News Flash: The antis are talking about us and our blog has had an exponential rise in anti-abortion traffic. With that, has come an increase in anti-abortion comments; some of which have appeared to be intelligent, others just hateful.
As Anti-Anti and Vulva Flower stated in the last two posts, we are happy to have open, genuine discussions with self-proclaimed “pro-life” individuals who have no intent of “trickery” or debate. Those people do exist. Some have been our clients! (We all have heard many, many women say, just before their abortions, “I don’t believe in abortion” only to be followed with, “but in my situation…”) We welcome the rare opportunity to have dialogue with individuals like that.
What’s not okay: antis stalking our blog, taking our words out of context, twisting our work, and bringing yucky negativity our way. This is our haven. Our safe place. We Abortioneers always have to defend ourselves, our work. Shit, many of us even defend ourselves to loved ones. Some lose friendships. Raise your hand if you’ve been de-friended after “coming out” as an Abortioneer on Facebook after Tiller’s murder. Yeah. I thought so. Most of you!
This increase in muddying-up our blog is annoying at best. I might seem like a coward, but it’s also made me think I should edit myself; like I'm going to have to be careful of what I say so it's not taken out of context, so I can "protect" our field, so I don't dishonor our clients. It makes me uncomfortable I feel this way. I just wish the antis would leave us the fuck alone. We don’t need to be hassled by people who don’t care about the women we serve and won’t EVER get it. Their rhetoric and picking is a violation. How dare they come here? How dare they think it’s okay to tread on our feet? To dishonour the women we serve? To disrespect the compassion, the love, the angst that we feel doing this special life-work. (No pun intended.)
I mean what I said: life-work. Abortion work IS life-work. Hell, if any group of people truly are pro-life, it’s the pro-choicers! We’re all about the life of the living woman and helping to empower, ensure that that she can move forward, doing the best she can with what she’s got right now. So how dare anyone try to minimize her experience! How dare anyone try to take that away from her! Really. Who the hell do you think you are?!
This blog is for not just us who write here. It’s for all of you who do this work. We know how isolating and hard it can be. We know that when you go home, it’s challenging to tell your partner/friends/parents/pet/whatever about your day, because they just.won’t.get.it. We know it’s not a normal job. And we know that the only thing that keeps us going sometimes is the warm, kind smile from a woman who ever-so-gently says, “thank you.” Ohhhh, does that hit the spot. Warm milk in the belly, that is. Warm milk in the belly. Just a simple, little thank you.
Think about that last “thank you” you got. Are you smiling now? Remembering what that genuine “thanks” feels like, right? Let’s end on that note then. Because seriously: that is all that matters. That’s why we’re here. And, to all you out there in Abortionland: thank you. Thank you. Thank you. What a profound, beautiful difference you make. Thank you.
Sometimes those of us on the more theoretical end of activism forget that there are people who can't "take a break" from reproductive health activism because reproductive health is their job.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to updates from The Abortioneers because it reminds me every time that we have intelligent and compassionate women and men risking their safety and maybe even their sanity to provide needed services in a culture of fear. It shouldn't be like this, but it is.
Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had an abortion, but I was a friend's driver/friend during hers. I also used PP for all of my gyn services while in college (no local drs would see me as my "permanent" address was different-and I had a pretty high-risk lifestyle at the time). Am I glad I haven't had to be an abortion patient? Of course. But, I've always been pro-choice, and I was, admittedly, scared to take my friend - I was worried it would shake me, change me, make me re-think a position I had had for so long.
It did the opposite, actually. Seeing what she had to go through, the protesters, her own fears and guilt. And, I remember vividly, seeing a notice posted in the nurses area for what to do in case of a bomb threat. All of these things, plus wiping my friend's tears away during the procedure while a nurse reassured her as well, have made me appreciate what you do even more.
So, thank you.
Thank you, RoRed23 and Sarah. We're so happy that we're attracting friends-of-choice from lots of different backgrounds!
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful this blog can be a venue for those who support their friends (like you, RoRed23), for activists (like you, Sarah), for those of us doing direct service work (whether in a clinic, working for a fund, being a provider, whatever), and those doing advocacy work as well. I hope we attract clients, too.
Thanks for the love you two! :)
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm an activist, the daughter of a former clinic RN, and a Wichita, KS resident, so I know how hard you all work and the risks you take,.
ReplyDeleteOh, Zoe. Thank YOU. Thank you for being an activist. And thank you for being an activist in Wichita. Huge kudos to you! Send our love to Wichita!
ReplyDeletePS, re: antis - I notice a few have managed to make it down to the Comments box without apparently having read the post.
ReplyDelete(Very ironic, since the last time I explained our comments policy, I mentioned that comments were unlikely to get published if they showed an obvious failure to have done basic background reading [including the post in question].
Then again, maybe that's not so much ironic as something I should have expected, since if you don't read things then you probably won't have read that advice either. Duh, me.)
Anyway, thank you for this post, about a girl.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I SO appreciate your blog and all you do. I work on the front lines at an abortion clinic every day. The picketers are there in full force almost daily. I just want to thank you for giving us a voice. If I could write, and had the words, I'd love to contribute...but the words don't come to me, so I love to check your blog. It's SO nice to see that there are people with the same struggles and battles, and stresses that we see on a daily basis. So again, thank you for giving us, the abortion workers, the front lines, a voice. I look forward to your blog everyday!
ReplyDeletePlacenta Sandwich: You crack me up and keep me safe. I love that about you. About a Girl: You sail a beautiful ship <3
ReplyDelete