“A Whole New World” from Aladdin was blasting in the background while a stocky, middle-aged man in a tight t-shirt and cargo shorts yelled “C’mon baby girl! You know you don’t want to do this!” and warned me that I would face divine judgment for my decision. A volunteer grabbed a rainbow umbrella and shielded us from the man’s gaze.
I was there to interview Betty of Stand With Abortion Now, or SWAN, outside of Orlando’s Women’s Center, an independent clinic providing abortion services as well as crucial OBGYN care, including mammograms and cancer screenings. I wanted to speak with her about the work that abortion clinic escorts do amid constant fluctuation in abortion access laws and in the face of sometimes violent harassment from anti-abortion activists.
The yelling man thought I was a patient seeking an abortion. He was attempting to dissuade me – and anyone else who approached the otherwise unassuming building – from entering the clinic, while also appearing to live stream his public shaming on social media from his phone. Betty said that the clinic playing Disney music in the background of his live stream would eventually get the video taken down for copyright issues.
This isn’t my first time experiencing this type or level of intimidation. I have been volunteering as a clinic escort for more than two years. Once, a man wandered into the parking lot of the clinic I was volunteering at and began asking questions about our organization. He then joined the protests in front of the clinic property line, and began performing Nazi salutes and making comments about me being the devil incarnate. While unsettling, we kept him distracted away from the patients and he eventually left without incident. We were lucky to have armed security, but not every clinic has that as a safety precaution.
SWAN is another collective of abortion clinic escorts who volunteer outside of clinics that provide abortion services to shield patients from anti-abortion protestors (known as “antis”). Clinic escorts have volunteered outside of clinics across the country since the passing of Roe vs. Wade in 1973. Anti-abortion protestors will use devices and tactics such as megaphones, signs, graphic images, literature with biblical scripture and pseudoscience to dissuade patients from pursuing an abortion. They have also been known to share photographs, doxx, stalk, and threaten patients, doctors and clinic escorts. Their goal is to convince as many patients as possible to reconsider their choice to have an abortion or face shame for it. While the legal landscape may be in flux, clinic escorts remain some of the most steadfast defenders of those accessing abortion care.
There is evidence that violence against abortion clinics, their workers, and clinic volunteers is increasing. A report from the National Abortion Federation released in 2022 found significant increases the year prior in instances of stalking, blockades of clinic entrances, hoax devices/suspicious packages, invasions, and assault and battery against abortion providers and clinic employees.
Betty of SWAN believes organization and situational awareness is imperative in order for clinic escorts to maintain everyone’s safety. “We have to stay very vigilant,” she says, noting her group arrives at the clinic before patients each day to assess the scene. Clinic escorts work to sequester patients as much as possible. Sometimes, escorts offer headphones and music to help vulnerable patients drown out the noise from protesters.
Still, there are times when tempers flare and it's up to volunteers to diffuse the situation.
Betty relayed one such incident that left her and other members of SWAN shaken: “Two protestors had chased someone to their vehicle, and it was a small family with a baby. [The husband] said 'Don't wake up my baby, and don't intimidate my wife,’ and she would not stop, so he said 'if you don't leave me alone, I'm going to stand my ground. I have a gun.’ And the protestor said 'fine, take me, save your baby.' And so [the husband] pulled out his weapon and we had to deescalate the situation,” Betty recalled. “[The protestor] said 'you're afraid to die? I'm not, I know the Lord.' That was a lot, but we did get it deescalated. We did get that family in and seen with no cops involved.’”
Many escorts take their work past the clinic, too. “We do legislative work and lobby at state and local federal levels for reproductive issues. We do educational work and we have some long-standing programs like our abortion storytelling program and our clinic escort program,” Melissa, a volunteer with an abortion clinic escort group Abortion Access Missouri, told Teen Vogue. Abortion Access Missouri’s website has a section dedicated to their featured storytellers, where individuals share their own personal stories of their experiences having abortions.
Last year SWAN held a telethon-style fundraiser via TikTok and raised over $200,000 to pay fines imposed on Orlando Women’s Center by the state Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). The fines, $1,000 for each documented violation, were the maximum permitted for the clinic’s violations of the state’s 24-hour waiting period law, which requires patients to wait at least 24 hours from their initial appointment before scheduling their abortion procedure. The law was passed in 2015, but litigation kept it from taking effect until April 2022. The clinic reported to several outlets that they repeatedly attempted to contact the AHCA for clarification about when the law took effect to no avail, however, in filings the AHCA maintains that the clinic was aware of the law.
Other clinic escort groups host support groups for patients, educational sessions, and collect donations of food, clothes, and monetary assistance for patients in need. Still, clinic escorts often cannot count their time volunteering towards any community service goals with their employers or educational institutions as many institutions consider the work “too political.”
All this work can take a toll. There are many times when harassment from anti-abortion protesters is directed at volunteers, in addition to the patients they’re serving. Clinic escorts have historically faced threats to their physical safety in the form of bomb threats, stalking, doxxing, and violence. A video recently shared by SWAN shows an anti-abortion protestor being detained by police for spitting on a volunteer. In the years following the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, clinic escorts have found self-care is more important than ever and allows them to remain level headed, both for themselves and the patients they care for.
I have had to check myself and evaluate my mental state many times as a clinic escort. I have been subject to personal attacks and threats both in person and on social media more times than I care to count. At times I retreated into my day job or house chores to avoid acknowledging my anxiety about the possibility of some kind of attack. Based on my conversations with other escorts, I’m not alone.
A former clinic escort, who goes by V, says she was forced to stop volunteering and get back into therapy. “I stepped back from everything because it was very overwhelming, and I realized that I wasn't taking care of me,” V said.
Melissa of Abortion Access Missouri also emphasized the importance of self care to clinic escorts. “Some of my suggestions are to make a playlist to play on your way home and [to carve] out time for yourself after your shift. Even if it’s taking a walk or having coffee with a friend, but making sure you have something nice to do for yourself that day that allows you to regulate your nervous system and ground yourself.”
Camaraderie, humor, and a dedication to the communities they serve keep clinic escorts motivated to continue their work. “I want to convey that it is an honor to walk with [patients],” Melissa said. “But it’s also a huge honor to forge [a] community with other people who are willing to walk with people.”
