Looking for a hands-on way to support reproductive health? Consider volunteering as a clinic escort. AbortionIsEssential roevwade clinicescort prochoice
On Friday, November 27, 2015, Robert Dear shot and killed three people and injured nine at the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood. The following day, I did my first shift as a volunteer clinic escort at a reproductive health clinic in New York City. The timing was coincidental, but it underscored the growing unease I’d felt about our increasingly embattled reproductive rights. I didn’t know a ton about reproductive justice, and I had no experience as an organizer, activist, or policy maker.
Clinic escorting, after all, is pretty simple: you’re opening a door to people seeking reproductive care. Escorts mitigate the chaos and, sometimes, the danger of a sidewalk full of anti-abortion protesters. My shift is from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturdays, which, for whatever reason, is when our protesters come out. Many Planned Parenthoods have clinic-escorting programs, but you might consider volunteering at an independent clinic—they have the same issues but less institutional support.
On good days, protesters don’t show up. In that case, we stick around to make sure the sidewalk stays empty. But when mobs do gather, we talk to patients to drown out the noise of protesters and stand in front of graphic signs. The idea is to radiate calmness and comfort, like being your friend’s wingwoman at a party where they might run into their ex. Most of the time, patients know who we are and why we’re there, and are happy for the help.
Clinic escorting is not a particularly sexy line of activism. It’s just some groggy people out on the sidewalk, stepping up for abortion access, and maybe going to brunch afterward. But rest assured, it does make a difference.This article originally appeared in the June/July 2018 print edition of BUST Magazine. Subscribe today!ADVERTISEMENT Activists Explain: Abortion Is A Human Right
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