Pro-choice women gathered in Jackson, Mississippi this weekend to support the state’s last clinic that provides abortion.
Operation Save America (formerly Operation Rescue) had been planning an assault on the clinic for some time, but thanks to the organizing skills of different women’s organizations, pro-choice activists were out in force.
Clinic officials say they won't be deterred. Many women travel for hours to get to the state's only clinic, says Susan Hill, president of the Jackson Women's Health Organization. "To me this isn't really a protest, it's really abusing women — the women who come into the clinic to work there, the women who come in to have surgery — screaming and yelling at them is abuse," she says. "We don't intend to be run out by a bunch of people screaming at us."
But OSA says they won’t leave until the clinic is shut down for good. I'm trying to find out the best way to support the Jackson Women's Health Organization, but I'm betting a donation would be appreciated. Here's their info.
For more information, check out Frontline’s The Last Abortion Clinic.
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Great to see pro-choice women fighting back. Please pardon the blogwhoring, but it's only to let more people know about how a group of Sioux women are fighting back against not only the South Dakota legislature but the men of their own tribal council as well.
It's crucial that we stand up and help women on the front lines of reproductive choice and comprehensive health care everywhere.
But OSA says they won’t leave until the clinic is shut down for good.
Well, they can just fucking sit there forever then. Good riddance. Stupid arrogant nasties, thinking their mere (admittedly annoying) presence is somehow going to manage to be more oppressive than the forced pregnancy policy they support.
Wish I could get down there, but I'm in Minnesota and have neither my own car nor money for enough gas to get down and back.
I think it's in Jersey, but a clinic starting doing a protestor drive. What they would do is call people and ask them to pleadge money for every protestor that showed up. So people had pleadged something like ten dollars a person, and when protestors showed up the staff would inform them of the pleadge drive.
It caused a conflict of interest. People wanted to protest, but whenever they protested the clinic the clinic got extra money. People stopped showing up.
Not sure if you were referring to this, esoteric, but Planned Parenthood of Southeastern PA has done a pledge-a-picketer drive in Philly. I think it was pretty successful.
http://www.ppsp.org/PledgePicket-index.asp
This is a clever way for clinics to make money off the people who harass clinic workers/clients.
Where's TH? He's a Jackson kid, isn't he? I bet he has some ideas on how we can help.
yeah, C, that's what I was referring to.
I as I can now see I didn't rembered most of the details.
that's for the link.
prairielily, you have an excellent memory. :o)
I was too tired at the time I read this to write a coherent response, but I've made a full reply here and would be delighted to answer any questions y'all have. I've attended 20 hours of pro-choice events this week, so I was present for almost everything.
Cheers,
TH