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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsImagine Strangers Screaming "Murderer" an Inch from Your Face While You're Trying to Get Medical
http://www.alternet.org/imagine-strangers-screaming-murderer-inch-your-face-while-youre-trying-get-medical-treatmentImagine Strangers Screaming "Murderer" an Inch from Your Face While You're Trying to Get Medical Treatment
Imagine trying to walk into a building, trying to get a medical treatment and someone screams at you. Someone is two inches from your face two feet from the front door and that someone is videotaping you, calling you a whore. There's ketchup poured in the snowbanks around you, made to look like spurted blood. You try to take a step forward, but people block your way, yelling that you're going to be "mother to a dead baby". They hold signs in your faces, whisper "murderer" in your ear as you pass. Maybe they shove you.
Don't believe portrayals to the contrary from anti-choice activists and the news media that these kinds of protestors outside abortion clinics are not grandmaspraying, or kindly "counselors" who just want to talk reasonably to women. These people wait outside clinics to shame and to harass; they are there to scare.
Despite the horrifying experiences of women across the country trying to obtain abortions, the US supreme court ruled unanimously on Thursday that a Massachusetts law providing a 35-foot buffer zone outside of clinics is unconstitutional, and violates protesters' first amendment right to engage in "personal, caring, consensual conversations" with women seeking abortions.
Personal, caring and consensual?
Katie Klabusich, a reproductive rights activist who has volunteered as an escort at six clinics across the country, tells me she is "terrified".
RainDog
(28,784 posts)to protect other women from religious fascists.
HERVEPA
(6,107 posts)HeiressofBickworth
(2,682 posts)would be standing at the top of the stairs leading to Planned Parenthood, yelling at the crowd "I'm going to have an abortion JUST TO PISS YOU OFF" and then standing back watching their heads explode.
P.S. I don't even have a uterus anymore, but what the heck, they wouldn't know it.
P.S.S. On the other hand, would this be considered "fostering a riot"? Damn, that takes all the fun out of it.
What is the matter with people that they can't just mind their own damned personal business?
Oh, and one last observation: The Supreme Court justices obviously didn't take the safety of women obtaining medical services (of any kind) at PP in favor of allowing nut-jobs to accost women. SHAME!
HERVEPA
(6,107 posts)All this would do would be to make it harder for women trying to enter the clinic.
ballabosh
(330 posts)because I don't really know the procedure. But how do the antis know what days abortions are scheduled? Is this something the clinics broadcast? And do they only do it on certain days? I'm not trying to be snarky, but I really don't know how this works.
HERVEPA
(6,107 posts)as a fake prospect. No, not broadcast.
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)"This area is monitored for security and customer-service reasons."
Let's see how courageous those "counselors" are, when they can watch themselves screaming, waving signs and stalking women on Youtube.
HERVEPA
(6,107 posts)At Planned Parenthood, abortions represent a very small percentage of what they do.
Second, there generally are camera set up to monitor activity, generally watched by a guard inside. Does not change any behavior. why would it.
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)The threat they are using is: "We get personal. We know your face."
The health center could do exactly the same: "We are watching you. Do anything controversial and your face ends up on the Internet."
HERVEPA
(6,107 posts)And yes they know. The cameras (at the clinic where I escort) are totally visible.
littlemissmartypants
(22,852 posts)Calista241
(5,586 posts)I haven't read of abortion protests recently, so I am out of the loop.
HERVEPA
(6,107 posts)Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)The clinics serve the public. As a result, each individual protester has to be told to leave the property in order for them to be trespassing.
You leave the "screamers" on the sidewalk, and put a nice clump of 4 people silently standing in front of the clinic door. When those 4 people are asked to leave, they don't, since a cop is not usually present. When the police do arrive, they move. And are quickly replaced by 4 different people, repeating the process.
Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)What you described is theoretically no different than what we have today with the buffer zones-- except doing that today might violate state laws. My point is that the USSC did NOT tell states that they had to tolerate games like this on private property, but only that the states could not block protest on public property. So, for example, a state could make it a felony to do as you have described. Further, an officer does not need to be present to personally witness any of this stuff. A perfectly legal video of a protestor refusing to leave private property when asked is all the officers need.
The issue is that some planned parenthood locations are very much public property, but there you go.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)which isn't practical without hundreds of protesters.
And I'm pointing out the massive problems this causes in the real world.
Trespassing is not going to receive a great deal of police effort. That video tape is never going to be watched.
Triana
(22,666 posts)The US Supreme Court thinks terrorism is just fine -- as long as it's levelled at women.
America sinks even lower....
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Of course, their buffer zone is perfectly constitutional.
raccoon
(31,130 posts)women, who are already escorts, my hat is off to you.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)Good thing so many of DU's pro choice people are also supporters of the Pope. That way they win no matter what, you know?