Servalbear
Louisville, KY
Female, 63
We are a group of volunteers who escort clients and their companions past anti-abortion protesters. We are not security or clinic defense. We are present to support people and create space for them to be empowered while accessing reproductive healthcare. The time escorting can be stressful and emotional, but we feel it is important to support a client's right to make the decision best for them. Abortion is not a dirty word and should be accessible to anyone. Read our blog to find out more.
Yes, but it has rarely come up. Once someone decides to volunteer to escort they already have a sense of commitment to providing space to clients. We do have guidelines to follow and training we provide. Some reasons we might suggest a volunteer focus on other ways to help keep access to abortion in other ways besides escorting: a potential volunteer who does not respect women and other clients; a volunteer who escalates the chaos instead of engaging in de-escalating words and actions; a volunteer who has physical confrontations with the protesters; a volunteer who engages in counter-protests. There are many ways interested volunteers can contribute assistance besides escorting.
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There are very few. The average is probably about 2 per month, or less than .5%. Once the appointment is made most clients have researched the subject, consulted people in their lives they trust and have made their decision. There is also by law a 24-hour waiting period after receiving mandated counseling before an abortion can be performed. This allows further time to think about the decision before having an abortion. Clinic personnel participate in one-on-one discussions with a client on the appointment day before performing a procedure to make sure the client is sure and they are not being coerced. When a client is still conflicted about the decision as they arrive for their appointment, escorts will answer their questions but will leave them alone unless they ask us to escort them. It is their decision to make, not ours.
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No, the position is not paid. We are all volunteers.
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There are escorts there every day the clinic is open. Escorts arrive close to 7a. Questions about the medical procedures and times for patients should be addressed to the clinic. EMW Women's Surgical Center's website is: http://www.emwwomens.com/.
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How many protesters present at the clinic depends on the day of the week and the weather, but there are protesters present every day the clinic is open. We will have 5-15 protesters on the weekdays and then 30-70 protesters are usually present on Saturdays. The Saturdays before Mother's Day, Easter and Father's Day we have hundreds of protesters present. The Saturday before Mother's Day 2013 we had 315 protesters present. We count them that day every year for our annual fundraiser. It is not unusual to have 200 or more protesters the Saturdays before Easter and Father's Day. Escorts leave between 8:15a and 8:30a and most of the protesters leave at the same time. You are correct, if you were to arrive around 9a most or all of the protesters would be gone. Sometimes one or two protesters are out longer, but not usually. Thank you for your kind words. We believe answering questions about escorting helps to bring awareness to the public about the protester impact at abortion clinics. We are grateful to have the Jobstr forum to do this.
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