My "confrontation" with an anti-abortion protester yesterday.

[Kid_A]

Every day on my way home from work I drive past Planned Parenthood, an organization I'm sure many of you are familiar with. They are a family planning group that offers many options to women who can't support a child, and abortion is one of the choices they offer. They don't encourage women to have abortions, but they do make the option available. Therefore, the place a favorite gathering place for local fundie nutjobs.

Anyway, I drove past on my way home and there was a guy holding a sign that said "MURDERS ARE PERFORMED INSIDE HERE". Whenever Planned Parenthood performs abortions, they always do it on Thursdays, so this guy must have thought there was some kind of abortion free-for-all going on inside. Normally I leave these people alone, but this guy was all by himself. And the fact that he was a man really pissed me off. As a man myself it makes me furious when a "man" thinks he can possibly understand the thought process that a woman goes through when she is desperate enough to consider having an abortion. I can't understand how that must feel, so I have zero room to tell them what to do. Just like women shouldn't tell men whether or not they can have vasectomies because they'll never have to do it themselves, men should just shut the hell up when it comes to abortion.

Since I had some errands to run in the area anyway, I went home and got a wire coat hanger from the closet and drove back to where the protestor was. I pulled up alongside him and very politely asked him how he was doing. I said I really admired that he felt strongly enough to stand outside in the sweltering humidity when it was going to start storming soon. Actually, I thought the guy was a piece of shit, but I wanted to take the high ground here. After the pleasantries were over, I handed him the coat hanger and said "This is the alternative." He didn't say anything, and I drove off.

I hope I gave him some food for thought, but I doubt it.

[bleedingheart]

1. it won't matter but kudos to you for keeping to the higher ground

funny thing about anti-choicers is that they can't keep their noses out of other people's business.

If someone is against abortion there is no law that tells them they should have one....but why they insist on imposing their views on others is what I find scary...it's all a control issue.

[KurtNYC]

2. I like your style

No point in yelling.

[buycitgo]

4. I have this nightlight

It's a five inch plastic Jesus, with a tiny coat hanger over his head. right behind it is one of those zeroes, with a slash through it, like no parking, etc.

at his feet there's a sign that says: Pro-life Jesus

[Nimrod]

3. Nice!

I like it! Sadly, "thought" isn't too high on these folks' list of priorities.

I will say that the one time I felt guilty to be my gender is when I took my girlfriend in for her annuals and the secretary behind the bullet-proof glass in the women's clinic looked genuinely nervous about my presence.

[Kid_A]

5. Welcome to DU!

:hi: :toast:

Sorry for the cheesy smilies, but it's kind of a custom here.

[Nimrod]

6. You can never...

...have too many cheesy smilies in my opinion. Thanks!!

It might interest you to know how I came to be here. I overheard some people at work lambasting this site using some of the most repulsive language I've ever heard in the workplace. I figured anything that could get them so riled up was something I needed to be a part of. :)