Join the Harass the Anti-Choicers Club!
The fact that people can stand outside abortion clinics and harass women during the most difficult times of their lives legally has always upset me. Someday I’d like to train to be a clinic escort, though it will have to be once my daughter is older and capable of caring for herself, since it’s unfortunately a dangerous job to do.
One thing I can do right now, however, is join the Voice of Choice movement. Todd Stave is the property owner who happens to have an abortion clinic as one of his properties. He has been used to the public harassment and phone calls that anti-choice protestors have so generously bestowed upon him for years, but when they started showing up at his child’s school with their protest signs, harassing the girl, he knew something had to be done. So he started a phone tree where family and friends could call the people who called him back, giving them a piece of their own medicine.
These callers do not harass in the same way, of course. They are very polite, saying things like “I send blessings/am praying for you and your children at 408 Maple Street.” They let the harassers know that their identities and their locations are known, too—and though they aren’t picketing them at their own homes or places or work or schools, they are funneling hundreds of calls to each house. Today, his Voice of Choice group has the ability to send thousands of calls to any people who harass him and his family, or anyone else via telephone.
You can sign up for Voice of Choice here. Phone calls are needed, but that’s not the only way you can help out. You can also participate or help organize counter-protests, send emails, and perform other volunteer duties. This is a peaceful organization, so keep in mind that violent rhetoric, no matter how angry you get, is not acceptable. The organization doesn’t just counter individual harassment cases, but also groups that target patients and abortion facilities. Those who protest or threaten abortion providers are also targeted with this peaceful but firm attention.
Some say that participating in this group is nothing more than doing what the group is against in the first place. I disagree. You can’t simply let this bullying of women, doctors, and advocates fall on deaf ears as the bullies are protected by the First Amendment. It’s high time to stand against these people, and as other leaders have demonstrated in the past, doing so in a peaceful manner is the way to do it.
