Sunday, October 4, 2009

At the abortion clinic






















Don't let the picture fool you.


Yesterday my boyfriend and I went to an abortion clinic to defend it from what my mom calls the " hypo-christins". It seems there is a group of them starting a campaign called, " 40 Days of Prayer" to pray for women to stop having abortions. In LA there is one of the only hospitals who still performs late term abortions. They of course perform other things pap smears, they see couples who are want to have children and they also offer birth control. But of course to the all loving hypo-christians it didnt matter. They harassed every woman who went in.

This was my first protest at a clinic. So we decided to play like a couple getting an abortion and walk in. The hypo-christians did everything they could to stop me including blocking my way, yelling in my face and throwing their pamphlets of dead fetuses in my face. I screamed at them as we walked in " keep your morals off my body". We then walked out and I volunteered to be a clinic escort. There were a few minor physical altercations. They apparently didnt have much faith in the " power of prayer" because they did mor ethan pray. They pushed and hit people ( including me), they flirted with the police when we filed a report against them.

A moment happened that disrupted the links in their armor. The heads of the protest were of course white men with large crosses but the majority of attendees were latina women most of whom did not speak English. When the police left we brought out a bullhorn and started speaking. A comrade started speaking in Spanish. This perked them up as most of the conversations had were in English. He said, " this fight is not just about abortions, it is about who controls women's bodies. Women have had people trying to control their arms, legs and minds. They are supposed to be doing the cooking, cleaning, listening and having children whenever a man says so. And not get paid and not complain. We think women should be able to control not only when they have children but when they cook and clean and have men do it equally. We think women should the choice."

The leader of the group went into action! He started getting the women in a circle and into a praying mantra preventing them from being able to hear what was said. Trying to control what they heard too! In the end we were successful in getting women and couples in and out with safe passage. There were moments of great solidarity of women inside who nurtured their daughters, sisters and friends as they made their way through a difficult decision of abortion. The men who were present aggressively defended the women going in and out and having a male presense intimidated the anti-choice bigots.

If you would like to read more about the action it is on the independent media center. .http://la.indymedia.org/news/2009/10/230835.php Another interesting point A guy there said he read Facts for Working People and loved it! We brought a few issues and got out 5 or 6 copies.

Next week the anti-choice people plan on busing people in from all over the country to shut down the clinic. We need people to defend a woman's right to choose NEXT SATURDAY!

LOCATION: 601 N. Westmoreland Ave, Los Angeles, 90004
DATE: Saturday, October 10th, starting at 8:00am until end

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