Clinic Defense & Campus Organizing - A Natural Partnership

Bonjour Campus Choices! Meghan here, and this is my first of many posts as the newest member of Choices Campus Leadership Program’s team of National Campus Organizers. Although new to this position, I am no stranger to the dangers of clinic harassment and violence, or FMF’s work to assist in defending clinics against it.

This July, I joined FMF as a volunteer to keep the clinics of Charlotte, NC safe from the harassment of Operation Save America’s (OSA) annual clinic siege. If you’ve ever seen your average weekend “sidewalk counselor” protests outside a clinic, take that image and quadruple it. Meditate for a moment for sanity’s sake, and then double it again, totally approximately 250 anti-choice harassers.

As a part the National Clinic Access Project, FMF brought in volunteers from miles and miles away to combat the extreme tactics of OSA, which included posting WANTED posters of the brave and committed abortion providers who staff the Charlotte clinics, holding up oversized posters which featured graphic and medically inaccurate images of dead babies, blocking driveways, and using an amplifier to preach hate to the patients, staff and pro-choice volunteers.

Although there were three clinics that were targeted by OSA, Family Reproductive Health requested a presence of pro-choice clinic defenders throughout the week and we spent the majority of our time there. I had never seen anything like what I saw in Charlotte, and it is hard to articulate how sad and infuriating it was to see the way these self-proclaimed intolerant people would attack women who were simply trying to receive basic reproductive health care.

I would, without a doubt, just as soon favor every woman in America have safe and free access to reproductive health services, but what surprised me most was how much I enjoyed my time in Charlotte. Banding together with dozens of passionate and committed pro-choice volunteers, FMF staff, students from UNCC Feminist Union, and Charlotte Pro-Choice Coalition members to keep FRH and the other Charlotte clinics safe and protected by our efforts – including clinic defense, counter-protesting, legal observation and close contact with law enforcement – was inspiring, to say the least.

On the last day of the clinic siege, we managed to rally over 75 clinic defenders in the wee hours of the morning so that when OSA arrived to set up their Harassment HQ, they promptly turned their vans around and drove away. According to the fantastic clinic staff, it was the first Saturday without harassment and protest in the 8 years the clinic had been open.

Luckily, it is not every Saturday that OSA brings hundreds of people from all over the country to target a clinic, but virtually every day of the year there is some form of harassment outside of hundreds of clinics across the US. Get involved to help keep these clinics safe by joining in our Adopt-a-Clinic Campaign. There are so many ways you can help keep your clinic safe and open. Vocal pro-choice support can keep patients safe when entering the clinic, help maintain law enforcements attention to this issue, and show clinics that their hard work is appreciated and important.

This blog post is part of the October eZine. To receive our monthly eZine, click here.

From the Front Lines: A Warm Welcome in Charlotte

Last week, I went to Charlotte, North Carolina with Feminist Majority Foundation to help protect reproductive health providers from anti-abortion extremists Operation Rescue/Operation Save America during their national siege. This summer I've worked a great deal on with our NCAP project, and am following various anti-abortion organizations as part of my internship. Before this summer, I didn't really know a lot about NCAP or the history of anti-abortion violence. I heard about the murder of Dr. George Tiller over a year ago, and that was about as much as I knew.

FMF's National Clinic Access Project (NCAP) began shortly after FMF was founded and provides a great gamut of assistance to women's health care providers targeted by anti-abortion extremists. Just to give you an idea of what we do - NCAP specializes in tracking anti-abortion extremists, works with federal, state and local law enforcement to protect abortion providers, provides grass-roots organizing support for clinics, recruits pro-bono legal help for clinics under siege, and even makes emergency grants to targeted clinics to improve security measures. So when the National Clinic Access Project heard Operation Rescue/Operation Save America announce a national siege of Charlotte-area abortion providers in July, NCAP immediately began to organize to protect the clinics, their workers, physicians and patients in advance of the OR/OSA week of harassment.

That's where I come in. As part of my internship, I traveled to Charlotte as part of the NCAP team to work with FMF national organizer, campus organizer, legal coordinator and two other interns to help organize clinic defense, grass roots trainings, legal observing and escorting, but most of my efforts focused on clinic defense. Clinic defense is literally about mobilizing a ton of pro-choice peeps to create a human buffer zone between anti-abortion zealots and clinic staff and patients. Clinic defense is also critical to helping maintain access to clinic driveways and entrances while sending a critical message of support to the clinic.

Also, what I learned is that clinic defense can also provide a distraction for anti-abortion protesters so that they don't bother the patients. If OR/OSA is too busy yelling at a clinic defender, they don't tent to notice a car pulling into the drive way with a patient. Although clinic defenders create a buffer zone and often take the focus of the anti's attention, we (as clinic defenders) must not cause problems for the clinic -- or the police, which is why NCAP strictly enforces a non-engagement policy. No witty comebacks, no arguing, no general conversation with the anti's. You have to be completely stone-faced. Which frustrates them even more so they get caught up in "breaking" you and forget about patients (win).

This principle of non-engagement is covered meticulously in clinic defense trainings -- along with a pledge of non-violence. On the last training before the siege, the NCAP clinic defense team, along with ProChoice Charlotte and the UNCC Feminist Union, met with an eager group of activists who were ready to face Operation Save America. A few had done escorting in the past, but most were new to the clinic defense scene. We had everyone introduce themselves and explain why they were there and then gave some general information about the non-engagement policy and what should be expected throughout the week. We emphasized that we are the guests of the clinic and that we must abide by what the clinic wants, and engaging with anti-choice protesters would not be tolerated. We then all got up and practiced linking arms in a line and also how to create a buffer around a patient (you can never be too prepared, plus it's also just good to know). After getting the basic linking down, we then took a stab at practicing our non-engagement faces. We formed two lines and stood facing each other. We then started yelling insults at each other, one side pretending to be anti-choice protesters. Then one side pretended to be anti's while the other completely ignored them so we could get a feel of just how reserved we would need to be.

We also mentioned as clinic defense it's important to be aware of any information relevant to helping the clinic. This included alerting law enforcement when there was a problem, and notifying NCAP leaders if OR/OSA was trespassing or violating city ordinances.

Despite OR/OSA running amuck in the city, the pro-choice community of Charlotte was amazing. The NCAP team was welcomed with wide open arms. My campus organizer and I stayed with a professor from Davidson College that I had never met before, and he went out of his way to make sure we were as happy as could be. We were welcome in everyone's home, even those who weren't connected to the clinics at all. Pro-Choice Charlotte, Charlotte NOW, Planned Parenthood, UNCC Feminist Union, and many unaffiliated individuals who worked alongside NCAP created a dazzling web of pro-choice support and grassroots activism that would eventually lead to the first harassment-free day at a local clinic in eight years. Even local law enforcement which had been reluctant to help in the past took a new turn in supporting the clinics. It also lead to the creation of new alliances, friendships, and overall feminist fuzzy feelings between everyone there. My convictions were reaffirmed, and even strengthened by facing the extremist opposition. While draining emotionally and physically, and at times just ridiculous, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.

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Photo: Chalk message outside a local Charlotte clinic Friday, July 16th
Cross-posted at Ode to Patriarchy

Book Review - Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism (Baird-Windle)

Cross-posted at Ode to Patriarchy

So as part of my work on the National Clinic Access Project was reading up on the history of violence against abortion providers, clinics, staff, and patients. The book I was given was Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism by Patricia Baird-Windle and Eleanor J. Bader. Starting in the 1960's and tracking up until the book was published in 2001, Targets of Hatred recounts the major events regarding clinic violence and harassment (wins and losses).

While most people know or remember individual events, few are aware of the massive amounts of simultaneous battering that clinics faced. From stalking charges, to bombings, to cancelled insurance policies, to legislative losses and of course death threats, murder attempts, and murders clinics and their employees were denied refuge where ever they went. Many burned out after the threats increased in fury and hatred.

One of the most important messages from this book is that cooperating law enforcement is absolutely essential to a clinic's safety. Clinics that had a positive relationship with impartial local law enforcement that enforced injunctions against the antis who violated them had less violent activity from protestors and/or were able to recover more quickly from attacks. On the other hand, lazy, biased and involved reactions from law enforcement only served to encourage illegal activities by antis. Even though the police are there to enforce the law, doesn't mean they always do.

But by far, the best aspect of this book for me was the personal accounts of those affected. It's one thing to hear that two people died in a clinic shooting, it's another to read someone's story of actually being there when it happened. They have accounts of day to day death threats, worries concerns, fears, and victories. There's a lot of talk about what clinics and providers need, but not always do you directly from those affected. It's no longer just a part of abortion history, it's real life.

The book was published in 2001, and since then there have obviously been a few big updates needed. Kopp was convicted in 2003, Dr. George Tiller was murdered, the Stupak Amendment was included in HCR, and state-by-state, limitations to access abortion have become rampant. As a third wave/radical/difference feminists, we have to educate ourselves on what our history is and what's happening now. You can follow the escalating violence in the novel; it's no surprise that we are where we are today with another murder and restricted access.

We also have to be the front-runners in approaching clinic violence for what it really is: terrorism working in terrorist cells. Not every protestor is part of the terrorist network, many do not condone violence against providers as a way to stop abortion. However, the proof is there. We're not just talking clinic blockades (which violate FACE), we're talking FIREBOMBS, EXPLOSIVES, SHRAPNEL BOMBS, and SNIPER EXECUTIONS. If we're supposedly fighting a war on terror, why aren't we investigating the Army of God which has a MANUAL ON HOW TO ATTACK CLINICS AND THE PROVIDERS, and has also been connected to the murderer James Kopp (Dr. Slepian 1998), Scott Roeder (Dr. Tiller 2009) and numerous attempted murders, firebombs, and acid attacks? That many of the people connected to it are advocates for "justifiable homicide" against providers, clinic administrators, and pretty much anyone associated with a clinic? How is any of it different from a terrorist cell?

Because we, as a nation, choose not to treat it as such.

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Photo-credit: MacMillan, also where you can purchase the book - http://us.macmillan.com/targetsofhatred

One Year Later

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly a year since the world lost Dr. George Tiller. Just writing that sentence makes my heart hurt--one year later and I still can't think about Dr. Tiller without shaking a little bit, without having to stop and catch my breath for a moment.

On May 31, 2009, Dr. Tiller went to church, like he did every Sunday. Most of the time, Dr. Tiller traveled with a bodyguard, a necessity thanks to the anti-choice extremists who stalked him and his family, the constant death threats, and the previous attempts on his life. But that Sunday morning, Dr. Tiller was without a bodyguard as he served as an usher and welcomed other congregants to the service. It was there, in the lobby of his church, his sanctuary, that Dr. Tiller was assassinated, murdered in cold blood by an anti-choice extremist. It was an act of violence, it was an act of hate, it was an act of terrorism.

It's tempting to write more about that terrorism, about the network of anti-choice extremists who perpetuate acts of violence, harassment, and intimidation every day. But I don't want this to be about Operation Rescue or Scott Roeder or Shelley Shannon (though you can learn more about them here).

This is about Dr. George Tiller.

Dr. Tiller was a loving husband, father, and grandfather, who spent a week at Disney World with his family just weeks before his murder.

Dr. Tiller was the leader of an embattled clinic, rallying his staff with his trademark catchphrases, among them "Trust Women," "Attitude is Everything," and my personal favorite: "When the going gets tough, the tough go to Dairy Queen." When anti-choice terrorists bombed his clinic in 1986, he responded by posting a sign in front of the clinic: "Hell no, we won't go!" He believed deeply in his work, and refused to be intimidated by the hordes of protesters who stood outside his clinic and house every day.

Dr. Tiller was a healer and a caring physician. True to his motto, he trusted the women who visited his clinic to make their own reproductive health choices. Some of the women he saw were in the final months of their pregnancies, forced to make a choice few of us can even fathom. Women who discovered their unborn children had severe birth defects and would soon die in the womb. Women who would risk their own lives by carrying their pregnancies to term. Children who had no idea they were pregnant until late into term because they were too young to understand the rhythms of their bodies yet. Rape survivors facing serious psychological issues. He offered these women a path to healing. He provided abortions to them when no one else could, gave them the compassionate and competent care that they deserved.

I can't help but consider these women every time I think about the life of Dr. Tiller. Then I think about his courage, his sense of humor, his stubbornness, and his extraordinary heart.

The world is a colder place without Dr. George Tiller. I never realized how much one could miss a person she had never met until we lost Dr. Tiller. I'm not normally the praying kind, but I think about Dr. Tiller and whisper into the ether: Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are missed.

Join our Adopt-a-Clinic Campaign!

It's not news that our comprehensive women's health clinics have been facing an escalated amount of anti-choice harassment and violence. With the election of a pro-choice president, the anti-abortion forces have vowed a "return to the streets" and upped their terrorism, evidenced by the 40 days for life campaign that just ended and the tragic murder of Dr. George Tiller last May. These anti-abortion extremists are creating barriers for women to access reproductive health care services, as if women didn't have enough to worry about in terms of reproductive justice.

To combat their efforts, we are calling on you to make the difference. The CHOICES Campus Leadership Program would like to present its newest campaign. Introducing the Adopt-a-Clinic Campaign! Download the kit here and here.

We are urging you and your feminist group to adopt your local reproductive health clinic. We want your group to be able to provide support for embattled clinics in response to the recent escalation in anti-choice violence and harassment. By adopting your local clinic, you will help improve law enforcement response to anti-abortion harassment, bolster the morale of your clinic and its staff, and bring anti-choice bullies to the attention of your local community.

What does it mean to adopt a clinic? You first start out contacting your local comprehensive women’s health clinic. If you need help, contact your local Campus Organizer. Then you must find out the kind of help the clinic wants. It may be volunteering at the clinic or escorting patients; it depends on what your clinic needs.

Check out the new kit and contact your local clinic today! Show your thanks to the courageous abortion providers who save women’s lives every day. Your support means a lot to them. Contact your Campus Organizer to start the campaign. Call us at 866-444-3652(East Coast) or 866-471-3652 (West Coast).

A small group can make a huge difference. Do your part today!

This article was featured in our April 2010 monthly Choices eZine. Sign up for our alerts to stay up-to-date with the latest feminist news and to receive the monthly eZine!

Rachel Maddow on Anti-Abortion Extremists

Rachel Maddow is one of the few in the mass media market who continuously stays on top of issues that I care about; in particular: women's rights, LGBTQ rights, civil rights...ya know, HUMAN RIGHTS.

Most recently and closest to home for me, as a staff member for FMF working with our National Clinic Access Project, I have greatly appreciated Ms. Maddow's close attention to and investigative reporting of anti-abortion extremists. Not only does she dig deeper than most, she calls our attention to the key connections no one else seems to pay attention to AND she keeps coming back to it, over and over again!

Here's the latest from the Rachel Maddow show, linking the anti-abortion extremist groups who celebrated Dr. George Tiller's murder with the current threats facing Dr. LeRoy Carhart, a close friend and colleague of Dr. Tiller.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

DC Happy Hour - will YOU be there?

Just a friendly reminder, if you're in the DC area, Madam's Organ in Adams Morgan (try saying that 5 times fast!) is the place to be on Thursday night!

Here's the skinny...

FMF Presents: Hell No! We Won't Go - A Networking Benefit for the National Clinic Access Project

Madam's Organ

(2461 18th St NW - Woodley Park Metro)

Thursday, August 27

5:00 - 9:00pm

Some other basic info you might be interested in...

FMF's National Clinic Access Project assists comprehensive women's health clinics and physicians, and is the oldest and largest program of its kind that monitors national trends in clinic violence and harassment.

An FMF survey from 2008 found that 20% of abortion providers endured severe anti-choice violence and harassment. WE NEED YOUR HELP to keep clinics open and end the violence!

Madam's Organ is being uber generous and donating $1/drink and 20% of food sales! And on top of it all, there's NO COVER aaaaand it's under-21-friendly, so bring everyone you know!

Tweet it! Facebook it! Blog to your heart's content! Oh, and COME!

We hope to see you there!

Call to Action! Counter 40 Days for Life Protesters

"40 Days for Life," is a national campaign of anti-abortion protesters gathering at comprehensive women's health clinics around the country for mass protests and vigils.

The latest round of protests is set to begin on September 23. Your local abortion clinic may need your help protecting its patients and dealing with this onslaught of anti-choicers. Check out this list of targeted clinics and volunteer to assist your local clinic during the campaign.

Organized groups like FMLAs and other campus feminist organizations are ideal partners for local clinics and can help mobilize large groups of volunteers. If you cannot volunteer your time, consider holding a fundraiser to benefit a local clinic or the National Clinic Access Project, which protects clinics across the country.

FMF Presents: Hell No! We Won't Go

A Networking Benefit for the National Clinic Access Project

Madam’s Organ

Thursday, August 27, 2009 • 5:00 – 9:00pm

2461 18^th St. NW • Metro: Woodley Park

Come to Madam’s Organ and socialize for a good cause! FMF’s National Clinic Access Project (NCAP) assists comprehensive women’s health clinics and physicians, and is the oldest and largest national organization that monitors national trends in clinic violence and harassment.

An FMF survey from 2008 found 20% of abortion providers endured severe anti-choice violence and harassment. We need your help to keep clinics open and end the violence.

No cover! All ages are welcome. $1 from each drink (including non-alcoholic drinks) and 20% of food sales go to NCAP. Madam's also has a $1 off drinks happy hour special until 8pm.

Are you on Twitter? We're making this a DC metro area pro-choice tweetup! We're looking forward to actually meeting you all in person - @feministcampus to let us know you're coming!

Enter our raffle for FMF prizes! Tickets are $3, or 2 tickets for $5!

RSVP by 8/25 to dgeong@feminist.org or on Facebook!

Photo credit: Wichita Eagle

Bringing good vibrations to the West Coast

We are happy to introduce ourselves as the Feminist Majority Foundation's second wave of West Coast office interns. We come from a diverse range of backgrounds and locations, but are excited to unite around a common goal!

The 9 of us joined forces with the 7 interns who started two weeks ago, this Monday. We're just awaiting the arrival of 2 more interns and our feminist team will be complete!

Though we officially started Monday, many of us attended the Green-Pink Reproductive Health and Rights and the Environment conference that occurred over the weekend. The conference was an excellent opportunity for us to see the collaborative efforts of the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, and the Feminist Majority Foundation.

Being here is less abstract that putting into practice what we have learned in the classrooms. Some of our projects include helping to create and support feminist organizations on college campuses, researching legislation in regards to violence against women, and promoting reproductive health and rights both domestically and worldwide, through the Campaign to Expose Fake Clinics and the Global Reproductive Rights and Health Campaign.

We'll also be dedicating a lot of time to the National Clinic Access Project and to updating materials on www.feministcampus.org to better serve you!

We hope to make an impact on the campaigns that the FMF and the Choices Campus Leadership Program are promoting. We are excited for this opportunity to make a positive difference int he well-being of women on both a local and international level.

Lily Armstrong will soon be attending 9th grade at Polytechnic School. She wants to major in political science or poetry.

Chelsea Heaps is going into her senior year at Milken Community High School. She wants to major in political science and believes the french fries at Islands are the best fries in America.

Sarah Godoy is a 5th year student at UC Riverside majoring in political science and women's studies and trying to start a feminist club at her school. She loves Disneyland and would live there if she could.

Michelle Cooper is a student at Santa Monica College majoring in Art History. She is a member of the Feminist Alliance at her school and loves the color lavender.

Mary Kwan is a rising senior at Smith College majoring in economics. She built her first snowman during her first year of college and named it Avalanche.

Teresa De Anda has just graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a bachelor of science in Health Science. She will now take on the challenge of learning to play the guitar, although she thinks it will take her 10 years.

Ana Chamberlain just returned from a semester abroad in Chile. She is going into her senior year at Occidental College as a major in Diplomacy and World Affairs and Spanish. She is an addict of 21 Chioces Frozen Yogurt in Old Town Pasadena.

Kimberly Young will be a senior at UCLA. As a political science major and Labor and Workplace Studies minor, she spends her free time playing for the Ultimate Frisbee team and working as a Resident Assistant.

Rama Laxmi Shah just finished her Associate's Degree with an International Relations focus at Santa Monica College and will be transferring to Santa Diego State University. She is originally from Nepal and wants to work for women's empowerment worldwide.

Stay tuned for more from the West Coast Campus Interns!