Hey Abortion-clinic picketers, we get it that you don’t approve of abortions, but unfortunately for you it is perfectly legal for women to seek a termination. Hanging around the entrances to the medical clinics is a pretty threatening AND piss-poor way of getting your righteous message across.
But filming people who are attending those clinics? And then claiming that you are doing it for your protection?
Go The Fuck Away
:mad:
And they’re stupid, too.
Here in Minnesota, they tried to bomb the Planned Parenthood Clinic in the middle of the night. But they got the address wrong, and bombed the Public Library next door (seriously damaging the garbage dumpster & loading dock).
Such ignorant fools. There are always a bunch of men standing outside my local Planned Parenthood with their stupid signs. I’m always sure to honk and give them a middle finger when I drive by.
This is why I volunteered as a clinic escort when the was an abortion clinic in my town. To be honest, I miss it–there’s not a lot of places anymore where a big guy can do a good deed just by standing around and occasionally flexing and glaring. 
IMHO, the simplest solution would be to get a few large volunteers to smile, link arms, and stand in front of the camera.
I photograph THEM, and get a lot of dirty looks. Interesting.
That seems like the best response.
Of course the anti-abortionist’s camera, like the demonstration itself, is intended to be intimidating, or at least confrontational. That’s pretty much the point–though in fairness it must be acknowledged that there have been threats of violence on all sides, so filming for potential evidentiary reasons isn’t a complete fantasy for anyone involved.
So long as they’re not actually preventing women from going in, they are and should be legal. So the appropriate reaction in a free society is to similarly meet that confrontation; that’s “clinic defense.”
I’m going to sail against the wind and say that when you are in a situation like that, with the possibility of tempers flaring on either side, taping everything is only sensible.
It’s the done thing at protests in Ireland, in order to stop Gardai lying in the District Court about what happened.
They are protesting on an issue that is incredibly divisive, and I have no doubt that they face very hostile reaction; some of which can be seen above.
(A boyfriend who just persuaded his girlfriend that he cannot afford to pay child support is not going to react well to anyone trying to change her mind.
)
The only sensible thing to do is to record the happenings outside the clinic, so an indisputable record is available should any incidents occur.
If they make the faces/identities of the women publically available subsequently then they definately deserve to be condemned.
I am a clinic escort. So far we haven’t seen this yet (thank goodness), but I’m pretty sure that’s only because the average age of protesters is 105 years old and I don’t think they can figure out how to operate one of them new-fangled video-taker thingums.
Clearly, all of us escorts will have to start putting our game faces on. And whatever makeup goes best with a fluorescent orange-and-yellow jacket. It’s our big break!
I’ve protested the PP here on Liberty Avenue once or twice, and I’ve always found it to have been a rather peaceful endeavor, on both sides. But Pittsburghers tend to be a pretty sanguine lot all around, when it’s not playoff season.
At worst, I was grimaced-at by what appeared to be one of the aforementioned gentleman averse to the prospect of child support, who was hurrying his visibly-disconcerted “friend” into the building.
There’s a Planned Parenthood in St Paul and a couple doors down there’s an ‘abortion alternative’ place (I hate the fact that that’s an actual category in the yellow pages so that they could get alphabetically closer to the front). Anyways, I’ve always been really tempted to picket in front of the abortion alternative place with large pictures of abused children with fetal alcohol syndrome or images of graphic rape. If I have to look at abortion pictures, they should look at that crap too.
Remember that not getting an abortion is a woman’s choice as well.
Most of them in my neighborhood are women with young children in tow. I also honk, and depending on how snarky I’m feeling, they either get the freeway salute or the classic thumbs down.
I’ve always had a fantasy of putting on a devil costume or something similar and just strolling among them for fun. Maybe a Hitler outfit.
And remember that putting peanut butter and jelly on the same piece of bread is messier than one on each piece and then smushing them together to make a sandwich.
So you often give the finger to young children? I’ll bet that makes a nice impression.
I was thinking the same thing.
I’m pretty sure the classless one is the parent bringing their kid to the anti-abortion rally.
How absolutely precious.
I’m for filming the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, including close-ups of them and license plates of their vehicles, as well as audio documentation of what they’re telling patients.
Given which way the violence overwhelmingly flows in relation to clinics providing abortion services, it makes sense to view this as a way of protecting the clinics and patients (as opposed to what protesters are doing, which relates mostly to intimidation tactics).
Doesn’t sound like Cary Grant is feeling particularly crowded by any of them.
Actually, he said he was going to show up at one of the rallies, held at the top of the Empire State Building, but he never showed…
I support what they are doing if all they do is picket outside the clinic. I don’t support the use of violence. If what they are doing happens to convince at least one woman not to kill her innocent baby then it’s worth it.