“Pro-life” people have been chipping away at abortion access for years. They’ve already made access to this vital healthcare service an obstacle course. The anti-abortion extremists aren’t satisfied with this approach – they want to stop all abortion now. They want personhood amendments. They want to charge women with murder for abortion. This is not new.
But now? After the election? The antis think they’ve already won.
They haven’t. I know they haven’t, partly because of the amazing surge of support we’ve gotten from you all. Message after message:
I want to escort. How can I help?
When is the next training? Can I be an escort?
How do I become an escort?
It’s been amazing.
So if you want to get involved, start here: How to Get Involved. Escorting is not the only way to support access, so you may want to look at other options. Then if you think escorting might be for you, go here: Trainings for Escorts. And if you still want to escort, then email us at everysaturdaymorning@gmail.com , and we’ll be glad to get you started on the process.
We’ve scheduled a special training to respond to all the requests – Saturday, December 3. Email us for location and time.
I know, it’s been a while since I posted. I guess I ran out of things to say about the chaos on the sidewalk. And there have been so many new voices talking about their experience as clinic escorts. I love hearing other perspectives.
But I don’t want you to forget that we’re still here. And today -it was wild on the sidewalk.
Antis standing in the drop-off zone
The police asked them to move out of the street, which was helpful, but that was the sweet spot of the morning.
Ky Mountain Bible College showed up.
Actually, clients came up behind this crew -if they were approaching from the corner on 2nd St. People coming from 1st were greeted by these folks.
If you were on the front line today, you got to hear some preaching:
All of us outside of Christ – all of us outside of Christ – are lame and crippled and weak and sick. But we build up ourselves – we have this self righteousness that says we can take care of ourselves, we can save ourselves. There is room at the table for those that are unable to save themselves, which includes all of us. None of us can save ourselves
(With apologies for the music – it helps drown out the noise of the megaphones inside the clinic. At least it wasn’t polka music today.)
One escort got some special attention:
There is room at the table for all sinners, even you, Sir. Sir, we love you we do, I know you don’t believe that, you probably go home and laugh about this, but we care about you. We do. God commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves. I don’t like being out here. I hate it. But we are coming out here to warn you
End of the morning. Some escorts talking amongst themselves and – they laughed. Spurgeon didn’t like that. I walked up after he was already on a roll.
JS: WHERE IN THE WORLD – IS IT FUNNY – THAT 25 CHILDREN ARE GOING TO BE MURDERED RIGHT HERE? YOU TELL ME – TELL ME WHAT WORLD THAT IS FUNNY IN!!!
Escort: I don’t know who you think you are but you need to bring it down because you are incredibly – no – no-
JS: HEY! YOU BE QUIET! 25 CHILDREN ARE GOING TO BE MURDERED IN HERE!!!
Escort: …you talked enough during the day and I am going to say something
JS: 25 children are gonna be murdered in here and you led them…
Escort: I don’t know who you think you are but do not raise your voice at me like that at all (she continues to say “at all” several times as JS yells over her.)
Anti in the background: We totally raise our voice.
JS: I WILL RAISE – YOU’RE MORE CONCERNED THAT I RAISE MY VOICE THAN THE FACT THAT 25 CHILDREN ARE BEING MURDERED AND YOU LED THEM TO THEIR SLAUGHTER – YOU LED 25 CHILDREN TO THEIR SLAUGHTER!!!
Escort: …we are grownups and grownups don’t have a discussion like this.
JS: GROWNUPS DON’T LEAD 25 CHILDREN TO THE SLAUGHTER!! GROWNUPS DON’T KILL BABIES!!! YOU’RE NOT A GROWN-UP!!!!
And just in case we didn’t get the point:
Male Escort: Go home, Joseph
JS: YOU HAVE MURDERED 25 CHILDREN!! EVERY ONE OF YOU LED 25 CHILDREN TO THEIR DEATH. THAT’S NOT FUNNY. IT’S NEVER FUNNY. I DON’T CARE WHAT YOUR OPINION ON THIS PLACE IS AND WHAT YOU THINK OF ME, IT IS NEVER FUNNY!!
Female escort: All right, I think we’re done, let’s not keep giving him the audience he wants…
At the end of the day, I’m just glad that clients and their companions only experience a minute or two of the chaos on the sidewalk. It’s like I always say, as we head for the door, “You don’t have to stop or talk to them, we can just keep going.” And we do.
It rained. Not the whole time, and not a downpour, but it rained steadily. That cut back on the number of protesters – at least I guess it was the rain that kept some of the regulars at home.
But ~ to make up for that ~ the Sisters for Life came down earlier than usual this year. Their numbers were down a bit too, but there are enough of them to block the sidewalk effectively.
From across the street:
(Image is of a crowd of people facing away from the camera, toward the clinic, stretching three or four car lengths down the sidewalk. Many of them hold umbrellas. You can see a child’s wagon, with an umbrella just above it. A couple of escorts in orange vests are visible.)
Clients have to make their way through this:
(Video pans on the sidewalk, shows a bunch of people standing as close together as their umbrellas allow. If you remember Dominic {he wears camouflage clothing, holds a sign, and yells “Murder! Murder in the First Degree!!”} you can see him from the back. One woman’s voice can be heard preaching loudly, but I have trouble distinguishing the words. My best shot at transcribing them: ” …dead. We’re out here (something) for you… God…taking your heart…out here in the name of Jesus… Thank you, Lord, for you have already done according to your word…)
Or this:
{A few voices singing “How Great is Our God”)
Or even this:
(Female voice, VERY loud: He gave you WILL, not a woman’s CHOICE but WILL ~ to make the right decision ~ That is to CHOOSE LIFE ~ for your PRE-BORN BABY! Choose life for your pre-born baby! There’s help for you!
It’s an ugly morning. A few protesters use their umbrellas to “accidentally” poke or hit escorts standing on the property line. Some clients and companions have to shove their way through the crowd as the protesters yell at them.
I’m walking with a client when one of the chasers steps on the back of her flip flop. Yes. The client is walking to her doctor’s appointment at the clinic. A young woman in a green vest is chasing her, begging her not to ‘kill her baby.’ This chaser gets so close up behind the client that she steps on the client’s flip flop. Fortunately, the client’s foot comes out of the flop, so she doesn’t end up face down on the ground. But she has to hop a step or two in the rain back to retrieve her shoe, while the chaser continues to preach and lecture.
It’s ridiculous and outrageous.
We call the police to clear a path to the door. We’ve called the police out more than once lately. Two Saturdays in a row, two different white male preachers blasting their words at over 100 decibels, which violates the noise ordinance (and can cause damage to your hearing.) There is privilege inherent in being able to call the police with an expectation of help (although we’re never quite sure what the response will be.)
Escorts calling the police when it’s a predominantly black church group is uncomfortable. It doesn’t make me feel like a good ally. That’s a whole other aspect to consider, and it takes us a while to decide to call.
The police come just as we’re almost done – the clients are already in. The officers don’t think they can do much of anything to help – First Amendment, they have a right to be here – and of course that’s true.* They don’t realize they’ve already helped just by showing up. Just their presence changes the behavior of the protesters.
An escort who had been standing on the property line with her back to the protesters describes it. “…you could feel the difference in many small ways that added up to me being able to take a deep breath and wonder why things felt better. The sounds weren’t in my ear, I couldn’t feel body heat anymore, nothing had poked or jostled me for several minutes. I actually didn’t know that that was when the police had arrived until after. I could never even see them, actually. Even just from the sidelines, they changed total chaos into a five-foot gap between me and the protesters.”
I’m glad the police came; glad they are low key.
And I’m a bit disheartened by an officer who, when an escort expresses concern that the protesters might hurt someone, responds, “Emotions run high. That is the chance you take by being out here.”
As if the sidewalk is a free-for-all zone for the protesters and the escorts. Sigh. The sidewalk is a sidewalk, the path that clients and companions have to travel to get to their doctor’s office. It’s not a battleground. And this is not a battle between us and the protesters. It’s about the client.
The protesters want to stop the clients from getting an abortion. We want to support the client’s decision. The protesters are a distraction from our reason for being there, and when we focus on them, we risk losing sight of the client.
It’s so hard to remember that. And so important.
We have to deal with the protesters – that’s unavoidable. We need effective ways to de-escalate the variety of situations they present. Sometimes we ignore them. Sometimes we call the police. But if we let dealing with the antis become our main focus, the client loses, and so do we.
It’s a lot to process, a lot to think about. And it’s not why I started this post.
I started this post because this Saturday – the day before Father’s Day – was the last of the Spring Pledge-a-Picketer days. How many protesters were there this week? That’s the big question. And the answer is….
Drum-roll, please…. 108 antis
(and 75 umbrellas…)**
Easter was 79, and Mothers’ Day was 100, so that gives us a grand total of 287.
Thanks to all of you who pledged – we’ll have financial results in soon. In the meantime, here’s what it was like walking from First Street to the clinic this week.
*Blocking the entrance and intimidating clients may be a FACE act* violation, which the local officers aren’t prepared to enforce. They might even be unaware of the law.
**No, I didn’t count the umbrellas. I just made that number up – it’s a “seems like” number. Seems like there were 75 umbrellas…
I have been clinic escorting for just over two years now. I have seen the aggressiveness, in-your-face harassment and flat out verbal assault attempting, and many times succeeding, in reducing patients, companions and family into hysterics and tears. Other than quiet words of support and reassurance that I will see them safely through to the door as best and as quickly as I can, there is nothing that I can do.
Our clinic is now being heavily targeted by one of the most radical, aggressive and dangerous anti-abortion groups in the country. These are not quiet old ladies from local churches praying the rosary. They are a nationwide group of extreme fundamentalists, with leaders who are convicted felons. So far they have managed to stay under the radar of the Department of Justice and Southern Poverty Law as a hate group. It will only be a matter of time before they hit the headlines big and others stand up and take notice.
I refrain from posting any of their public videos as they are so graphic, violent and triggering that I don’t know if any of my non-escort friends could watch it without being very unsettled and frightened. Hell, they frighten me.
Do not think that this does not affect anyone in your life. 1 in 3 women will have an abortion by the age of 45 from all races, classes, backgrounds and yes, religions.
It is unacceptable for this kind of domestic terrorism against our sisters, mothers, aunts, daughters, friends and ourselves.
Chloe Angyal in a memorial article for Dr. George Tiller, murdered by an anti-abortion extremist on May 31, 2009, describes the escalation of violence by anti-abortion protesters being experienced across the country. I recommend you read the whole article “The Subculture of Embattled Abortion Workers”, but here is a preview:
When Tiller was killed, in 2009, a rush of anti-abortion legislation was just beginning. And violence against abortion providers, those few who remain, was and remains a daily reality no matter where they live. A continual threat, part of the buzzing background noise that is American violence.
Six years later nearly to the day, I’m still here in the U.S., and though no abortion provider has been murdered since 2009, harassment of these doctors continues. And not just the doctors; anti-choice extremists will target almost anyone who is associated with the provision of abortion: nurses, receptionists, the men and women who run clinic networks, clinic escorts, clinic security guards, landlords, and the neighbors and families of all those people.
Do you condone this behavior? By your apathy, silence and inaction you do.
Interested in becoming a Louisville Clinic Escort? Please read the information in the “Trainings for Escorts” page. Our next training will be in mid-July. Send an email to everysaturdaymorning@gmail.com and we will send you more details about the next training.
REMINDER: It’s not too late to make your pledge for Pledge-a-Picketer. The campaign ends and we make the final count the day before Father’s Day, June 20. So far, we’re are at 179 protesters. You can pledge here, with either a specific amount per person or by pledging a lump sum for the whole horde of protesters.
This message is for all the wonderful escorts that made my walk into EMW so much easier for me and my companion.
The week prior to my appointment I had overloaded myself with information regarding the procedure I was going to have. By the night before my appointment, I was pretty well de-sensitized to what I was going to go through and so I randomly Googled EMW for which Google auto-completed “EMW reviews” I found an article from Life News*.
After reading that article and remembering Gibb’s Rule #3 “Don’t believe what you’re told–double check,” I went back to my search results and found this WHAS 11 article.
The funny thing is that Life News literally shot themselves in the foot….halfway through the article they named you guys! Every Saturday Morning was right there in caps and it gave me a proverbial lifeline. I had no idea up until about 11pm that I was to encounter protesters, although I had a suspicion that it was a possibility. But once LifeNews name-dropped you guys I immediately Googled you….and then I found the blog.
For over 2 hours I read posts. I read all the way back to the previous August that corresponded to my date with destiny the next day. I read about Ron and Donna and TM and Nurse Betty. and I read about all the escorts most of whom I only know by posting name: ServalBear and fml221 and lisajane13 and anarchist bee. I mentally prepared myself for what I would face in the morning through your blog. I finally fell into a restless sleep and 4 short hours later we were on the road to Louisville.
I–think–I recognized my escort the moment our car turned the corner onto 2nd St. I have no idea what his name is but if he is the same man that Cheryl described in her comment in this post, then the tall older salt-and-pepper haired man who walked me to the doors was an anchor for me. As we walked we discussed the blog and my general good mood, and how people like me must be a real relief for him and other escorts to walk with as we are firm in our decision and recognize the antis for what they are and what they are trying to do. He and I had a good laugh as I called out antis by name asking who was who. He pointed out some of the more outspoken ones and we talked about how ridiculous they all were. My companion walked ahead of us keeping the attention of 2-3 antis so they couldn’t bother us. I only had one younger gentleman and an older lady approach me and try to sway my decision, but I continued conversing with my escort and paid them no mind. We were so deep in discussion that I didn’t even get a chance to give anyone my patented Stink-Eye. You guys are right, the rain does help in keeping the numbers of antis down.
Anyway, I digress, the main reason for this letter is to thank you guys….thank you for existing, thank you to my escort for allowing me to walk with pride instead of shame. I’d also like you all to know that I’m doing well; mentally, emotionally, and physically. I slept really well the night after my appointment and woke up in the morning with minimal soreness after having what some would consider major surgery. When I woke up it was to the discovery that I had regained a lot of energy and strength.
Keep up all the good work!!
——————————————————————————–*Our general policy is to omit links to anti-abortion websites. We have made an exception and included the link to Life News for readers to experience the contrast in the information the author found on their Google search.
Red State Perspectives on Reproductive Justice. There is a lot to be said for making a point to create a space – a whole conference – for activists, advocates, academics, and service providers to caucus about the challenges they face in their communities around a so many topics. These issues (birth, pregnancy, abortion, HIV, sex, LGBTQIA health, education, economic rights, racism…) face so many attacks, and it is important for those of us working to address these challenges to be able to learn and share with each other. it’s amazing how much there is in common, but surprising to learn how very different things are in other places (and, based on my observations, some things are worse than you can imagine, in a place you probably haven’t thought of…)
So, I feel very fortunate to have been given the chance to attend the Take Root conference for a second year in a row, thanks to the support of Louisville’s Reproductive Rights /Justice communities.
In addition to the support I received from our local folks, I was especially honored to be invited to sit on a panel by the Take Root organizers. The panel I took part in was titled Visions for Our Movement: Service and Practical Support in Red States. I was proud to represent the Kentucky Support Network, and the Louisville Clinic Escorts alongside individuals from Backline, Trust Women in Wichita, Cicada Collective in Texas, the Bay Area Doula Project, and Defending the Last Abortion Clinic in Mississippi. It was exciting to stand alongside folks who are also doing client based support work based on the various challenges that are faced by folks in different places. One of the most unifying (and gratifying) points that was shared by a number of us was the powerful experience of being a space holder, and a story bank of sorts, as we offer an informed ear over a hotline, or a steady hand on the sidewalk, to people who are dealing with stigma, a lack of support, a deficit in resources, and other barriers. Hearing that point being made by other people, and knowing how large of a piece it plays for me in the work I do was very satisfying.
After my panel, there was a followup session with breakout activities where small groups from different places collaborated on various topics. I was excited to brainstorm with a range of folks about ways to move the conversation away from just abortion in order to cultivate a unified movement towards justice across lines of difference. We talked about how important intersectionality is in this work. How it is vital for reproductive rights advocates to ally themselves with folks working on voter rights, HIV advocacy, LBGT health, economic human rights, mental health, on and on… so that we are able to stand together as we fight, because it is impossible to separate the various aspects of a whole person’s complex identity. We cannot expect people to forget that their skin is brown, or their kids are hungry, or that they need access to healthcare, because we also want them to lobby for voter rights, just like we can’t expect a transman to ignore the importance of pap smears while trying to adopt a child with their partner who is up against the fact they have a non violent marijuana charge from ten years ago on their record… for example.
On top of the two sessions about practical support, I attended two other workshops. One entitled HIV, Self Determination, and Cultural Safety explored the challenges faced by people in various circumstances and we heard from panelists doing work on a national level through various orgs, and on the ground in Louisiana and Mississippi. A major takeaway from that discussion was that HIV is not the problem for lots of folks that are positive. The problem lies in a lack of access to care, and in systems that are constructed to continually oppress people who are already facing a lack of resources.
The next session I attended a presentation called We’re here! We’re queer! We’re sober!: Assessing Ourselves and Our Environment. This presentation focused on intentional sobriety, or intentional use of substances, as a way to foster conversations about safety, stigma, and the reasons why we are taught to suppress our desires, and trained to feel like we need substances in order to be comfortable in intimate settings. We also talked about the problematic nature of a culture that is built on buying and consuming substances as a way to feel like we can come together in spaces that are supposed to be “safer” spaces to be ourselves in.
Outside of workshops, I was delighted to see faces, familiar and new, as we exchanged cards and smiles on the way to lunch or in the halls between sessions. The highlights for me included hearing from Lynn Paltrow of National Advocates for Pregnant Women during her keynote address where she spoke of people being denied bodily autonomy and other human rights for the simple reason that they were pregnant. Her speech included the stories of people who were not just being denied abortion access. She spoke of a woman who was threatened with arrest to comply with a doctor’s wish to perform a medically unnecessary cesarean procedure, and told us about multiple people who were jailed in an attempt to prevent them from having abortions including one woman who was sent to jail from a hospital without examination, where she died of an ectopic pregnancy.
The conference was closed out with an incredible closing plenary by Deon Haywood of Women with a Vision who gave us a picture of what is going on in New Orleans where there is a staggeringly disproportionate number of women (especially black women and black trans women) who are being prosecuted for sex work and “crimes against nature” (such as anal sex, and oral sex). As a result, these women are being placed on the national sex offender registry which carries countless repercussions on their entire lives, including but not limited to their rights to raise their children, and also the ability to find a job.
I am very thankful to be part of such a supportive community here in KY that allowed me to access such an amazing and inspiring broader community so I can learn and continue to strengthen the work I do. Here’s hoping I can go back next year.
here are a few links for more projects that I was fortunate to make connections to this time around:
When I was escorting about two weeks ago a black glove was found on the sidewalk, a group of clients had just entered the clinic and at first several escorts turned to each other holding the glove and asking if any of us had lost it. No? I went inside with it to ask this time if any of the clients were missing a black glove, I held it up. No.
When I got back outside I stood in front of the doors and asked once more. Ah, yes, the protestor who is so very rude to me was the owner of the glove, “Are you sure you don’t want to just go ahead and keep it?” she sneered.
I was shocked, was I being rude? Had I inadvertently said something awful to her when offering her the glove? No. “Excuse me? What do you mean?”I said as she put on her gloves and straightened her shoulders, “Well, you know, you’re just gonna get in trouble. No good deed goes unpunished.” she said as she looked at me over her spectacles. First of all, what a terribly rude and cynical thing to say, lady, you’re looking way too much into me just giving you back what you dropped when you were harassing people and trying to hand them a tiny plastic fetus, okay?
Its important to take a breath and realize why I’m there. I’m not there to discuss politics, religion, or how to be a decent human being with protestors, I’m there for the clients. To delve so deep into the meaning of every footfall and side glance of an anti is counterproductive and unhealthy for me. That being said, if it seems to distract the antis from harassing clients even for a few minutes, then I will gladly take their negative comments.
It makes me sad though, that these people believe that evil permeates us to the point wherein common courtesy (aka returning your glove) is something unfathomable for us to do. Once again, calm down, and maybe take this basic situation as a lesson that we are not evil, and perhaps a reality check is necessary?
