| On a Saturday I got out of bed at six in the morning, and put on some comfortable clothes threw a good book in my backpack and put some good music on my iPod. Then I rode my bicycle about three miles down the road to Planned Parenthood. Why would I get up so early on a Saturday just to go to Planned Parenthood? Because not sleeping in on a Saturday morning can make an important impact on women's reproductive rights. I started volunteering at the local Planned Parenthood in Bryan, Texas about a year ago, and in many ways I feel that it has been one of the most significant things that I do as an activist that effects people's lives.
Every day women walk through the doors of reproductive health facilities, and in many of these facilities women must deal with harassment for what is a very private and personal choice. The protesters that line up in front of these facilities claim that they are there because they care about women, and that they want to see an end to abortion. However, it is difficult to believe that the protest care about women when they participate in a culture that is patriarchal in nature and decidedly anti-woman. It is also difficult to believe that they want to see an end to abortion when they oppose every policy that actually reduces the number of abortions.
Early on Saturday mornings I arrive at the Planned Parenthood clinic, a facility that has been routinely targeted over the years but has enjoyed loyal support from community members. Sometimes if you arrive at the clinic in the early morning there are not protesters, but this week marked the first week of the anti-choice protest 40 Days for Life. As I came through the gate I noticed about half a dozen protesters in front of the fence that surrounds Planned Parenthood, and I parked my bicycle near the front door. The Planned Parenthood I volunteer at is surrounded by a fence, and staff and patients park inside the fence that provides a barrier between them and the protesters. Some reproductive health facilities are not as fortunate.
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| I sign in to the volunteer log and don my orange and yellow vest, and then I usually take a look in the kitchen and check for fresh coffee. Supporting reproductive rights is always easier with a fresh cup of coffee. There are usually two volunteers that escort patients at a time, but this Saturday we were fortunate to have four volunteers throughout the morning. During the morning we walk patients from their cars to the building, and we check their identification and then open the locked doors to allow them in the facility. When they leave the clinic we walk them to their car, and then we stand at the gate as they leave and watch to ensure that the protesters do not approach their vehicles will they are in the driveway.
Our job is simple: to show the patients a welcoming face. As soon as the patients open the doors the protesters begin to shout through the fence, and each person is different and has a different reaction to the protesters. Some people react with surprise, and will ask me why they are there. Other people react in anger, and will yell back at the protesters. Also, there are those that appear genuinely upset by the people shouting at them, telling them that what they are about to do is murder. I usually keep things simple. I just smile and say hello. I answer questions simply, and focus on the patient engaging with me as opposed to the protester.
Usually the people that I escort in are polite and some of them thank me, but often I can tell that they have more important things on their mind. However, every once in a while I get a reaction that surprises me. While I was escorting one morning two women came into the clinic, and later on the friend of the woman who had the appointment came outside to smoke. I let her know that we had a private smoking area away from the protesters, and showed her though the building and stood in the private garden area while she smoked and vented. In the middle of her venting about the protesters she looked at me and asked if I worked there or if I was a medical student, and I told her that I was just a volunteer because I cared about a woman's right to make her own choice about her own life. She grabbed my hand and shook it and thanked me. It may be simple, but it is those moments that make it seem worthwhile.
The protesters do not talk to me anymore. I do not engage them in conversation, and I barely acknowledge that they exist. But the people that work at women's reproductive health clinics are targeted. The director of the Planned Parenthood in Bryan has received death threats, and the employees have been picketed at their own homes. The women and families that rely on the reproductive health clinics are also targeted. I have seen women arrive by taxi and alone only to be shouted out through the fence. I have seen families arrive for affordable health care only to have their children be targeted by the protesters: "Don't you want a little brother or sister," the protesters will say. I volunteer to escort at Planned Parenthood if only because of the hope that by simply smiling and walking with someone, I might be able to help make a difficult situation a little bit easier. If the kind word I offer before they go inside is the last thing they hear instead of the words from outside the fence, then I've done something that has made a difference.
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