I am a member of an Alabama group that supports a woman’s right to choose. The following text in quotes was posted to our group by a fellow pro-choice woman whose identity I will protect (any emphasis is mine along with editorial notes). The anti-choicers are escalating their tactics at Alabama clinics & calling in other anti-choicers from out of state. One of the biggest supporters in the anti-choice movement in Alabama is the former campaign manager for the newly-elected Alabama Supreme Court Justice Judge Roy Moore, he of the 2+ ton 10 Commandments Statue fame that got him thrown off the bench (only to be re-elected by the idiots of Alabama). As you can probably tell, the anti-choice groups have HUGE political pull & power in Alabama. Alabama clinics need our help desperately.
I’m sure some of you have heard/read about the goings on at the women’s clinic in Huntsville. Below are all the links to the story, in the order in which they have been published. Things are escalating at the clinic and the “pro-lifers” have even called in reinforcements from out of state (people well known in the “pro-life” community). The reverend you see referenced in the stories was Roy Moore’s campaign manager at one time, so you can figure out just how deep the connections these people have with higher ups in Alabama really is. I was at this clinic one day a month or so ago helping out, and the protesters yell at the escorts and patients, rush the patients’ cars, have pushed escorts, hit them over the head with signs, and continually break the rules set out in their permit. The clinic escort group has video, photos, and documentation of every infraction the protesters have done and have taken the evidence to the Huntsville police chief and city attorney. In addition to the arrest of Mrs. Fecteau for the spraying of holy water in an escort’s face, other escorts that were sprayed that day are also swearing out warrants. Not only have they broken the terms of their permit repeatedly, but they also have broken many items in the FACE Act (link is in the comments).
One incident mentioned in some of these articles concerns a day that the “pro-lifers” sang “Happy Birthday Dead Baby” to women going into the clinic. One woman’s husband had to be restrained by a clinic escort that day. His wife had been carrying a very much wanted child that had died. And to make matters worse, the “pro-life chorus” that sang that song were not adults. They were home-schooled children that were bussed to the clinic to sing the song.
40 Days for Life will be ramping up again starting February 13th and every women’s health clinic in Alabama not only needs help during that 40 Days, but every day they do procedures. If you live near a clinic, please contact them to see what they need. I can get you in contact with the Huntsville group of escorts so that you can follow their protocol (they are very organized and do things by the book). One of our members is a clinic owner (Ed note: location/name retracted for privacy) and she can definitely use some help. Please let me know if you’re willing to help in any way.
Links:
Woman arrested, accused of spraying holy water on pro-choice demonstrator outside of Huntsville, Alabama clinic
Video of the woman arrested above, spraying “Holy Water” on pro-choice demonstrator outside of Huntsville, Alabama clinic
Huntsville’s abortion rights activists — pro and con — claim moral, religious high ground
Sprayed by The Lord: “Holy Water” Used as a Weapon of “Holy War”
Alabama Clinic Escorts Protect Women from Anti-Abortion Protesters Singing “Happy Birthday Dead Baby”
(Ed note: “Pro-life” spin site here, as you can see from the video above, there was NO SPRINKLING, it was downright SPRAYING) Woman Arrested After Sprinkling Holy Water at Abortion Clinic
And most importantly, dear reader, is this: The FACE Act:
The 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act makes it a federal crime to injure, intimidate, or interfere with those seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health care services. That includes not just murder, assault, arson, and property damage, but also death threats, burglaries, harassing phone calls, hate mail, and blockades. In recent years, we’ve also seen a rise in bio-terrorism threats (especially hoax anthrax letters) directed at reproductive health care providers. The FBI helps investigate these crimes, working closely with a variety of law enforcement partners and the Department of Justice.
Do these crimes actually happen? Yes. Eric Rudolph killed a police officer and critically wounded a nurse when he bombed an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1998. That same year, a New York doctor who ran a well-known reproductive services clinic was shot and killed in his home by a single sniper’s bullet. In 1994, John Salvi shot and killed two Boston abortion clinic workers and wounded five others.
From 2000-2007, there was a drastic decrease in the number of violent acts against reproductive health care providers and clinics due in part to the FBI’s increased liaison with these potential targets as well as liaison with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. After the 2009 murder of late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, KS, the FBI has seen increase in reported criminal activity occurring at clinics across the country as well as threats against providers.
We cannot allow the anti-choicers and lawmakers who are not medical doctors/OB-GYN’s to impede on women’s rights to a LEGAL MEDICAL PROCEDURE. The Alabama GOP has already stated that their main focus in the upcoming legislative sessions will include TRAP Law, which is how Mississippi is trying to close the only abortion clinic in the state.
If you live in Alabama, and have a women’s clinic near you, please call and ask what you can do to help shield women going into these clinics & train to be a clinic escort. Not all women go to these clinics for abortion, hell, I went the other day for cancer screening & a pap smear, but luckily did not encounter any protestors. If you need help finding a clinic near you, or want additional information on how you can help, @ me on Twitter and let’s start using our state GOP’s favorite state motto “We Dare Defend Our Rights” against them. Let’s TAKE IT BACK FOR THE WOMEN.
Girl In The 'Gump 