First Volunteer Shift
This past Saturday I took my first shift volunteering at a reproductive health clinic in the western suburbs of Chicago. In order to keep some of the vocal anti-choice voices at bay, many clinics have volunteers to escort women from their cars to the doors of the clinic.
This is something I have wanted to do for many, many years -- and earlier in the summer I even tried to find out about opportunities in Chicago, unsuccessfully. A few weeks later I was with Jasmine at a BBQ hosted by one of her coworkers, Eric. We got talking and he mentioned that he was involved with clinic defense volunteering out in Dupage County and I told him I was interested. They always can use volunteers, and men are particularly needed. Plus, I feel better about doing this out in the burbs -- the clinic is in Glen Ellen, which is next door to Wheaton (of Wheaton College fame). This is a particularly Republican -- and Christian evangelical -- part of Chicago suburbia. I've got a car, it only takes 20-25 mins or so to get out there at 7:30A on a Saturday, and they need my help more.
I got out there to do my first shift with Eric, who got me hooked up with the group in the first place. The shifts are short -- 8A until around 9:30A, as the clinic schedules all the appointments early in the AM. Eric told me that one woman was inside already, and there were 12 scheduled appointments. Usually around 80% keep the appointments, so he was expecting around eight more women to come in. Eric was wearing an orange vest marked "Clinic Volunteer" and we went inside to get me one.
Anti-choice protestors are forbidden from entering the clinic property, so they stand out on the side street or in front of the clinic on the little strip of grass between the main road and the parking lot (Dupage County; no sidewalks). There were five this morning, several with rosary beads, praying.
When the first car entered the parking lot, Eric gestured them over to the driveway at the door to the clinic and explained to the two people in the car that if they got out there by the door, we'd escort them in (only six feet), park their car for them, and bring the keys in so they wouldn't have to park themselves and be subjected to the verbal assaults of the protestors for a longer time.
Almost all of the women took us up on the offer, and it definitely limited their exposure to the hateful speech being thrown at them.
Everyone was there within an hour, and we left. The protestors gave the usual yang about murder and the like, and one of them even yelled at me "You must really hate women to be here." Clearly, I didn't respond. Eric told me that there are usually a lot more people protesting, and that they are usually a lot more aggressive and disgusting in what they say.
I'm really amazed at how profoundly moving it was to do this, even if only for an hour. It really felt like you are on the front lines, and standing up to both the hatefulness of the anti-choice movement *and* helping women as they negotiate a really emotionally charged moment when they do not need to be verbally assaulted by prostelytizing religious wacko retirees.
I really can't wait to go back.
This is something I have wanted to do for many, many years -- and earlier in the summer I even tried to find out about opportunities in Chicago, unsuccessfully. A few weeks later I was with Jasmine at a BBQ hosted by one of her coworkers, Eric. We got talking and he mentioned that he was involved with clinic defense volunteering out in Dupage County and I told him I was interested. They always can use volunteers, and men are particularly needed. Plus, I feel better about doing this out in the burbs -- the clinic is in Glen Ellen, which is next door to Wheaton (of Wheaton College fame). This is a particularly Republican -- and Christian evangelical -- part of Chicago suburbia. I've got a car, it only takes 20-25 mins or so to get out there at 7:30A on a Saturday, and they need my help more.
I got out there to do my first shift with Eric, who got me hooked up with the group in the first place. The shifts are short -- 8A until around 9:30A, as the clinic schedules all the appointments early in the AM. Eric told me that one woman was inside already, and there were 12 scheduled appointments. Usually around 80% keep the appointments, so he was expecting around eight more women to come in. Eric was wearing an orange vest marked "Clinic Volunteer" and we went inside to get me one.
Anti-choice protestors are forbidden from entering the clinic property, so they stand out on the side street or in front of the clinic on the little strip of grass between the main road and the parking lot (Dupage County; no sidewalks). There were five this morning, several with rosary beads, praying.
When the first car entered the parking lot, Eric gestured them over to the driveway at the door to the clinic and explained to the two people in the car that if they got out there by the door, we'd escort them in (only six feet), park their car for them, and bring the keys in so they wouldn't have to park themselves and be subjected to the verbal assaults of the protestors for a longer time.
Almost all of the women took us up on the offer, and it definitely limited their exposure to the hateful speech being thrown at them.
Everyone was there within an hour, and we left. The protestors gave the usual yang about murder and the like, and one of them even yelled at me "You must really hate women to be here." Clearly, I didn't respond. Eric told me that there are usually a lot more people protesting, and that they are usually a lot more aggressive and disgusting in what they say.
I'm really amazed at how profoundly moving it was to do this, even if only for an hour. It really felt like you are on the front lines, and standing up to both the hatefulness of the anti-choice movement *and* helping women as they negotiate a really emotionally charged moment when they do not need to be verbally assaulted by prostelytizing religious wacko retirees.
I really can't wait to go back.
posted by Kevin Bogart at 3:54 PM
1 Comments:
Excellent!!
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