{"id":169445,"date":"2017-07-21T16:36:54","date_gmt":"2017-07-21T20:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=169445"},"modified":"2017-07-21T16:36:54","modified_gmt":"2017-07-21T20:36:54","slug":"responded-naral-activists-came-protest-pregnancy-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/responded-naral-activists-came-protest-pregnancy-center\/","title":{"rendered":"How we responded when NARAL activists came to protest our pregnancy center"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This week, the pregnancy center I work for was met with a protest from NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut activists. The protest against our ‘fake clinic,’ as they call it, was\u00a0meant to be an ambush, but thankfully we received a warning beforehand. At 4pm on Wednesday, a group of\u00a0women (one wearing a Planned Parenthood shirt) and a couple of men came to our center with signs and prepared chants.<\/p>\n

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Protestors outside our pregnancy center<\/p><\/div>\n

Our pregnancy center has been a trusted part of our community for almost thirty years. In that time we’ve served tens of thousands of clients from across our state. We don’t hide the fact that we are pro-life and faith-based. Thankfully those things have not hindered us from partnering with a number of social services organizations and non-profits in our region. Social workers, domestic violence counselors, drug rehabilitation programs and medical personnel witness us providing quality services\u00a0at no cost\u00a0to women and families in need.<\/p>\n

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One of our volunteers holding our client’s twins<\/p><\/div>\n

Our staff discussed how to best respond to the\u00a0protest before it took place.\u00a0We didn’t know if there would be 10 people or 100 outside our doors. After talking with our center affiliation staff and counsel we decided to let our clients and community speak\u00a0on our behalf. \u00a0In NARAL’s false report<\/a> on pregnancy\u00a0centers, they accuse\u00a0us of not having any licensed medical staff, of targeting women of color, and of shaming women. They make big claims, but the staff and volunteers of NARAL have never visited our pregnancy center or met any of our clients. We decided to\u00a0let\u00a0them see the faces of the women they claim they want to\u00a0protect and the licensed medical personnel they\u00a0claim we don’t have.<\/p>\n

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Our real medical team!<\/p><\/div>\n

We let our clients and community members know\u00a0the accusations that were coming against us. They were\u00a0hurt by the claims\u00a0and wanted to help set the record straight. They came to our defense, ready to support the staff and volunteers who have loved and cared for them over the years. We made our signs and waited for the pro-choice activists to arrive.<\/p>\n

When\u00a0NARAL came, they brought signs that\u00a0said, “Abortion is Healthcare” and the commonly used, “My body, My choice.” They yelled and chanted about fighting the stigma and stopping ‘fake clinics.’ At one point, this\u00a0group of people (notably all Caucasian) began chanting the phrase, “Stay woke,” a signifying awareness of\u00a0the struggles facing the Black community.\u00a0As a Black woman, I\u00a0had to laugh, because\u00a0their chant\u00a0was the exact opposite of what they were doing. We had a beautiful, diverse representation of\u00a0women and men\u00a0countering their attack. We had Black and Latina clients expressing through their signs that our center has changed their lives for the better.<\/p>\n

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None of the NARAL pro-abortion activists wanted to talk to the women. They pass out literature in our community saying we hurt women. They come\u00a0to our center yelling with signs that we deny women care. Yet when faced with the actual women they claim to desire to protect, they wouldn’t\u00a0dare talk to them.<\/p>\n