The FBI says “abortion terrorism” can be perpetrated by people on “both sides of the issue.” This framing isn’t just wrong — it’s dangerous, laurenarankin writes
Photo: Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Getty Images Anti-abortion violence has been a real, present danger for decades. In the past few years, zealots have committed acts of targeted harassment, assault, and attempted arson at health-care providers; in the 1990s, extremists murdered several providers in their places of work, in church, and in their own homes.
No one is more on the frontlines of the fight for access than abortion-clinic escorts, who volunteer to help guide patients and staff past throngs of anti-choice protesters. As an escort myself, I’ve seen what these protesters are capable of. They scream, “Don’t murder your baby!” into megaphones. They follow women, sometimes for blocks, calling them murderers and “jezebels.”
Thirty minutes later, the police showed up. I told the officer that I hadn’t touched the camera or the protester. I simply blocked him from filming someone who didn’t want to be filmed. It wasn’t harassment. It didn’t matter. The officer wrote up a report about it anyway. I begged him not to take down my home address, aware that some anti-abortion groups gather information on abortion providers and pro-choice advocates and target them at home.
But the law is only effective when it’s enforced, which requires the Justice Department to cooperate with local law enforcement. According to clinic escorts, that rarely happens. “The police in Milwaukee are pretty useless,” said Leslie Filingham, who’s been clinic escorting in the city since 1991. “They just want us all to go away.”
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