and instigate familial discord? Why is she allowed to even be close enough to the door of the clinic to be able to pick out an individual she may know? This does not fall under the heading of speaking one’s mind. This is not about protecting Angela’s right to free speech. This morning I saw a woman’s privacy be violated by a stranger on the street.
This is one of the moments where a buffer zone could have allowed some privacy to this woman; privacy for women to be free from the disdainful need of busy bodies to stick their noses into other people’s business.
The woman who can not seem to dress her five children appropriately for bringing them out into inclement weather was again present with her shivering wet brood. Again the young priest came to the rescue and let them use his umbrella. One would hope he will eventually make sure this family has the resources to dress the children for weather.
I hope eventually they will realize the clinic is not an appropriate place for children. Because letting them observe the actions of people like Angela teaches them great lessons in autonomy. Oh wait they are catholic, they don’t believe in autonomy, never mind. I guess this family just gets its jollies from being cold and wet.
The chasers from the fake clinic across were out this morning and attempted to confuse a non-English speaking client by telling them their appointment was in the wrong clinic. This is a regular tactic of the fake clinic crowd. We have gotten reports from the clinic of clients reporting mistakenly going to the fake clinic and being told a translator was on the way, only to be left for hours waiting, thus missing their appointments. Classy deception.
Good thing our escorts are on top of things and were able to appropriately direct the client. However, this does illustrate an ongoing issue on the sidewalk, we are always in need of those persons with language skills. On a regular basis we encounter clients who speak a myriad of languages and we are generally unprepared to communicate with them. We have several Spanish speakers who are semi-regular escorts, but other than that we must hope that we can adequately convey the reality of the situation to them.
The last thing I saw as I was driving away from the clinic was Angela laying hands on a young man. I had watched her chase after him as he was walking to his car. I didn’t hear any of their interaction, but he deffinately did not seem excited about talking with her and tried to walk away from her on the sidewalk. But as I turned the corner onto 1st St, there they were. I slowed down and Towanda got this picture. We then yelled out the window asking if he was ok. He gave us a slight nod, and made the you do what you gotta do shrug that indicated to both of us, if this is what it took to get this crazy woman to leave him alone then fine. Again, I have to point out Angela’s complete disregard for personal space. She chased this man down an entire city block and around the corner so that she could accost him and lay on hands.
WHY IS THIS NOT HARASSMENT? Coercion is as much a method of intimidation as out loud condemnation and often more insidious.
Anyway, by the time I got home it had stopped raining, of course.
January 17, 2009 by andy
January 17, 2009 by andy
Escorts: 7
Protesters: about 65
Cops: 1
Jesus, Mary and Joseph it was colder than a witch’s tit out there this morning. It was 6 degrees at dawn with a wind chill of -1, we were out there for almost an hour before the sun came up. And it was as aggressive as it was cold. For the week before the Roe v. Wade anniversary and the week before the inauguration of Barak Obama, the anti- abortion crowd is feeling a little like a cornered animal.
And they are lashing out.
At the women.
Isn’t that christian of them.
I was late of course, with a car full of escorts. When we turned onto Market St. there were two groups of protesters, one on the north side of the street (across the street from the clinic door) and the usual gauntlet on the south side. There were chasers aplenty as the fake clinic had extra people out to as well as Angela (Catholic) and the creepy crew.
Mary and Mary2 were both rabid today, crying and pushing and running and wailing at every client.
We had several young clients this morning and these wackos think if they just scare her enough she will change her mind.
One of the last clients I walked in this morning was a female bodied person with her parents and either partner or brother. This family was completely unprepared for the venom they received from Mary. As they were all getting out of the car and getting their things protesters approached them from the rear of their car with a van next to them, blocking their path. The girl was crying and trying to hide her face from them in her parent’s arms. Her parents were both wide eyed but kept it together.
Mike and Mary
While they were gathering their wits and things about them Mary was yelling at them from around the front of the car. She yelled at the girl that they [her parents] couldn’t make her do this, and that if she wanted help they would help her get away from them. She said the girl would never forgive her parents and they would all hate each other for ever. She admonished the parents not to damage their daughter with this kind of abuse. She called them all abusers and murders. This family held on to each other and put one foot in front of the other through a scrum of shoving protesters, across the street, past Mike wielding his video camera in her face and down the gauntlet past protesters trying to step in her way and yelling at her.
We finally made it into the clinic anteroom, and the girl went straight to the corner and began to sob. Her parents and partner all held onto her and cried. The father grabbed my arm and held on as he held his family. I affirmed the young woman’s autonomy, expressed my faith in their familial strength and tried to offer some kind words.
I have no doubt that this family was going to be ok. They were together and even though this is hard, they had each other.
What an amazing difference unconditional love and kindness makes in a hard situation. My wish for every person who obtains an abortion is to have as strong a support as this family demonstrated.
Instead of these condemning, judgmental, voyeuristic, hateful, busybodies.
Happy Roe v. Wade day every body. Tell the people in your life that have had an abortion that you love them and are proud of them. Tell the people in your life that support other who have abortions you appreciate them. Tell the a-funds, nurses, doctors, escorts, pharmasists, doulas, midwives, techs, educators, and others involved in providing support and access to reproductive health care they are acknowledged, empowered, needed, loved and supported.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Happy Roe V. Wade Day!!!
i’d like to take a minute to be grateful to all the people who have fought the hard, lonely and scary battle to secure access to medical care for themselves and others. those who have stood up and demanded what they needed even without anyone standing with them. those who have supported others in so many ways while facing the challenges and joys of our sexual and reproductive lives.
“miscarriage happens when the body is not ready to carry a pregnancy to term. abortion happens when the heart and the mind are not ready to carry a pregnancy to term.” unfortunately, we don’t remember the source of this fabulous quote.
Abortion is an ugly topic, because it is a very real, and sometimes difficult decision to make. This does not mean it should be swept under rugs, or into back alleys. People have terminated unwanted pregnancies for as long as time can tell. it’s time for the stigma to be removed, and for true access to be applied. this type of CHANGE takes effort from everyone. get loud about it. if the pro lifers are the only ones doing any talking, and all they’re doing is judging people and spreading misinformation, how will people just learning ever know the truth, or that they are not alone?
*talk about how abortion is a safe and normal part of reproductive health.
*volunteer at abortion clinics, planned parenthood, other health clinics, drop-ins etc.
*encourage birth control, and free condoms.
*join, or donate money to the A fund or KRCRC.
*support people facing unwanted pregnancies.
*read andy’s blog about escorting at the clinic: everysaturdaymorning. wordpress. com
*attend WENCH’s escort training saturday 1-31-09 in the basement of Fourth Ave Methodist Church at 9am.
*ask elders about memories of what it was like before January 22, 1973.
Again with January 17 and January 24 by andy
January 24, 2009 by andy
Escorts: 14
Protesters: maybe 30
Cops: 1
It was in the low 30s this morning, not too bad over all. And for the most part it was a regular morning, with pushing and yelling. Mary was wound up and being extra preachy at the escorts. She accused us of thinking we know everything. This allegation is silly since it is the escorts that recognize that we do not have enough information to make informed decisions regarding anyone’s choice to obtain an abortion. She is the one that thinks diapers and computer classes will fix every problem pregnancy.
But over all it was nothing special and we had way more escorts than we could have really put to good use. Thanks for coming out everybody. After last week we wanted some back up and we got it in spades.
I am going to write about this week in another post, because I have more to say about last week.
I would like to say again that we got our collective asses run all over the place by the protesters. They were physically aggressive and very intent on impeding the ability of clients to enter the clinic. Mary, Mary2, some semi-regular prayer, both Angelas (Catholic and Pentecostal) and the fake clinic staff were all up in the mix. We had no police support until the very end, and then he escalated the problem.
In the same scrum I wrote about last week, there was another side to the story that I did not tell.
The semi-regular prayer, we’ll call him “Buck”, got his panties twisted into knots so tight he began flailing at clients.
Over my back, around the other escorts, thrusting lit at the client in a manner that can only be described as threatening.
The client’s boyfriend (?) was trying to make space through the mob of Mary and the other 4 or 5 protesters, who were surrounding us and really making the trip from parking lot to door cumbersome.
The father was trying to keep the family together and holding onto the client as we walked.
We finally got across the street and onto the sidewalk, where the cop was standing watching.
As Towanda was being stepped on by Buck, she yelled to the cop “Are you going to do anything about this?” and his response was to hook her by the shoulder, headed in the opposite direction dragging her out from under the protester and away from the pack. He then motioned for Buck to follow. They all went across the street and were lectured.
Buck was shamed pretty well, the cop said that he looked like an upstanding citizen and that he should know better than to act like “that” (an over grown bully).
He told Towanda that she was the problem, that she should not respond to the protesters aggression and that she is too emotionally involved (because the thugs for a loving jesus are paragons of rationality and even tempers).
He threatened to arrest everyone if there was more pushing.
Really?
Again we see the status quo perpetuated; women are not entitled to be free from harassment if they are having an abortion. This is a charged issue, we must let the protesters speak their mind, and clients should understand that it is going to be like this.
Bull shit.
Access means more than just being able to get in the door. Access includes being free from judgment and harassment as one handles ones own business. Access includes being treated as a whole person with feelings, thoughts, hopes and wishes as complex and valid as those of the protesters. To be free from intimidation and coercion regardless of the choice being made.
We as a society do not stigmatize anyone as thoroughly as we do people who have abortions. We think there are two types of women, those who have abortions and those who have babies. This is just not the case. The Alan Guttmacher Institute reports that “about 60% of women having abortions have one or more children”; and that about one third of all American women will have an abortion in their lifetime.
With this in mind I contend that abortion is a normal part of our reproductive lives. We as female bodied people are empowered to care for ourselves and our families and we must not tolerate this kind of moralistic fervor. We must stand up for ourselves and acknowledge the realities of our live.
So make some noise.
Take a radical stance.
Empower yourself and others.
Trust each other.
Clinic Escort Training
Clinic Escort Training
When: Saturday January 31, 2009 9am
Where: 4th Ave. United Methodist Church 318 W. St. Catherine Street
Who: Anyone who is committed to ensuring empowered access to the only abortion clinic in Louisville Ky
Why: Every Saturday Morning 30-60 protesters show up to EMW Women’s Surgical Center and harass clients entering the clinic
What: Learn techniques to provide tactical and emotional support for clients and their support persons on the public street
coffee and sweets will be provided by KYRCRC. Thanks to all our supporters.
unusually fair morning
one of the only perks to this gig.
When i say it was a fair morning several things spring to mind.
1) it was an unseasonably warm day, after a wretched ice storm, so we were nearly giddy to only need one layer of socks this morning.
2) since the incident a few weeks back when the officer on duty assaulted an escort, he has received some redirection from clinic management and has proven a little more supportive for the last two Saturdays. almost refreshing, but after nine years, i don’t make assumptions about the way things will be.
3) a meaning of fair that rarely applies to this setting is one of equality. this week there was an unusual number of empowered clients coming in. we always ask permission to walk with folks, and today we had many say “no thank you, i’m fine” some of them ingored the judgements and pictures, some quickened their pace, and walked on stoically. One friend of a client yelled “get the fuck away from us, i will call the police” so loudly that she was heard down the street and across the block. i informed this woman that the police were present if she would like to press harassment charges, and was sure to let her know that she was a good friend. it’s not a good example of fairness, but noteworthy in comparison.
we had 11 escorts. there were about 30 protesters.
one woman who works at the decoy clinic had plenty to say to the cop about how appauled she was that there was ice on the sidewalk still “who’s responsible for these sidewalks?…” she was wearing fashion boots with heals. some things just aren’t fair, huh?
Feb 15, 2009 by andy
Feb 15, 2009
Escorts: 13
Protesters: 90-100
Cops: 1
“The bond that links a true family is not one of blood, but of joy and respect in each other’s lives; rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof”
Tales of a Reluctant Messiah
by Richard Bach
I showed up at the clinic Saturday morning and at 7:00am there were between 50 and 60 protesters lining the gauntlet before the clinic doors opened. The weather was almost not cold and I guess the protesters were feeling froggy.
We had a few chasers this morning, Angela being the main culprit, but in addition to her there was a new young couple out getting up in the mix. The guy mostly took pictures and talked to Zen Master D. The young gal on the other hand was very assertive chasing clients from their cars trying to hand out lit and redirect them.
Rick from the Creepy Crew was out lurking as usual in the parking lot.
And sometime around 7:45 am Mary and Mike march up 2nd St and onto Market across from the clinic door with another 35-50 people. They stood around completely blocking the sidewalk for the rest of the morning saying the rosary.
The happenings this morning that stick out in my mind the most however, came from a family of 5 I have never seen at the clinic before. The parents were in the late 20s or early 30s and had three small children ranging from maybe 3 to 7 years old. They stood at entrance to the parking lot and as clients walked the mother would push her children into the path of the client and escorts offering to speak with the client about family.
Now I have seen the protesters use almost every tactic I can think of to persuade pregnant people that to give birth to a baby, but this takes the cake.
CHILDERN ARE NOT POLITICAL TOOLS.
They should not be used as props to intimidate, shame, guilt and distract women.
There is nothing wrong with having an abortion.
And instead of dragging children out into the cold on a Saturday morning to use them as happy, white, heteronormative examples of a socially constructed familial paradigms, Stop and recognize that all kinds of families make the decision to have an abortion.
Many people make the decision to have an abortion to preserve their family’s well being.
The assumptions made by these protesters about the family structures of women choosing to have an abortion belie the complex reality we, as whole and unique individuals, exist in.
And until we are able to break through the socially constructed heteronormative family as our default interpretation of family we will continue to miss out on the vast beauty of what family can really be.
Inclusive, supportive, loving, tolerant, real, strong and unconditional.
getting warmer…
this week was interesting to say the least. for the first time in too long it was light out when we arrived. this was especially nice because there was a TON of traffic on market street at this hour, compared to the usually calm road. we witnessed at least 4 times the car traffic we are used to. luckily we had plenty of escorts, and we all worked really well together, despite many obstacles.
one major hurtle we’ve had for the last few weeks has been dealing with a new wave of “sidewalk counselors” from the decoy clinic down the block. chasers from the fake clinic usually station themselves in the parking lot on the north side of the street. the lot is on the same side of the street as the fake clinic, across from EMW. these protestors are known for offering a free ultarsound (packaged with a lot of mis-information) and have been know to convince clients for whom english is not their primary language that “the doctor is this way”. this trick can also be effective when the client and their support person(s) are not from louisville and are easily confused. for the most part protesters from A Woman’s Choice (AWC, nice name huh?) are easy to deal with. this may be why we are seeing more and more of them, and the trend these days has been for the men to do the sidewalk work. “my wife works in there, she would love to talk to you about the truth of your options.” these men say while reaching over escorts and pushing their ways to clients. this week we saw about nine. this is a massive number of chasers in general, much less all in one place, then add in both marys (who hopped from one side of the street to the other all morning) and we really had our hands full!
the parking lot
there are a million and one things that can be said about what’s wrong with men objecting to a woman’s right to choose what happens to her body. the entitlement oozing out of these privileged young white men is sickening. all we can do is try to be as effective and empowering as possible in our escorting.
we are lucky (in a way i guess) that this is happening during a time when our regular police officer is on leave and we are working with a deputy from the sheriff’s office who actually identified himself to us as pro choice and proved quite helpful this morning. The deputy spent almost the whole morning picking out protesters and talking at length with them over the city’s harassment law. he was quick to stop his conversation and observe the chaos when i pointed out to him the scene pictured above. he checked in with the escorts as well to let us know what he’d been working on and to let us know how that was coming along. it was mildly comforting, but i don’t think it will be long lasting.
if i may make one more point about the appauling behavior of men trying to effect the actions of women around their reproductive health, i’d like to tell a quick tale about the last client we walked in today…
from my perspective, at the door:
a scuffle of people approached the entrance to the clinic, i opened the door and a young woman of color popped out of the crowd and through the door. when clients go under general annesthsia they are required to have someone sign that they will give the woman a ride home. i didn’t see anyone with the woman, so i started asking if she was alone (trying not to pry. escorts have been known to sign for someone who does not have anyone with them.) The girl indicated to me that her aunt was here, and as she turned to look out the door and check on her people she noticed that her partner had walked right past the clinic entrance and was just walking towards 2nd st! ” he’s got the money” she told me. i was out the door after him. i ran and hollered for him to join his friend “i’m not going in there” he told me. i was dumbfounded. he rounded the corner, being followed by angela while this girl’s aunt and cousin got into the clinic. we were all awe struck. These people had driven from Evansville IN (about two hours). the aunt tried to track him some, while andy tried to get a hold of the powers that be at A Fund to see if it was possible to cover the whole cost for now (usually all that A Fund will pledge is $100). he had disappeared, and we could not reach anyone to put more money down for this woman. they decided to try to track down ol’ boy which we encouraged them to do in their car since protesters were all over them by this time (“thank you lord for this holy ghost obstacle. you are worthy…” says angela.)
we were too furious to go home, so we decided to make an effort to track this guy down. sure enough we spotted him ducking into the food court of 4th st live! (a big shopping mall in the middle of a downtown street). i hopped out of the car and followed him while my two friends parked the car. i caught up to him in an empty corridor. (think fast girl. breathe.)
i got him to engage me while my friend tried to get through to the ladies, why does timing have to be so awful sometimes?
i told him that i knew this wasn’t easy, that i had dealt with an unwanted pregnancy, and that as much as we may wish for it to just go away, that’s a pretty rare solution. i gave him a little guilt over everyone having to drive so far for nothing, asked him if he had a plan, “i’m just praying” i think that was the most he said to be the whole time. we decided after a bit to walk a little. i think that when he saw my friends he decided he was through with me. i offered him a ride back to the clinic and he just quickened his pace more. in a minute he was rounding the corner a half a block away from us. then we got through to the ladies. (UGGHHH!)
my friend hopped in their car to help navigate around our one way streets, and my other friend and i drove around in our car for a while. he’d disappeared. who know’s to where. i’m shocked we found him the once. we all drove back to the clinic where the client rescheduled for tuesday. the A Fund pledged $100 towards her procedure and she said she would be able to get the rest.
WHAT A HORRIBLE HASSLE!!!
if the protesters don’t stop you, you’re partner will! WTF!!!
i don’t know if it was her money or his, it’s none of my businees and it doesn’t matter. i do know that his ass got left in louisville, and whenever he does get back he might wish he’d just moved to the ‘ville.
i understand that this is never a situation someone wants to be in, no matter which body you’re in, but we have to deal with these situations one way or another. it was clear that the woman knew what was best for her, if only she’d thought to get the money off of him before them. was this planned? did he think he could stop her? was this his shitty way of saying if you do this i’m breaking up with you? did he really think this was an okay thing to do???
be back next saturday, same bad time, same bad channel.
notes from a Ken’s first saturday 3/21/09
I spent two hours this morning providing a barrier between women going into an abortion clinic and those that would see the procedure outlawed. I have lived a pretty full and often bizarre life, dabbling in all manners of lifestyles and realities but what I saw today twisted my head far worse than any mushroom, pill, smoke or juice fast I have ever indulged.
I’m just home from a session at O’Shea’s trying to get my head around this (therapy is for people that can’t afford a good bartender). I need to write this, get it out there, get it out of my head. Please read no further if you expect me to be fair or even-tempered or civil about the anti-abortion thugs I saw today. Those people are VILE! And Jesus is going to be right pissed off at them when they get to his heaven.
These poor women drive up, emotional taxed at the decision they have made, forcing their every step to do what women are intrinsically, genetically wired NOT to do. Immediately they are set upon by eight to fifteen strangers, half wearing orange vests and looking like rugby players asking if they’d like an escort, the other half begging them not to kill their baby. Most accept the escorts. Those that don’t – two today, I think – were pretty much badasses that threatened to knock a bitch out if she didn’t get out of her face with all that Jesus mythology bullshit.
The escorts surround the patient and their supporter, two in the back, one on each side. The ones on the side hold extended hands in front of the client, forming a wedge, all four keeping a bodywidth buffer between the patient and the protesters trying to hand pamphlets and rosaries, saying shit like “your baby may cure cancer” and “you’ll burn in hell for all eternity for this”. One freak even holds up her less-than-six-month-old baby in front of the client and walks, BACKWARDS, down the broken sidewalk. It was cold out at 7 this morning and this baby is wearing nothing but a sleeper. That bitch should have her kid placed in protective services.
I took up station on the street in front of the clinic with one, sometimes another escort. When the entourage arrived, it was our job to extend an arm and make a hallway through the idiots. For as toxic and potentially volatile as that sounds, this was never the point of greatest tension. As I understand it, that usually came in the parking lot with one or two of the most zealot getting overly pushy and aggressive to get to the patient before the escorts. There was one moment when the crowd compressed just as the entourage was passing through and the asshole behind me shoved me and screamed not to push him. I said “I didn’t shove you, you gotta give us room to get through.” And that was it. He left shortly after that.
In another tense moment, a homeless looking man with a beat up crucifix, got up in my face, accused me of doing this to baby jesus – seriously, this simpleton said just that, “you are doing this to baby jesus”. I tried not to laugh, looked deep into his eyes, and said “mythology, Zeus, Juno, Mt Olympus, just like that ,you are living mythology”. He said I had a cold, hard heart and he’d pray for me. I told him to talk to himself in the dark about somebody else.
But these are the stray fifteen seconds of adrenaline pumping intensity. Most of the time is painfully boring. Standing, pacing, listening to badly cadenced Hail Mary’s, poorly pronounced Our Father’s and woefully out of tune Ave Maria’s. As if the crucifixes aren’t creepy enough, they have Kroger bags full of rosaries and a little wooden cradle full of sacred heart medallions – aren’t these things sanctified and supposedly objects of holy adoration? “Just chuck that Holy Grail in the dishwasher, hon, we’re off to violate the constitution and every law of common human decency in the name of our personal Jesus!” From the pictures they carried, a blued-eyed white man from the Middle East I think.
In the end, the protesters just drifted off. The sun came up into beautiful rose colored clouds. The clients’ friends came out to get their cars and take their loved ones home. The sheriff shook our hands and thanked us – odd that, I thought. Someone, Meg, took notes about the oddities of the morning and asked what I thought. I thought it was way less volatile than I imagined. We took off our vests and went home.
I hate the idea of doing this again. I’m haunted by the faces of those terrorized young women – one especially, held close by her man, trying his best not to cry for the hell his ladylove was enduring. Haunted, as in I’ve puked twice thinking about it all. Haunted. Forever, never ever the same, I feel. I fear.
But those faces make it impossible for me NOT to go back.
Thank You to the Escorts
This was posted in the comments section of one of the other posts, and I wanted to make sure every one saw it.
“I would llike to thank all of you for your ture compassion, time, and effort to help women like myself. The hardest part of this was the decision….which I still have a hard time with. The protester’s made this much much harder for me and I really am so glad you all were there. If you all did not show support for the many women who end up at this center……many women would drive away just because of the protesters. Thank you for making this very difficult time in my life more comforting.” Molly
This is what makes escorting so hard/important. We know how aggressive the climate is outside of the clinic. Empowering women is the main goal of the escorts. We want every woman who walkes through those protesters to feel supported and to hear they are ok in the midst of such overwhelming judgement. A little bit of compassion and support goes a long way in building community and positively impacting someone’s life.
Analysis people, it’s all about analysis
I began writing this blog for several reasons. I needed a place to process. I have been escorting since 1999 and have a lot of pent up emotion regarding the state of access to reproductive and sexual health care in this city. I wanted a place to discuss the merits of direct action and empowerment as tools for social engagement. And possibly the most important reason is to validate and understand the vast continuum of experiences people have surrounding our reproductive and sexual lives.
There is an interesting comment to Ken’s piece last week that was posted by the father of a regular protester. He has come down to the clinic once or twice to see for himself. He is a local businessman and attends south east christian church (a mega-church in the east end of expansive means, who partially fund the fake clinic across the street). His post is interesting in that it begins with his disagreement of the energy of the protesters:
“As my daughter and her future husband are ‘protesters’, I wanted to see first-hand the experience they were having each Saturday morning at the abortion clinic. What I observed differed from your account in almost all respects. The protesters were peaceful and respectful, as were some of the ‘escorts’.”
He goes on to opine that the difference between the escorts and protesters is our lack of jesus. This is the part of his comment that I will not post.
The escorts as a collective of autonomous people represent a wide continuum of religious and non-religious beliefs. While we are supported by the KY Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, a non-denominational coalition of Christian, Jewish and Muslim partners, we also have Atheists and agnostics who all escort. The clients of the clinic represent an even broader range of belief systems.
This blog will not be a space where religious proselytizing of any sort will be posted.
Our culture is saturated with judo-christian images and influence. This space is for the analysis of Reproductive and Sexual Justice here in Louisville, Ky. Religion has no place in this conversation.
The following is the first have of the post, unedited until he starts getting into the jesus.
“As my daughter and her future husband are ‘protesters’, I wanted to see first-hand the experience they were having each Saturday morning at the abortion clinic. What I observed differed from your account in almost all respects. The protesters were peaceful and respectful, as were some of the ‘escorts’
Before you dismiss me as biased, I must tell you I have known one of the escorts for a number of years through business, and it was only by a chance meeting at a restuarant that I became aware of his involvement. That morning we conversed on the topic of abortion, each from our own perspectives, and we parted having no impact on the other. As I think about your account of that morning, and how differently it read from what I had experienced, the most obvious contradiction in our perspectives eminates from our world views. From your own account you have ‘lived a full life’, and I take that to mean your life experiences have left their mark, or consequences, on you. Interestingly, my world view was once similar to yours, and, believe it or not, every protester at one time shared your view of many of the things of this world. Your comments are laced with vulger adjectives describing the protesters, and yet you seem to have a heart for the horribly personal and traumatic experience the women having abortions are experiencing.
There is only one difference between you and me, and that is one of the heart.”
He goes on to talk about his “hard and cynical heart” and that you know who changed all of that
For three more paragraphs.
He concludes by offering to dialogue about all of these things with Ken.
I am now amending the commenting section to include a specific statement spelling out that religious speech is not appropriate in this forum. To be specific the comments need to be confined to analysis of Reproductive and Sexual Justice, Escorting philosophy and tactics or cultural milieu observations, as was originally stated in the commenting guidelines.
Here goes the analysis.
I want to explore the last sentence from his post, “and yet you seem to have a heart for the horribly personal and traumatic experience the women having abortions are experiencing”. This statement assumes all women will be traumatized by their decision to have an abortion. And that is just not the case. We see women every week who walk right on past those protesters with all the confidence in the world. 1 in 3 U.S. women will have an abortion in her life time, and the majority of those report feeling relief after. Some women are really sad, some are really happy, and many never regret their decision. Research also shows the women who are at the greatest risk for feeling unsure or guilty for their abortions are women who live in communities which stigmatize abortion.
We need to Quit stigmatizing our reproductive and sexual experiences. Then maybe more people could have honest and empowered lives.
In other words, religious inspired speech can be oppressive. There are few paradigms in history that have been more exploitative of subjugated populations than religious doctrine. The church is about conformity and privilege; earning rewards by social compliance. Some churches have done the work in addressing those privileges, and understanding their religious texts from a human rights perspective. But the commenter is in a place where his lack of understanding of what it might be like to be a female bodied person, or a poor person, or a person of color or a queer person colors his view. He is unwilling to explore why it could be intimidating, or why walking past crying women and people chasing you from your car could be interpreted as something other than peaceful. And unless he addresses his lack of scope, he is not likely to validate the broad continuum of experiences people have surrounding abortion.
Which is really what this whole blog is about anyway.
ESCORT TRAINING before Mother’s Day!
WENCH selfcare health education collective will be hosting another escort training April 25th at 9am. we will meet at 4th avenue methodist church (at St. Catherine) after escorting.
Hear from experienced escorts about what to expect from this highly charge environment. in the past we have seen between 300 and 500 protesters turn out to guilt trip women around this sensitive holiday.
this is one of four trainings WENCH does a year. if you are unable to make it to this training, let us know. you will stilled be welcomed outside the clinic on a regular saturday. We would, however prefer that people be trained for Mother’s Day.
NOTES:
escorts are working outside for almost two hours, so be sure to dress for the weather.
clinic can be stressful and sometimes triggering. this work is not for everyone. be sure to mentally prepare and know what your limits are.
neither this training, nor any WENCH event are forums to debate reproductive freedoms. all are welcome, however anyone derailing the process will be removed by moderators. immediately without discussion.
the Saturday before Easter
Protesters 170
escorts 35
cops 2
overall this saturday was fairly manageable. we dealt with the regular pushing and chasing by our aggressive regulars and saw an increase in the usual judgments of the easily offended prayers.
- how is this NOT blocking the entrance?
chaos near the door
SPECIAL THANKS TO OFFICER HARPER!!! no escort can remember a time in the last 15+ years, that we had a supportive security officer at the clinic. this is a huge help and relief.
stay tuned, and stop in as the city continues to spring awake, and mother’s day approaches.
sights from Derby Festival kick off day.
this lady is clearly VERY dedicated to this cause
The Saturday of Thunder over Louisville is always difficult at the clinic. This is because every parking lot is locked down for Thunder goers, making parking especially difficult for clients. Afterall 40ish protesters get all the closeby street parking…
what do you mean access?
Our walking escorts definately got a work out this morning, as every client came down the same path all morning, thus gaining every chasing protester as they walked down the sidewalk.
safe, legal and accessable?
here are some shots of our most artistic protester with his new sign…
DON’T FORGET THIS WEEKEND’S TRAINING DISCUSSION!
WE WILL BE DEVELOPING A PLAN FOR THE DAY BEFORE MOTHER’S DAY!
details below.
Mother’s Day, at an Abortion Clinic | RHRealityCheck.org
Mother’s Day, at an Abortion Clinic | RHRealityCheck.org
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Don’t forget tomorrow is the Saturday before Mother’s Day. This is the single largest protest day of the year, with as many as 500 protesters lining the streets, making access difficult. Come out early and work with your community to protect and support a person’s right to choose.
When: Saturday May 9, 2009
Where: EMW Women’s Surgical Center 138 E. Market St, Louisville KY 40202
What time: 6:15 am
Who: Anyone interested in supporting people accessing Reproductive Health Care in Louisville.
Please remember we escort in the street, so dress appropriately for the weather.
Hope to see you there.
Mother’s Day at an abortion clinic Saturday May 9, 2009.
Escorts: 70-80
Protesters: 275-325
Cops: 6 or 7 LMPD, 1 Jefferson County Sherrif
Mother’s Day has come and gone, and as I reflect on the happenings of the last few weeks what stands out to me is the intersection of privacy and stigma. We see these two ideas embodied by two groups of people on the sidewalk in front of the clinic, the protesters and the media (specifically an ABC crew of 5, doing a special on teen pregnancy). In this article I want to discuss the way in which people trying to access abortion services are completely ignored by these two political participants.
In our story, Stigma is represented by the protesters on our sidewalk. As a group the message is that there is something inherently wrong with the decision to have an abortion utilizing guilt and shame as tools of persuasion. Using the strength of hundreds of protesters to overwhelm the visual landscape; dominating the sounds of the morning with blow horns and a cacophony of prayers, protesters attempt to emotionally bludgeon clients with fear and confusion.
Our next character in this story is Privacy, being played by ABC media. One of their news programs is working on a story about teen pregnancy, following several young women as they make choices during this period in their lives. One of the crew had stumbled upon the escorts some months back and came to film several times before Mother’s Day. When she tried to get the escorts involved in the project we were reluctant, identifying three major concerns to her:
Client privacy. We spoke extensively about the history of the anti-choice movement’s use of photography and public shaming campaigns to intimidate both abortion providers and clients.
Chaotic environment. Escorts tried to express how crazy it gets with 200-300 protesters and that we could not stop them from doing their story, but that we were concerned that camera crews could become an obstacle to getting clients in the door.
Using the meme of the abortion debate as a wedge issue. On the sidewalk we try to minimize the cliché’ debate regarding abortion, recognizing that each client is an individual with a unique set of circumstances. Politics is completely inappropriate on the sidewalk, this is about peoples’ lives.
I asked the escorts to write about their experiences this Mother’s Day and without exception they commented on the media, here are a few excerpts.
Ken wrote:
“The ABC crew was on hand to capture what was happening. They turned into more of an obstruction than most of the protesters. I look for their piece on teen pregnancy to be overly-sensationalized and skewed toward whatever slant ABC brass wants to spin”.
Aryn wrote:
“I bring this up because this week we had a 5 person TV crew from ABC filming at the clinic. The clients that I escorted into the clinic were more concerned about the three cameras and the big sound boom than the 250 protesters. One of the cars that I approached left because of them”.
Josh wrote:
“The news group on the other hand were horrid. “K” (the news crew’s contact) seemed to handle herself with compassion, was discreet and level-headed, and generally blending in and allowing us to do what we do. The same could not be said of the male salt and peppery anchor and his helper, who were pushy, obnoxious, and did more to bother, hinder, and distress the clients and fellow escorts than many of the protesters. They did nothing but aggravate the already dodgy situation, and nothing what-so-ever to contribute positively. Worse, I believe they shot for extremism, and if the broadcast shows footage from this, I think it will have a negative effect on reproductive freedom and the future clients of the clinic”.
Frances wrote:
“Early on, before things even got going, the camera people came by and started asking us questions. With no press pass, we refused. They weren’t pleased, but come on! They were being quite pushy, using their equipment to break through our linked arms. It was ridiculous. On top of that I felt that they were violating people’s privacy, and certainly not making it any easier for the people going in. They were worse than the protestors in some ways,and didn’t seem to understand why we weren’t ok with them pushing through our wall without showing us any ID”.
Entitlement is a major component of both the media and the protester’s perspective. The media thinks they have the “right” to get the story and it does not matter who they have to step on in the process. The protesters think they have the “right” to impede a person in their decision to terminate a pregnancy. Both groups of people believe they are in the “right” thus giving them latitude to act aggressively in this situation. The result is that individual people are lost in the mix.
The pro-choice movement has historically fought for abortion to be a private and individual matter. That certainly has its merits and no one that has an abortion should feel like they have to tell anyone a single thing about it. Abortion is without question an individual matter and each person’s reasons for having an abortion are unique and can not be generalized. However, the driving presence of privacy doesn’t do anything to lift the ever present stigma surrounding abortion; instead it seems to reaffirms it. We say ‘ it’s OK to make that choice but please pretend that you didn’t. We are OK if you do it but not if you talk about it.’
Abortion is a normal part of our collective sexual and reproductive experiences and we should begin to treat it as such.
We support anyone having an abortion whatever their reasons and would like more people to talk about it. However, facing a national TV news network is daunting. Going in for a medical or surgical procedure is stressful and thinking that your first grade teacher, your ex and or boss are all going to be watching you do this is pretty invasive. We feel the TV crew’s presence was every bit as oppressive and irresponsible as the protesters’.
The media can be a powerful tool in exposing cultural issues that need attention, but here, individuals who had not consented to being exposed, were. To be fair, ABC committed to obscuring client’s faces. But they did not approach each client telling them this. They did not gain consent from the clients to film them, nor did they take pains to be unobtrusive. The behavior of the film crew was in many ways as shame inducing as those of the protesters. Privacy allows us the practical space to make decisions regarding our own well being. The way in which they approached the situation showed no concern for client privacy.
It is this lack of concern for privacy prohibits us from seeing clients as individuals. This disconnect from our need for autonomy is where we begin to advance towards sensationalism. The story becomes the most important thing. We stop talking about a person’s life and begin to talk in themes. We attribute our own biases to people we have never met. One of the protesters tells women ‘come down to this other clinic, we can help you make a better decision’. Without ever even introducing himself to a client he tells women they are wrong. He begins to shame them by projecting his world view onto their lives all the while feeling entitled in doing so.
We escorts want to loudly state that abortion can be a healthy and responsible decision.
We escorts affirm the rights of all people to decide when, if, and how many children they have and whether or not to parent.
We encourage people to tell their stories if they can. But we honor and respect the need for privacy.
People of all ages, racial and ethnic groups, people of all socio-economic status, mothers (61% of women having an abortion have one or more children) and people with no children, single and partnered people, queer and straight people all have abortions. If all of these people are having abortions, why is it so stigmatized? Humans are faced with tough decisions every day, but few are scrutinized more than when a woman decides for any number of reasons, that now is not the time to have a child. We must identify and then address our assumptions regarding abortion if we are ever to have honest conversations about our reproductive and sexual lives. And the intersection of shame and privacy seems like as good a place as any to begin tearing down those social constructs.
May 23rd, 2009
This is essentially an entry from my personal online journal, so if it feels a little casual, that’s why.
-Frances
Every time that I escort, I am blown away once again by how great people seem to feel about harassing people very early on Saturday mornings.
Think about it: Saturday morning could consist of cartoons, cereal, cuddling. These are the three c’s of things that are more fun than going to an abortion clinic and telling people that they’re doing something wrong. There are a million other better things to do on Saturday morning that start with many different letters (sleep in, for one)! And that’s just getting into the “Don’t you have something better to do with your time?” question – there are tons of other questions I have about the protesters that come to the clinic that I won’t even get in to.
But, today went pretty well all in all. There was a really good ratio of escorts to protesters (about two protesters for every escort, or something like that). I also brought my camera for the first time. During the slow moments, which can be pretty common at certain points, it’s nice to be able to document what’s going on.
Here are some of my pictures: (These are not my greatest works, mind you, just snapshots, unedited, so, you know, don’t expect anything brilliant. Unfortunately some of the more colorful, creative characters weren’t there today.)
This group does NOT seem stoked to be praying for babies.
This nun fell asleep today. Saving souls IS tiring work, and if I had been sitting down, I certainly would have been napping too.
This is the sidewalk (gauntlet) that many clients walk down, being harassed along the way.
Jesus hangs out with that guy a lot.
I like to call this picture "Gossip Girls." They were gossiping in the middle of prayer time, tsk tsk! This woman (Donna, the one on the left) really frustrates me, and is very obnoxious to deal with on so many levels (see "Cast of Characters: Protesters" for just a few of those reasons). She is usually dressed in red to match her hair, which she says is her natural color. We figure she has a tub of spray tan stuff that she soaks in most days, so that her skin will fit in with the weird color scheme.
And here is Angela. Oh Angela. What a loud voice. The kind of voice that fails to get hoarse, that irks you every time you hear it, that makes you wish you had earplugs. I took another video of her, but she just held her bible in front of her face. For this one, I was just shooting from the hip, as my mom calls it, so she didn’t cover her face. I was having a conversation, which you can kind of hear, but she really drowns it out. She’s so loud and pushy. I can’t imagine having so much so say and saying it so loudly. She should really be an actress or a performer or something and put her energy and loud voice to better use.
What a way to start your weekend. I can’t imagine being a client and trying to take all of this in – it would be dreadful.
P.S. I am new to wordpress, so forgive any formatting issues, etc.
Breaking: Abortion provider George Tiller murdered
Here are a few links:
My sympathies to Dr. Tiller’s family and staff.
Dr. George Tiller
Wow. Talk about fanaticism. I don’t really know where to start, other than i am more saddened by my lack of surprise that something like this was possible than I could have anticipated. Of course it is possible, the man had endured being shot, his clinic burned, constant harassment from anti choice groups, legal issues connected with said anti-choice groups and the list goes on. I am sure he knew it was possible. I am sure his family and staff knew something like this was possible. But it does not change the fact that this is completely heartbreaking.
I am sad for Dr. Tiller’s family and staff.
I am sad for the loss of such a committed physican.
I am not surprised that the anti-choice movement continues to use violence and intimidation as a tool in it’s arsenal.
I am not surprised to see this type of violence even as Obama seeks to find common ground.
Those of us escorting outside abortion providers in this country who are routinely protested know that the aggression there has been ratcheting up.
I am furious.
Those are my immediate thoughts. I am sure i will have less raw ramblings once the shock of the news has settled in a little.
In the mean time, thank your Reproductive Health Care Provider. Support your local escorts. And keep a close eye on your Reproductive and Sexual Rights. They are important.
One week after the murder of Dr. Tiller
Saturday June 6, 2009
Escorts: 20+
Protesters: 25-30
Cops: 2 on hand with extra patrol drive bys
In the eternal words of my grandmother, “life goes on”. Everything changes, but then it really just stays the same. I have spent the week almost obsessively reading, watching and listening to every scrap of media coverage regarding Dr. Tiller, the funeral, Scott Roeder and any other related topic I could get my paws on.
I attended a small vigil in honor of Dr. Tiller and listened to local activist Carla Wallace reference Louisville’s Unity Rally in 1997.
For those who are not familiar, the KKK decided to hold a rally in the middle of downtown Louisville complete with hoods and banners and such. Many people in the community, including the mayor, said “ignore them”, “don’t give them the attention”, “they are dangerous, it is not safe to oppose them”, when counter demonstrations were organized. But tons of people would not let it go. And so more than 1,000 people showed up to counter the 35 or so klanspeople. We were loud and determined to make sure everyone knew racism was not welcome.
We understood that not a single lynching was ever averted with silence.
Not one oppressive act was ever derailed because no one spoke.
“Silence is a position”, Carla said. When we fail to speak out against injustice we condone it. When we fail to work towards empowerment and equality, we perpetuate oppression and intolerance.
Laquetta Shepard 2003 KKK rally in Bowling Green, KY.
And Dr. Tiller’s murder is no different. Violence and intimidation will not keep me or my ilk from getting up and helping clients into the doors of our abortion clinic.
And so we showed up. Almost as many escorts as protesters.
I was unsure how our local protesters would respond to the national storm. As physically aggressive as they are on a regular basis, most of our protesters are not interested in this kind of violence, they are bullies, nothing more. But I just did not know if they would be quiet and not push any buttons or if they would be out looking for a fight. I saw equal opportunity for genuine humility and sadness for the loss of life or conversely self-righteousness and stepped up agro behavior. And as most Saturdays, the group reaction is not homogeneous either.
Gratefully,
It was quiet.
I don’t pretend to know why the protesters were almost tolerable. I don’t have any idea if they were being respectful or simply wishing not to be antagonistic. But I do know that I was damn happy to see a strong show of escorts, who were ready to take what ever fire was coming down the pike. Last week a man was shot to death for showing up and supporting families in really rough spots. James Barrett, a clinic escort, was murdered in 2003 with Dr. John Britton by Paul Hill in Pensacola Florida.
These things, they happen.
In the last ten years we have had a lot of violence in Louisville. An 80-something regular escort was shoved to the ground, an escort’s ankle was broken in a skirmish. Protesters have been arrested for punching client’s friends. And we have to physically cut a path through a crowd at the door most Saturday mornings.
And don’t forget the Clients.
They have been called sluts, murderers and degenerates. Clients have been described as heartless, and nazi like. They are told they will anguish in pain and depression eventually dieing of cancer after their abortions. They are physically hassled and emotionally berated as they make their way into the clinic doors.
Violence at the only abortion clinic in my city happens every day.
And so with great sadness I mourn the loss of Dr. Tiller. But violence will not work to intimidate us. We need Reproductive and Sexual health care.
And we must speak loudly, clearly stating that abortion is part of our lives and we will have quality access.
Support
There’s been a lot to think about lately. It’s very overwhelming, as far as I’m concerned. So, I’m just looking a look at a small part of the picture today, instead of going into all of my feelings about recent events – it would take a very, very long time for me to write about the big picture right now.
-Frances
Thinking about some of the stuff that goes at the clinic, it seems impossible to see where the protesters are coming from. Today, as a family walked away from the clinic after walking in with a client, a protester told a 5 year old that her mom was a murderer. Is this supportive, empowering, helpful, necessary, appropriate, and does it contain a shred of decency? No. Is that rude, insensitive, and incredibly small-minded? I think so. I also see it as inexcusable and unforgivable. For an adult to act that way is simply ridiculous. It seems like such an immature, below the belt low-blow sort of choice to make, something that any sane person would feel totally ashamed for having said. But to the protesters, that’s just another Saturday. This is just one example of how the protesters fail to provide support, or even be decent human beings.
I’ve been thinking a lot about support, and particularly how that ties in with escorting. I know that this is such a huge subject to talk and think about, and everyone has their own view of support and specific examples of amazing support and totally crappy non-supportive actions. But in the smaller context of escorting, support plays such a huge role.
Here’s what I’ve been thinking: escorts provide support, period. This support, as far as I’m concerned, comes from a non-judgmental place, where there are no winners or losers, no doubt that a person is very capable of making the right decision for their circumstances, and so forth. This is not true of whatever “support” the protesters may claim to be giving clients.
Escorts are there to support clients and their partners, friends, and family members when they arrive at the clinic (or even before, if they need help figuring out the parking situation), as they walk in to the clinic, and if they walk out of the clinic for whatever reason. When escorts obtain consent to walk with people to or from the clinic, they remain supportive through body language, by providing a barrier from protestors, by making small talk (when and if it seems appropriate), and so forth. Protesters are there to provide… well, certainly not support, so I guess harassment?
A lot of the protesters do offer “help,” but here’s a little secret: the support that they offer (a pack of diapers and a free ultrasound) is very limited, if it can even be considered real help. It comes with strings attached and plenty of guilt. While they don’t offer a car seat to the clients walking in to the clinic with an infant in an ill-fitting and unsafe carrier, they are quick to offer their opinions (“You’ll regret this for the rest of your life if you walk through those doors!”) and say that they can help or support the client. But isn’t support really about being there regardless of the choice(s) made?
Day before Father’s Day
here are some sights from this awful surprise rally outside of Louisville’s abortion Clinic this morning. more thoughts and video to come. 
Because the most important person in an unintended pregnancy is the dude. Right?!
Saturday before Father’s day. June 20, 2009.
Escorts:15
Protesters:300
Cops: 1 with extra patrols
I know it has been a few weeks since Father’s Day weekend, but it has been a little crazy around here, and I really wanted to write about the morning. So please forgive the delay.
When we showed up to the clinic around 6:50, there were 30 or so protesters in their usual spots, starting the rosary and in general milling about. About 7:10 or so the Sisters for Life, Angela’s group, marching around the corner. By around 7:30 there were close to 300 protesters outside the clinic.
Most of the protesters stayed very close to the door, creating a gauntlet on both sides of the over hang. Those around the door were singing and praying loudly, Angela was using a blow- horn directing the protesters. With approximately 200-250 protesters on the clinic side of the street, they spilled out into the street.
There were also another 25-30 protesters standing in the parking lot across Market Street. These protesters were mostly people we had not seen before from Sister’s for Life and the usual protesters from A Women’s Choice, the cpc down the street; these are the guys that do the majority of the chasing of clients from their cars to the clinic door.
There was a very different tone around these protesters as opposed to our regular crowd, they were very verbally aggressive making statements like “you will find great pain in the judgment of the blood of the babies on your hands” to the escorts. I heard that one a lot from a very tall, lanky man, wearing the pink Sisters for life tee-shirt. He was holding onto a 3 or 4 foot ‘Malachi’ sign and really yelled at clients getting as close to them has possible. Often we get called ‘deathscorts’ and vultures. We often get preached at and condemned, but I have rarely been so often told of my certain evilness and a complete de-humanization of my fellow escorts.
Another unique aspect of this protest happened at the door. Commonly, the Catholics say the rosary at the door with a person or two stepping out of line to talk at a client coming through, but mostly they stay in line and focus on their prayers. The Sisters for Life group would stop praying or singing to yell as a group at any client walking by. Squeezing into the area in front of the clinic doors, protesters attempted to impede clients walking forward from the street onto the sidewalk. Protesters we also trespassing onto clinic property throughout the morning and Officer R spent much of his morning keeping protesters on public property.
One client came out of the clinic to yell at one of the Sisters for Life protester for calling and waking up her mother to tell her she was at the abortion clinic.
Our escort training encourages escorts to refrain from engaging protesters in most cases. We try to keep lines of communication as open as possible without entering into heated debates or arguments with the protesters. Often escorts have to walk away from protesters as they attempt to engage us. This Saturday we had several protesters who attempted to talk to the escorts well after the escort made clear their desire not to engage. On one occasion, the protester, an older white male, grabbed the elbow of a younger white female escort as she attempted to disengage from the conversation by walking away. She became very upset and turned around yelling at him not to touch her. He immediately denied that he had touched her and began to argue with her about it. Several escorts intervened and gave her the space to walk away from the protester.
Around 8:15 or 8:30am the protesters began having speakers use the blow-horn to speak to the crowd right outside of the clinic doors. Several men got up and spoke about how the abortions of their partners and wronged them, emphasizing their lack of inclusion in the decision. This all went on until close to 9am, when they marched off as quickly as they arrived, chanting and dancing off to a good old camp style call and response spelling Jesus as they went.
The morning was probably one of the worst I have seen in a while. We were not prepared for the large number of protesters, nor the overall aggressiveness from people we have never seen before. It was a rough one. But as usual, the escorts stepped up, dealt with the situation in front of us and remained as calm and composed as possible.
I continue to be amazed at the positive attitude of the escorts.
Please make sure to read the note a client posted about her experience entering the clinic this morning, posted below.
Clinic Closed this Saturday, July 4, 2009
Don’t forget the clinic is closed for the Holiday weekend. Enjoy sleeping in Escorts. You definately deserve a nice lie-in. We will see you again next week, same clinic time, same clinic channel.
Additional pictures from Father’s Day weekend
Blow horns are an excellent tool for conveying compassion.
Lady quit following me.
The clear and unobstructed path to the clinic door, down the gauntlet.
FACE act, what is this Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of which you speak?
For more information about FACE.
She said something about reproductive justice, but i wasn’t listening.
Saturday July 11, 2009
Escorts: 20
Protesters: approximately 60 all day
It was a really weird morning. We had very few clients, so of course the protesters turned to talking at us. I got really mad several times this morning. Angela chased a client and her partner around the block after they made it clear they did not want to talk to any one. The ‘Bro Show’ was there in full force . Here are a few images of new props being used. All morning the protesters were pulling dolls out of trucks and using water bottles to build sidewalk ‘art’.
i hope they recycle.
This car was parked right in front of the doors.
crossing the street
you walk through that crowd
Escort Training Saturday, July 25, 2009
Our next escort training will be next Saturday, July 25, 2009. We will meet at the ACLU office, 315 Guthrie Street,
Suite 300 after escorting at the clinic. We will start the training at 9am.
Light breakfast and coffee provided by KY RCRC.
And for the first time ever, we are having an escort exchange! We will be hosting escorts from Cleveland OH here and sending escorts from here up there some time next month.
We are really excited to make friends with escorts from other cities, comparing tactics and stories, creating community and networking with like minded people.
We hope to see you there!
Trust People
July 23, 2009
Escorts: 3
Protesters: 7, 3 praying, 4 chasing
Throughout the last ten years we have focused our escorting efforts solely on Saturday mornings. Recently however we have seen a dramatic up tick in both the number and aggressivness of anti-choicers showing up during the week. Neither the clinic nor the escorts have felt the need to assist clients Tuesday through Saturday until now.
For the last threeish weeks we have been sending 3 to 4 escorts down to the clinic in the mornings. I had not been able to make it down until this past week and I was not prepared for the difference in attitude it takes to escort other days than Saturday. Take away the group dynamics between escorts and protester, fewer clients and less general chaos, and the atmosphere during the week is PERSONAL. I was blown away at how much more intimate it felt to be out there with so little emotional cover. I was very quickly defensive and angry, and I struggled to keep my cool.
One of the anti-choices caused me more grief than the others. She was a female presenting, 30 something, who told clients that having an abortion would ‘irreparably damage’ them. She adamantly professed the nature of women to birth babies and used the love of her own two children to prove her argument. When I asked her if she had ever spoken with someone who was happy with their decision to have an abortion she told me that person did not exist and that she could not believe them any way, because she could not imagine not wanting her kids.
Within the anti-choice community privilege shines through as an indicator of worth. As a culture we do not trust teenagers with comprehensive sex-ed, we do not trust poor people with decisions regarding health care, we do not trust queer people to make decisions about their bodies, even to decide their own pronouns. For a white, college educated (she told me she has at least a Bachelors degree) cisgendered person to believe she has a monopoly on truth, is disingenuous at best. And at it’s worst perpetuates false ideas of normalcy and valid life experiences.
A great example of this occurred two weekends ago, I captured an interaction between a client walking into EMW and one of our protesters. Here is the transcript of the 30 second interaction.
Support person to the protesters: …we just got out of the hospital, you all need to mind your own.
Protester: You could go across the street and get a picture of your baby.
Client: Actually I miscarried last night, before I bleed to death, I need to have all of this taken care of.
Protester: The ER is where you need to go, not here.
Client: I’ve already been to the ER.
Protester: Why did they send you here if the baby is gone? I don’t think you are telling the truth; please don’t take the life of your baby.
The truth of the matter is, that if this woman went to UofL hospital she could not obtain an abortion except to save her life, because Kentucky has a law on the books baring a public facility from providing those procedures.
The truth of the matter is, that she could have been sent away from any hospital without a D&C because the physician or nurse or ER administrator might have objected.
The truth of the matter is that insurance in KY does not pay for an abortion unless to save the person’s life, even if she is miscarrying; even if the fetus is already gone our medical system still stigmatizes abortion procedures, regardless of the health status of the client.
Who do you want deciding what is right in your life? Some one who is not interested in listening because they can not even try to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes?
Maybe these anti-choicers should step back and listen to the real experiences of people’s lives, not what they think other people experience. Maybe they should suspend judgment for just one hour and experience what other people must go through. Maybe we should all address our privilege and stop making assumptions about one another and invalidating other people’s lives.
My Call for Common Ground Gets Answered | RHRealityCheck.org
My Call for Common Ground Gets Answered | RHRealityCheck.org
Posted using ShareThis
It is amazing what happens when rational people work together to find a way to agree on somethings while possibly disagreeing on others.
This is the day…
(I realize that this is a kind of long picture post – but if you only look at one thing, watch the first 30 seconds or so of the video at the end! It’s amazing – I was sung to/at!)
This was my first weekday at clinic. There were 6 escorts, if I remember correctly, and about 10-15 protesters. My numbers might be off, but that’s my estimate.
This morning was pretty interesting. The dynamic is very different with fewer clients, fewer escorts, and fewer protesters. The really loud and pushy protesters (soap box preacher, Angela, Donna, and gray haired rude dude) seem to enjoy the extra attention and engaging escorts as much as possible.
Here are the finest photos I managed to get today:
This guy does great ad-libs ("Do the math, people!") and makes the most artificial, practiced looking hand/arm motions
... but when Angela showed up, he stepped down for a minute. Note the sorrow (or annoyance?) on his face. Poor guy.
Donna was there. As usual. An advocate for choice! I wanted to photoshop this to say "Asshole" with an arrow towards her face. But that would be childish. Then again, I had to tell her "No pushing!" a BUNCH today, so maybe childish is ok.
This guy was very entertaining today, and was adament that he was neutral. He told us lots of interesting stories, showed off his baby (Matilda, aka Mattie), and even told the Soap Box dude to shut up. He is an interesting guy, for sure.
This bossy lady stayed pretty quiet today, but did give us very stern looks.
This seems to be one of Donna's buddies. She said "What do you want me to do, smile?" and I said "Sure, smile, make a face, whatever." After I took her picture a few times, she said "That was pleasant," and walked away. What?
Angela held open this car door as a client's support person/friend was getting in her car. I told her that she should think about not touching other people's cars. It was weird and I felt uncomfortable, because the friend was not adament about Angela backing off. I stayed a few feet away in case she needed/wanted some back up.
I like this picture. Gotta get creative with time to kill, right?
And here is the crowning glory of my morning! I get a shout out about 30 seconds in.
Angela Misbehaving
This is an account of occurrences this morning at the clinic by one of our escorts who witnessed the happenings. I have done a bit of editing as it took quite a bit of space to get it all down, however the events of the morning I have left in tact and in their own words.
Angela blocking dude from closing his door
This morning, as the escorts were leaving, Angela followed the partner of a client from the clinic door. He had a determined look and fast-paced walk as he made his way to the car. So the escorts continued to leave and I got into my truck. As I was waiting for to pull out, I noticed the man walking back towards the clinic, with Angela and her husband crowding him. She jumped in front of him, trying to slow him down, walking backwards in front of him. He kept walking like normal, just like any of the escorts would do, and ended up stepping on her foot. She got all tripped up, flailing her arms as she fell into the fence.
That’s when I jumped out of my truck and ran to try to help, at least to be a presence for him and the protesters, both (since we normally believe that at least our presence helps somewhat, right?…). So I get in next to the man and Angela bounces right back in front, along with her husband, both of them trying to block our way.Finally we pushed through and got into the clinic.
I told the intake staff what happened, and she went to make a note of it.
The man had returned to the clinic to retrieve his forgotten key and then had to walk back to his car. He said he’d be fine, so I returned to my truck and watched as he went back toward the car, Angela yapping at him again like before.
... but when Angela showed up, he stepped down for a minute. Note the sorrow (or annoyance?) on his face. Poor guy.
And again, I was just about to pull out of the parking lot when I noticed her flailing her arms at the car. I realized that he was trying to open the driver side door, but every time he got it a few inches open, she slammed it shut with her fat ass. He looked in my direction, and I got out of my truck, just in time to see her bible flying across the car to the sidewalk. I was the only escort there, and figured I should get help rather than try to split them up myself. As I ran back to the clinic, I passed Donna, who was watching everything from her post at the door, and she said, “That’s none of your business!” I know that to an extent she was right, it’s between the client and the protester, but somebody needed to know what was going on out there. So I ignored her and went inside and told the people at the desk there were issues outside, and a man in glasses wearing a red button-down shirt and tie came out to talk to them or something, but was pretty much useless.
Angela was running around with the strap of her messenger bag held out for all to see claiming the man had spit on her. I told her she deserved whatever she got and she can’t go around blocking people’s way.
Luckily (or so I thought), the biker cops that had come by earlier in the morning asked if everything was ok. Meanwhile, Angela had taken off again back to the man at his car, so I said to the cops, “No, that woman with the white shirt is blocking that man from getting into his car.” So they rode up to the man and Angela and started talking to them.
I walked up to see if they needed me at all, since I was the only one out there who’d seen everything exactly as it happened and wasn’t trying to twist everything around like the Jesus Freaks do. The cops sent me away. I went back to my truck, boiling with anger and frustration, and just sat there for a minute to cool off enough to drive home. I watched the cops say whatever useless things they were going to say and ride off again, and Angela came running back to Donna and her husband, carrying some little piece of notebook paper (it didn’t look like a ticket, but I’m not sure. I hope it was a ticket..){editor’s note, probably the paper she was holding was the personal information from the dude, I am sure Angela asked the cop for it so she can file some sort of charge against him} telling Donna to get a picture of the man’s spit on the strap of her bag, acting like HE was wrong to spit on her when SHE wouldn’t even let him in his own car. Finally, I just had to get away.
I felt so helpless. I was the only one that saw everything, the only one that would truly be on the client’s side, but the cops sent me away. I had yelled at both Angela and Donna, but they didn’t listen. They never listen. Angela just kept babbling away with her prayers like the psycho she is and making the huge ordeal over having been spit on. And the cops didn’t do anything. No one in the clinic could do anything. I couldn’t do anything. I could only sit in my truck and watch as Angela got a little slap on the wrist and was sent on her merry little way. It made me sick. I was completely helpless, and powerless, and utterly defeated. It was the worst I think I’ve ever felt. I think I need a day off…
However, I’m glad I was there today. If I hadn’t been there, no one else would have seen it. No one else would know. I really think the reason Angela went so berserk was because the escorts had left. There was no one to watch her, or tell her to stop; no one to distract her or discourage her. So she thought she could do whatever she wanted. But I really feel that if anyone is able to stay a little later, especially on weekdays when Angela is there, they should. Not just one person, because I was useless by myself, but if there are at least 2 people who can stay a little later, I think it might help. Of course, if there were a cop there every day that would probably help more than anything, but maybe that’s too much to hope for…
I absolutely agree with the author of this peice, the reason Angela behaves this way is because she thinks she can. This is the reason that cities like Pittsburgh PA, Oakland CA and Buffalo NY as well as others have buffer zone laws. The 9th circuit just ruled that Oakland’s law (http://www.prochoice.org/blog/labels/buffer%20zone%20laws.html) is constitutional, just like all the other court cases brought against buffer zones laws. And ongoing moments like the one described above are the reason.
What happens in the free speech vs harassment argument is that we, as a society hold the First Amendment in highest esteem. But there is more to this argument than the right to say what ever you want regardless of how vile it may be. The type of behavior displayed by Angela is intended to be disempowering. She wants the people she interacts with to feel like she knows best. Her behavior clearly indicates that she has little concern for the thoughts, feeling and desires of the client and their companions. As she NEVER stops talking long enough for anyone to get a word in edge wise, there is no chance she might hear what someone might have to say for themselves.
And really, she doesn’t care.
Her whole reason for being there is to assuage the guilt she feels for her own TWO abortions.
She’s had TWO abortions?! you say, why yes.
Her angle for talking to people on the sidewalk is that she knows what they are going through. That she has been there and done that. And in so knowing all that she knows, it is up to her to stop every client that crosses her path from making the same mistakes. And she believes that the ends justify the means. What ever it takes to deter a person from exercising their own autonomy, the anti-choicers will do; including lying to and harassing clients, assaulting anyone attempting to or providing access for reproductive health care.
Another escort wrote this today about an experience a client had at the fake clinic, “A Woman’s Choice Resource Center”:
i ended up talking to a client who had an experience at the fake clinic that surprised me and I thought i should share. she was confused about which clinic to go into and went into the wrong one, the receptionist pretended her name was on the appointment list and brought her to the back. She told them she needed the pill to remove pregnancy and they told her they had that, so she thought she was in the right place. they then counceled her and tried to tell her why she should keep the baby. she left with a bag of diapers and maternity clothes, confused about why it was such a process. they gave her their card so on several occasions she called to tell them that she really couldn’t have the baby and needed the pill, but all they did was talk to her about choosing life. eventually she lost the card and found the original number for the correct clinic and they told her that she never showed up for her appointment. it wasn’t until then that she realized that she had been dealing with the wrong place, but it was weeks later so of course the pill wouldn’t work and she came in today for an abortion. i don’t know if this is news to anyone, but i didn’t realize how willing they were to trick people and lie. the fakeness of the clinic is more dramatic than i realized.
Free speech protects the right of people to bold face lie to others. Free speech protects the rights of people to misinform, denigrate, shame and verbally bully people up and down the sidewalk (please see the national debate on health care) .
What free speech doesn’t cover is verbal and emotional abuse, physically barring someone from leaving a place in which they are being harassed. What the protesters don’t get is that every person that walks down the street has a history of their own; a family to take care of, an abusive relationship they are trying to get out of, a health concern, or maybe they just do not want to have a baby.
No one person can know what another is going through and it is not okay for people like Angela to bully and intimidate, lie and manipulate others into parenthood just because she never found love and acceptance regarding her own history. Maybe if she had had the opportunity to speak with a group like Exhale, she might have learned to be at peace with the very difficult decisions that comprise the journey towards an abortion.
Research shows that the people most likely to feel distress after an abortion are people with religious backgrounds where abortion is stigmatized and demonized. We know that when people are supported through tough times in their lives and use active coping mechanisms to deal with stressful stimuli, they report more positive outcomes in the end.
What this means in the street is, the more you empower people to say this is hard, but I am making an informed decision based on my life situation, and I will be okay. The better off people actually are in the long run. Emotionally berating people doesn’t ever improve the end result.
blocking the door
So I say, we need to trust people. Give them the tools they need to make knowledgeable (this means real scientific data, not the bull shit the fake clinic spouts off) decisions in their lives and quit dropping emotionally manipulative garbage all over the place.
August 22nd
Today was a weird morning. There were a lot of protesters, and fewer escorts than the ratio that I’m used to seeing. There were also a lot of clients. There were a few scuffles, but nothing major. All in all, though, something just felt a little different – maybe it’s the change in the weather. Technology was not good to us today – two cameras were not working, so I tried to get some decent footage.
One very awesome thing that happened today was that a client got out of her car and said “Do you guys have a blog?” And I said, “Yes!” She and her partner went on to tell me that the blog had been really helpful to them. What a great thing to hear! That made my day.
Here is a clip of a protester as we were walking in:
And no, lady, you are not excused. If there are so many people desperate to raise this person’s baby, then why are there so many children in need of a home, in need of foster care, in need of adoptive parents? Give me a break.
Officer Harper had a long chat with Mary. She did not look very happy.
He later talked with some escorts (myself included). At one point I was filming Angela and she got upset (probably because she didn’t have her bible to block her face). She said, and I quote “I’m sick of this. Every day, 50 million cameras in my face.” My question is, where is she going after clinic to be on 49,999,999 cameras? News flash Angela: there are NOT 50 million people in the world who give enough of a shit about you to get you on camera. Sorry to break it to you, darlin.
But Officer Harper pulled me aside and essentially he told me to “Be smart,” and to avoid egging the protesters on. He also pointed out to me that Angela’s husband was there and basically told me he didn’t want me or anyone else to get hurt.
He was not a fan of this sign:
… but I LOVE it! It’s true, a lot of the protesters lie their butts off. About cancer statistics, about knowing what people’s lives are like, about lots of things.
After my conversation with Officer Harper I did think a lot about the whole video taping people issue. I certainly wouldn’t be happy if someone stuck a camera in my face, but then again, I also stand behind what I do enough for that to wind up on someone’s camera or the internet. If there’s footage of me escorting out there, that’s ok – I’m proud to do this. And if these people don’t want to have pictures taken of them, they can very easily choose to take it easy or not show up.
I do think it is important to de-escalate situations, but part of my reasoning for filming Angela is to get her to hold up her bible and drown out some of her nonsense. And if she’s less audible from inside, then I consider that to be a very good thing. Also, I’m simply standing at the entrance to the clinic, filming what’s going on. She is free to move away from the property line and I WILL NOT chase her with my camera. It’s as simple as that.
One final note:
Please lord, let the $5 footlong be a permanent fixture at Subway. And lord jesus we pray to you, please let the Subway open earlier from now on. Amen.
thorough article about Louisville’s reproductive access history
http://socialistworker.org/2009/08/26/defending-clinics-in-kentucky
The blog has gotten a lot of positive feed back in the last few weeks and we are very grateful for all of the well wishes. We are very proud of our escorts who went to Nebraska to help keep Dr. Carhart safe and open, as well as the hundreds of others who gathered from across the country to support choice, and thus supporting families.
As hard as it may be battling intolerance and oppression it is inspiring to see and hear so many people dedicated to protecting the right to choose.
We are strong.
Keep up the good work everybody.
Thank your local abortion provider, escorts, abortion funds and allies today.
Louisville Escort’s account of their morning in Nebraska…
Slideshow of sights from ACCON 8/29/09: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39024657@N07/sets/72157622188586772/show/
At a time of day when only the hardiest of joggers or late-night partiers are awake, a quiet side street in Bellevue, just south of Omaha, bustles with organizers and supporters unfurling banners, setting up chairs, downing coffee and greeting one another. Lawyers, teachers, students, housewives, factory workers, authors, activists, salesman and every other walk of life from as far as New York and Los Angeles join together today to stand up for Dr. LeRoy Carhart, his staff and the clients he serves at ACCON – The Abortion and Contraception Clinic of Nebraska. Operation Rescue has dubbed Dr. Carhart “Target #1” and put out a call to besiege this clinic. We came to make sure that does not happen.
The Bellevue Police finagle back and forth brokering a deal on the division of clinic front property between OpRes and the local NOW leaders. As they work the compromise, we mingle about, setting up here and then moving there. A tall muscular man emerges from the predawn mist and tells everyone to clear the driveway, “All out from that corner of the building to the grass.” His voice commands compliance but I still want to know who he is. He pulls back his jacket to flash a US Marshal Badge and nickel plated hand cannon. Once the drive is sufficiently cleared he whispers into a radio mic on his shoulder, the garage door opens, a vehicle I will not describe pulls around the corner and into the building as the door closes behind. I turn to ask if that was the good doctor but the Marshal has rejoined the dew.
Shortly after sunrise, with negotiations complete, a beat cop sprays a line of orange traffic paint across the side street in about the middle of the clinic frontage and then another about ten feet down the block. Around the corner, another officer lays out roughly the same box. OpRes will be happy that they have a space on both sides of the clinic with access to the clients and their companions so as to offer “sidewalk counseling”. The clinic is happy because the driveway and majority of the clients’ path will be surrounded by supporters to drown out the “counseling”. One of the officers points to the space between the orange lines, “That’s the DMZ. Everybody stay out of that space.” But she is only talking to supporters, none of the OpRes folks have shown up yet.
Those carrying the brightest banners – “Dr. Carhart is a Hero”, “Abortion on Demand & Without Apology” – and best signs – “Keep your Theology off my Biology” take up station at the most advantageous spots, some in sight of the clients to shower them with love and acceptance, others far from the clinic, lining the closest thoroughfare opened to traffic. As more supporters pour in from around the city and around the country, they read the guidelines, sign in, get stickered with a bright pink “Keep the Clinic OPEN NOW 2009” badge and take up station where ever they feel they can most contribute. When some local protesters show up and line the fence closest to the clinic door, Erin Sullivan, President of Omaha & Nebraska NOW, recruits twenty or so folks to don “Trust Women” shirts and stand with their backs to these locals. “Do NOT engage! Ever. Not for a minute. Not to make a point. Never. If you can’t handle that, leave.” I doubt anyone has ever had to wonder exactly where they stand with Erin.
As 8:00 approaches, the designated “Prayer Hour”, with still no sign of OpRes, talk amongst the supporters flitters around rumors of OpRes being kicked out of the host church due to subterfuge on the part of Rescue the Heartland and Nebraskans for Life – seems they failed to mention to the host church that Operation Rescue was part of the party. (Omaha’s World Herald carried this article regarding the church incident: http://omaha.com/article/20090828/NEWS01/708289928.) Others mention battles that OpRes cowered away from when they realized they were grossly outnumbered. Had Friday’s massive showing – the supporters outnumbered the anti’s 10 to 1 – scared away any would be intimidaters and harassers? We can hope. How’d that 70’s slogan go – what if they threw a war and no one came? Looks like only the good guys were showing up for this one.
We could be wrong, though. And the police are planning on the worst. A squad of fully armored riot police show up and take up station a block off the corner of the clinic. They are low key but everyone knows they are there. As if wonders will never cease, for the first time in my life, the sight of a full riot squad actually makes me feel safer. Debra Sweet, Director of The World Can’t Wait captured the why to that – we have the moral high ground. While maybe not on our side, the police in Bellevue seemed neutral. This police department should teach departments throughout the country how to handle protests. Their presence was calming, omnipresent and effective.
As the first client arrives, the few local anti’s begin to yell, “Keep your baby!”, “Let your baby LIVE!”, and more, some of it vicious lies, more of it trite claptrap parroted outside every clinic in America. But on this day the supporters make sure the clients hear none of it. “WELCOME! WELCOME! THIS CLINIC STAYS OPEN!!!”. (As a volunteer clinic escort verbally battered three days a week with the lies, misinformation, harsh judgment, and presumptive evaluations of the anti-choice squawkers outside the clinic in Louisville, the sound of them being drowned out by positive affirmation rocks me harder than when The Rolling Stones played Churchill Downs.) Every time a client arrives, or the anti’s start to talk at the supporters, lather-rinse-repeat. All day long, sustained bursts, heard three blocks away, “WELCOME! WELCOME! THIS CLINIC STAYS OPEN!!!”
By mid-morning, shortly after Shawna, Dawn, Betty and Candy, local supporters and angels, brought us water and snacks, some folks had gathered to pray the rosary and occasionally try to bark a word at the clients “WELCOME! WELCOME! THIS CLINIC STAYS OPEN!!!” A twenty foot delivery truck with dead fetuses plastered on the sides, pulls down the street and parks behind the “prayers”. This is OpRes’ “Truth Truck” but the only thing accurate about that is the “truck” part. The pictures are doctored composite pictures of still-born fetuses at 12 weeks gestation. And “Abortion is an ObamaNation.” Really? Abortion rates went down under pro-choice Clinton, skyrocketed under Bush’s abstinence only sex-ed, and are now falling again under the pro-choice Obama administration. But facts are irrelevant. This is about God’s law. I suppose they never heard of the doctrine of free will?
None to happy that the police let that thing down the street, Erin musters up an SUV that some very creative and quick hands cover with pro-choice posters, signs and banners. I’m amazed, yet again! This time by the dynamic spontaneity. Way to think on your feet, ladies!
Troy Newman shows up with almost as many cameras as recruits. He struts and pomps, trying to engage the supporters lining the fence by the parking lot. Here is a great blog post from the perspective of those standing that line: http://www.visinvox.com/2009/08/mid-afternoon-saturday-august-29th-2009.html. He beamed with pride at having supposedly averted a client to the fake clinic and saved a 12 week old baby (funny that, since the client farthest along was at 9 weeks), and he just wanted to say he…
“WELCOME! WELCOME! THIS CLINIC STAYS OPEN!!!”.
The cameras turn off, he thinks no one is watching and he throws his hands up, slaps them down to his thighs and says “Well I don’t know what else we can do here.” The frustration was almost as poignant as the stench of self-righteous pompousness! I had to laugh, which startled him because he didn’t know I was watching. He walks up the street to the fake clinic and then disappears.
Shortly after that, the anti’s mostly left, save a few locals still harassing clients and companions coming in. “WELCOME! WELCOME! THIS CLINIC STAYS OPEN!!!”
The real action at this point is on the street far from the clinic with all the great signs and banners. The folks holding them wave at the drivers, eliciting honks, thumbs ups, hoots and the occasional GO HOME or single finger wave. This clinic defense is over. It’s become a pep rally. We won. Victory Rally
After saying our goodbyes, we begin the eleven hour drive home. I call Dan, one of my fellow escorts in Louisville to share the good news and spread the victory love. I tell of the outnumbering, the outvoicing, the overwhelming police support and media attention. I shower him with the frustration of Troy Newman, the triumph of Terry O’Neill, the safety of Dr. Carhart. He revels in it all but sounds a bit less than thrilled. Turns out our clinic in Louisville attracted 200 plus anti’s that morning – a march from a local Evangelical Church, a busload from a mountain bible college, a sprinkling of newer, crazier chasers and prayers. No media, no police, no inspiring speeches from gifted national leaders. Just eleven volunteer escorts dealing with it like they always do, one client at a time, one foot in front of the other, through the bottleneck gauntlet of prayers, damnations, intimidation, hatred and harassment. Just like it’s always been. Just like we do every Saturday morning.
AND NOW…
what happened in Louisville?
It seems to happen more often than not: over 200 protesters due to a religious or political event, and we are not prepared.
I don’t know how many times they hit us hard on Mother’s Day’s before we really got organized. It seems to happen regularly: Father’s Day; Inauguration; Catholic youth conference in town, and we show up sleepy eyed and short handed as usual. But you know what? We make it through. Surely some folks decide to keep on driving. Occasionally a couple get swept into the decoy clinic down the block. Some we catch up to, and help them to the EMW Surgical Center. Some resurface an hour or more later, sometimes confused, or pissed. Sometimes with diapers and baby clothes.
This past Father’s Day, The Sister’s For Life obtained a permit, and rallied around the clinic for over two hours. They encircled the area around the clinic entrance, and chanted, sang and preached into a bullhorn.
Day before Father's Day '09
This Saturday was very similar.
In addition to a permitted rally by the Sisters for life, we saw an extra presence from the Cards for Life (UofL’s pro-Life student group), the Ky Mountain Bible College, and the Catholic church, including a priest in a full length white robe (he brought the wrong hood 
. As well, we saw some of our regular lone weirdo’s, like Ron, the semi-retired bully who used to occupy the door shouting position, telling clients that he had a bucket, and if they bring out their baby he’ll give it a proper christian burial. He’s gotten a lot quieter in the years since Angela has been coming to preach the gospel and myths about abortion causing cervical cancer :/ Also featured this weekend was the artist we refer to as Stem-Cell Jesus (see “my favorite protestor” below).
Those of us who rolled out to escort this Saturday were shocked. We never would have guessed that these zealots would turn out in solidarity with OpRes. Should we have known better? Maybe. I think it’s easy during our day-to-day to forget that we do live in the bible belt.
There were 11 escorts that morning, two of which were first timers. Another had been once before. I myself have been escorting for ten years. I remember times when five escorts on a Saturday was kind of a lot. It’s mornings like this when you try not to watch the clock, you just hope the time’s passing quickly. We were able to have one person in each spot where we consider it vital on the clinic side of the sidewalk. There were three to four escorts in the parking lot, which was a zoo, with at least 50 protestors and chasers, plus props.
so...who brought the bbq?
I encourage you to drop your friend off at the door. The parking lot is a little...full 
It was actually our lucky day. The clinic’s anesthesiologist was scheduled to be out, so the only clients coming in were having only local anesthesia, or were taking RU-486 (the abortion pill). As a result we saw less than a dozen clients, compared to the regular 20-30. We still haven’t heard back from Jesus, but we’re pretty sure this was due to mortal circumstances, and not the Holy Ghost obstacles we so often hear requested. I could be wrong, I guess.
Ky Mountain Bible College
Despite the low number of clients making it a fairly easy day for us escorts, it was not an easier day for those clients. One client, driving themselves to the Dr, accidentally ran the red light at the corner (I think she may have been distracted.) This caused an accident which sent the other driver away in an ambulance. The client was triggered in to a panic attack, and called a family member for support, who arrived shortly. It is unknown if that person made it to the Doc that day. Is that the kind of obstacle they’re praying for?
are you threatening me?
i will leave you with a peek at the end of my morning…
after this we went for breakfast for the last time at Mr. Z’s Diner as it has closed it’s door. Thank you friends for years of good cheap food and friends <3
These are not thinking people
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Escorts: 17
Protesters: approxametly 80
Cops: 1
This past Saturday was
Off.
The Fucking.
Hook.
We had several cars full of male presenting people from out of state who, mostly prayed across the street in front of Subway, but several of them were chasing with the regular crew.
We met a new chaser who informed us she is 37 weeks pregnant and is having a boy.
Congratulations on a welcomed, happy, healthy pregnancy. I hope you don’t bring your child to the clinic and dangle it in front of clients walking backwards down the sidewalk like your cohort.
But there was one crazy that took the cake. In fact, I will venture to say that the level of inappropriate public behavior we saw this week has not ever been seen here in Louisville.
Observe video A, please keep an eye on the guy in the yellow shirt.
But it was after most of the protesters and escorts had gone home that his truly unhinged, fucked up view of the world showed itself. Here are two accounts of what happened from Escorts D and L who witnessed the majority of the incident.
Escort D wrote:
I was involved in the White Castle/bathroom incident from the beginning. I saw the young woman, a client’s support person, leave the clinic and listened as L engaged her and asked if she wanted an escort. The young woman simply said she wanted to get out and take a walk, get some air. I suppose she was a bit bored in the clinic waiting room. She really didn’t need anyone to accompany her, but then ‘idjit, loud-mouth, newbie, yellow shirt’ started tagging along and harassing her. I caught up with them just to keep an eye on things and hopefully help to de-escalate. But, ‘idjit, loud-mouth, newbie, yellow shirt’, just didn’t get it and seemed to take this as a challenge. He hung on the whole way right to the door of White Castle, and after the young woman entered, said “I think I’ll go in and buy a coffee.” Well, this had become a ridiculous situation by this time and I just stepped in front of him and blocked the door of White Castle and told him to give the girl a break and leave her alone. That’s when he started yelling for the cop to say that I was blocking his entrance to a public place. L had followed the woman in, and soon popped out to say that it was ok, she had gone into the bathroom. So, I stepped away, and ‘idjit, loud-mouth, newbie, yellow shirt’ went in the restaurant. (Does White Castle actually qualify as a “restaurant?) He was at a bit of a loss for a few minutes, but then went up to the bathroom door and continued his harassment through the door. He did this maybe two or three times. Then, he eventually, actually went to the counter to buy some coffee. I guess that’s because he knew I was watching, and as a Christian, he couldn’t allow himself to be caught up in a lie. While he was putting cream and sugar in his coffee, the woman came out of the bathroom, and L accompanied her out the side door. ‘Idjit, loud-mouth, newbie, yellow shirt’ actually stayed at the counter to finish decorating his coffee, and L and I were able to get the woman back to the clinic, but not without further harassment from other idjit newbies {these are the above mentioned male presenting people who came in several cars with out of state plates. There is speculation they are all from Louisville’s own Southern Baptist Seminary, but this is completely unsubstantiated; though several of our most prominent protesters are confirmed SBS student}.
And here is the other account {please note ‘idjit, loud-mouth, newbie, yellow shirt’ and Larry David are the same person, but since he is new and we don’t know his name yet we are making it up}
Escort L wrote:
The companion, let’s call her Brave Girl, because that is what she was, had come out earlier when I was on the corner of 1st and Market. She had expressed an interest in walking around then. I told her about Starbucks, but she figured White Castle was close enough and went in there. When she came out again, I spoke with here again, and she stated that she wanted to walk around for while.
Then Larry David came prancing up and going on and on about how she shouldn’t kill her baby. Then D joined us, and we were able to flank her on both sides. I kept moving further away from her to keep Larry David away. So after he figured that out, he was pushing on me really hard. I held my ground, so he started whining about how I was pushing on him. I laughed at him and told him I was walking in a straight line. But he kept on with being a tool.
After we crossed Market and were standing in front of the CPC, I was really upset, so I turned and screamed in his face, “She’s not even pregnant, you stupid fucking fuck!.” Brave Girl told me that she really liked me after that. Larry David continued to natter on about her non-existent baby.
When we got to White Castle, Brave Girl said she was just going to go on in rather than try to take a walk. D stopped Larry David (in a very calm and rational way). LD started screeching for the cop, whining about how D wouldn’t let him into a public building. I went inside to look for Brave Girl; she was in the bathroom. I went into the bathroom and told her that LD was coming in and that I would stay and let her know when he was gone. She thanked me and I went to the front to let D know.
LD came in and went to the bathroom door and started tapping on it and hollering through the door. I think that if we hadn’t been there, he would have pushed the door open. I went to the counter and told them, “Some crazy guy is trying to go into the women’s bathroom.” This happened 3-4 times. Every time the manager came out, LD wandered off. He finally got coffee after the 2nd or 3rd time he went to the bathroom door.
I guess Brave Girl didn’t want to spend the day in the bathroom, so she came out while LD was fixing up his coffee. We went out the side door and headed back to the clinic.
We got about half a block, when LD came running up behind us and started his crap again. D and I got her back into the clinic. I told her that hopefully they would be gone in 1/2 and hour and she could go for a walk then.
After it was over, I was shaking. I got the impression that the other protesters weren’t bothered by it. Just like they secretly admire the assholes that shoot clinic doctors, they were impressed with LD.
About half way back to the clinic, after all of the hoopla in White Castle, I joined the two escorts walking Brave Girl back to the clinic. I got in between D escort and Larry David and began trying to engage him, hoping he would start talking to me and stop yelling at her. It sort of worked and it was not until I got really close to him and caught his eye that he finally heard us telling him that she was not pregnant and began telling her she should tell her friend to come out of the clinic.
After Brave Girl was in the clinic, I lost my temper like I have never done. I rounded on that ass-hole screaming about his inappropriate behavior. I was telling (screaming) him that that following/ trapping female presenting people into bathrooms is what sexual predators do. I rambled on about rape culture and autonomy for several minutes before I just could not manage to look at him for another moment and stamped off still furious.
Across the street in the parking lot were three protesters, they guy on the soap box, the guy who claims his mother tried to abort him 8 times and he survived ( I am not exaggerating, this is how he introduced himself to several of the escorts) and one of the more annoying female presenting chasers. And I lost it on them too, asking (screaming) if they condoned such horrible behavior, and the answer was yes. The annoying girlish one responded that she wasn’t in the bathroom with the support person and didn’t know what had happened, BUT that she knew someone who had had an abortion and it destroyed her, thus justifying any behavior that would prevent abortion from happening.
When I posited (screaming) that preacher dude could never know what it was like to be a woman chased down the street and trapped in a bathroom he said “Yes I do” and “you don’t know what it is like to be a baby being aborted”.
At that point I realized my mistake, I tried to reason (angry yelled reason) with them, but these people have no concept of compassion. They don’t care about people. They are only interested in perpetuating their own ideals of women’s places in society, and it drives them crazy that we might claim our own efficacy, challenging their notions of gender roles.
For years I had very strict rules for myself, refusing to have any verbal interactions with protesters. And over the years, I gradually relaxed this boundary feeling as though there might be benefits to engaging with them, we certainly have escorts who can really humanize themselves and our clients to the protesters. Engagement is a powerful tool to distract antis, while slipping clients past unnoticed. But I am not the one. They make me too angry. All I want to do is make them feel as uncomfortable as they make our clients feel, but in the end it hurts me, and makes me less effective as an empowering force for clients.
And really how do you explain rape culture to some fucked up dude who thinks it’s ok to chase female presenting people into bathrooms?
It has taken me all week to write this because every time I sat down at the computer I began to shake with rage, or cry with frustration. And even now I can’t really get into the kind of analysis of how rape culture effects the milieu on the sidewalk in front of the clinic in the way that I want. But give me a week or two and I will get all my thoughts compiled and organized.
This is an important concept that needs to be addressed. The way we approach people’s autonomy directly affects the kinds of interactions we have with the world around us. And I, for one, am not willing to allow others to hold onto the notion that my personal space is any less deserving of respect than theirs; regardless of one’s opinion of my choices.
And no matter how much you may disagree with me it is not up to you.
SO BACK THE FUCK UP.
40 Days for Life
September 23-November 1, 2009
http://www.40daysforlife.com/louisville/
This Biannual event is in it’s 3rd year. amongst other activities, vigils are held outside of clinics around the country. there are usually low numbers of these protesters present at a time, but they do bring a certain threat.
Our concerns are similar to something we experience often: these are not our regular protesters. The groups which organize and recruit for special events like this do not inform the participants of laws about blocking the entrance, or trespassing on clinic property. I personally have been grabbed from behind, with both arms, by a person much larger than me who was not told the simple common sense rule: NO TOUCHING!
This concern is one reason why we want to have extra escorts dropping in throughout these 40 days.
Also, we want to send an important message to these guest do-gooders: DO NOT COME BACK! If they feel like there is little to no resistance to their bullying, or that their silly vigils are working, they will see fit to return. We need to send a clear message that their bullying is not welcome, and will not be tolerated here.
During these 40 days the regular escorts will maintain their regular schedules: 7-8:30am Tue-Sat. We are asking people who are able to pop in and help out during those times, but also to cruise by the clinic throughout the day.
Clients leave anytime between 1pm and 6pm. All of us should be keeping an extra eye on the clinic during these 40 days. What often happens is that pro-life groups will take shifts together. Sometimes this is just a family of 3, but it could be a church group of 15 +.
If you are downtown, and have time to pass by the clinic, please do. If you see something concerning these are our suggestions:
- go in to the clinic, and ask the receptionist to call an escort and alert them to what’s happening. If you have time to wait and help escort please do. an experienced escort will be happy to provide helpful tips and support.
- we highly recommend having a camera with you. document what goes on *please be sensitive to the fact that cameras are an intimidating tool used to shame clients by antis. If you wish to use a camera while clients are present be obvious, and maybe tell them that you are not filming them but are documenting the awful bullying that is taking place*. if you do not have a camera, take some notes. you can post notes as comments here, or email them to wenches@riseup.net
- remember, if you plan to be an escort BRING A BUDDY!!! We strongly discourage anyone doing this work alone. it is not safe, and can be very stressful, and even triggering.
- dress for the weather. remember it is dark at 7am. PLEASE do not wear open toed shoes.
Thanks for your interest and support. please use this forum, or the email address above for any questions you may have.
Thursday Morning
It was my second weekday at clinic, and weekdays (the one’s that I’ve been around for) have a much different atmosphere.
There were three escorts (myself included) and about 7 or 8 protesters, give or take a few – 2 chasers (Donna and an older dude who may be a painter or something?) and a few prayers, plus some who kind of chased but mostly played it cool. No cops.
It was really different in that usually on a Saturday morning there’s enough going on that you aren’t so up close and personal with just one or two protesters.
This morning I used tactics I would normally use (putting myself in-between the chasers and the clients/support people), but they were a lot less effective without a larger group of escorts. So I found myself mostly just talking with clients/support people and walking along side them, not really effectively blocking Donna from touching or talking to people. It was frustrating, but better than being very aggressive, in my opinion.
Also because of the weekday dynamic, you have to deal with the same protesters over and over again. You can’t block Mary for a few minutes, then hang out with Donna, and then stand in front of Angela, and in between all of that talk to different escorts to dilute the whole thing. You’re dealing with the same couple of people for a few hours. Yikes.
But, to look on the bright side, you also get to know some awesome escorts a bit better, because you have more time with them, too, and are able to chat more than you would on a Saturday.
One cool thing that happened today was that a person came and spoke with us – they had been a client a while back, and wanted to get our stance on why we escort. Most of the clients were in by then, so we got the chance to have a nice conversation with someone who was pretty passionate about their beliefs. Eventually we said “You know, you’d be a great escort!” and it sounded like she was considering it. It was nice to get a fresh perspective on the stuff that goes on outside the clinic.
I’m going to go back to bed.
-F
When Shut the hell up is just not enough
Saturday September 19, 2009
Escorts: 17
Protesters: 65
Cops: 1
The person in this video is very pregnant, 38 ish weeks to be more specific. And she seems to be under the impression that by throwing her big belly around she is going to change people’s minds. In the same way it is not ok to use your children as a means of shaming a person seeking an abortion, it is not ok to use your pregnant self as a political tool either.
This anti really does not like having her picture taken. You will remember her as the protester who told a client that had miscarried that she was lying. Saturday, right after I took this video I offered her a great deal: if she will leave clients alone when they ask her to, I will quit videoing her when she asks me too. It seems a fair offer to me but she refused. But I will be true to my word. Any time she backs completely off from a client who refuses her advances, I will respect her right and not video her as soon as she says the word. Until then, it is on.
Comments by andy
with one comment
So I am really excited to say we had more comments related to Ken’s post than we have. A few comments have indicated to me that we need some clarification as to the purpose of this blog as well as the expectations for productive dialogue.
!. This is a pro-choice blog and we will not post deadbabybabydeaddeadbabybad comments. We are not here to waste time in a debate we have all had a million times.
2. Religious speech is not appropriate in this forum.
Comments need to be confined to analysis of Reproductive and Sexual Justice, Escorting philosophy and tactics or cultural milieu observations, as well as critiques of said approaches.
3. Respect will be given, no name calling. Cursing at anyone or threatening will not be tolerated and the offender will be banned from further commenting.
4. I identify as a radical queer who will not tolerate derogatory comments regarding race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality or any other defining factor. That being said I would like to use this blog as an opportunity to examine the fucked up things we say and think without knowing it. I will make editorial comments occasionally to accomplish this goal.
4. If some other issue comes up and I feel the need to moderate, I will.
Please keep it up, the comments this week are great and the more we use this as a forum, the better off we are as escorts and defenders of our reproductive and sexual rights.
Written by everysaturdaymorning
March 29, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged with abortion, clinic, comments, empowement, Escorting, gender, pro-choice, queer, respect, sexual and reproductive justice