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pen_gruntTaking away the Massachusetts buffer-zone law for abortion clinics is idiotic.
I was speaking with a friend who, while his wife was doing Big Career Things, took a year off from his job and volunteered full-time exclusively for Planned Parenthood in Boston (I think this was in the late 80s/early 90s). While he was there a security guard was shot by a protester. A security guard.
Way to protect the fetuses, pro-"lifers"?
He also saw numerous women being approached and assaulted while on their way to get routine healthcare. Entering PP'd after the incident was like entering a prison. Calling the police was pretty much a moot point; by the time they could do anything, the protester in question had usually left or the victim didn't want to get involved (appointments do not wait forever when there's a HUGE waiting list and they've taken economic risk to get the day off work, usually).
And yet anti-abortion activists have managed to craft this image of protesters and little pro-life Catholic grannies. For some reason. Out to Save The World.
It's just so, so gross.
Free speech? Yeah. We're all allowed free speech. But you're not allowed to protest inside the President's office. It's a security risk. Too many people have been assaulted at clinics for the "free speech" argument here. It's a security risk, and a 35-foot buffer zone was NOTHING.
I was speaking with a friend who, while his wife was doing Big Career Things, took a year off from his job and volunteered full-time exclusively for Planned Parenthood in Boston (I think this was in the late 80s/early 90s). While he was there a security guard was shot by a protester. A security guard.
Way to protect the fetuses, pro-"lifers"?
He also saw numerous women being approached and assaulted while on their way to get routine healthcare. Entering PP'd after the incident was like entering a prison. Calling the police was pretty much a moot point; by the time they could do anything, the protester in question had usually left or the victim didn't want to get involved (appointments do not wait forever when there's a HUGE waiting list and they've taken economic risk to get the day off work, usually).
And yet anti-abortion activists have managed to craft this image of protesters and little pro-life Catholic grannies. For some reason. Out to Save The World.
It's just so, so gross.
Free speech? Yeah. We're all allowed free speech. But you're not allowed to protest inside the President's office. It's a security risk. Too many people have been assaulted at clinics for the "free speech" argument here. It's a security risk, and a 35-foot buffer zone was NOTHING.
