A concrete way men and women can help pregnant people who need abortions.

[pnwmom]

Clinics need volunteers, including helping to escort women into the clinics. A male friend of mine does this on a regular basis.

https://time.com/6163613/abortion-clinic-escorts/

By that bright August morning in 2015, it had been more than a year and a half since I began volunteering as a clinic escort at Metropolitan Medical Associates clinic in northern New Jersey. I had no idea what a clinic escort was when I started, much less why it was necessary. I didn’t really know that abortion clinics still experienced aggression and hostility, that dozens of picketers showed up on any given day to yell at anyone who walked into a clinic. And I certainly didn’t understand how important clinic escorts were in supporting patients and making abortion access a reality. I would quickly learn.

SNIP

The door closed behind us, and we were suddenly enveloped in silence. I finally looked—really looked—at who I had just escorted. Her baby face was frozen in fear, her hands clenched in tiny, defensive fists. This wasn’t a woman at all. This was just a girl, and she was absolutely terrified.

“It’s over now,” I murmured. “You’re inside. You’re safe.”

She collapsed into me, heaving, releasing guttural sobs into my chest. I held her, slowly rocking her back and forth.

[questionseverything]

1. In Illinois, the young women are beginning to organize "camping " trips

[pnwmom]

5. Even in blue states volunteers are needed. There are usually protesters at our clinics, too. n/t

[questionseverything]

6. They are organizing to give rides

Find places for over night, baby sit kids the women might already have, fund raising to pay for everything

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. And if you can't escort, many escort programs take donations or have Amazon wish lists.

Donations for snacks, hand warmers, cold weather gear, umbrellas, ear plugs, bottled water, masks, etc.

[Haggard Celine]

3. If we had a clinic around here, I would do that.

I will help in any way I'm able. Those people who stand in front of clinics and scare women who are trying to get health care really piss me off. That shit shouldn't even be allowed.

[BadgerKid]

7. Hypocrisy in free speech on public property

I’ve seen these gangs in front of PP. They seem to camp out all day long. And then I recall several presidents ago the notion of free speech zones to protest the Iraq war (read: invasion). These zones were tolerated only several blocks away from the relevant government building.

Some forms of free speech are freer than others.

[Haggard Celine]

8. Yes, I remember that.

There are different rules for the rich and powerful. They just don't care about poor and middle class women who need birth control.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. Also, boom-and-bust donation cycles are hard on abortion funds. A recurring donation to your local

abortion fund would go a long, long way toward helping a lot of people right now. Here's where to start: https://abortionfunds.org/funds/

[roamer65]

10. It's gonna get to the point where rides are gonna hafta be in tinted window vehicles.

…and when she gets out her face is shrouded. Same for leaving.

They are going to be looking for out of state women in legal states, so they can harass, sue or prosecute them.

Then they will start shit with women in the legal states, like suing them in the anti-choice states. It probably won’t be successful, but that’s not the goal. The goal is harassment.

[Ilsa]

12. Women need to also not post any images of themselves online.

No facebook, no Instagram, no way to run facial recognition. Close the social media accounts as an easy boycott of anything that might be used to persecute or prosecute.

[roamer65]

13. That's another good point.

[kimbutgar]

11. This is a current strategy now of anti abortion crazy's

A group of antiabortion activists “barged” into a San Francisco women’s clinic, recording hospital staff and patients and stalking a doctor, according to San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
The incidents occurred in
March, when a crew of four people, including a young woman as a decoy, entered the Women’s Options Center at San Francisco General
Hospital, Boudin’s office said. The woman allegedly told hospital workers she needed counseling services at the clinic, which is operated by UCSF.
When a nurse went to speak with her at the door, the rest of the group “came out from hiding and ran through the door. They barged into the clinic and began filming patients and (hospital) staff. Staff reported that these protesters were attempting to barge into operating
rooms,” according to Boudin’s office.
The same people are accused of defacing a bronze statue of Madonna and Child at the hospital with red paint, and with stickers containing the doctor’s name on them.

https://www.pressreader.com/usa/san-francisco-chronicle-late-edition/20220520/281539409567202

[WhiskeyGrinder]

14. They've been doing this for decades.