Visitors to 蜜柚直播鈥檚 Planned Parenthood clinic will soon have an advocate at their side, working to block out negative interactions with protesters that sometimes occur outside of the midtown property.
Starting in a few weeks, patients arriving for appointments on certain days at 蜜柚直播鈥檚 Planned Parenthood will be greeted in the parking lot by a volunteer wearing a pink or rainbow-colored vest.
The volunteers are part of the AZ Clinic Defense Force, which escorts patients from their vehicles to the office, not engaging with protesters who regularly stake out Planned Parenthood properties and encouraging patients and their companions to avoid engaging, as well.
Already in place in the Phoenix area, the program is expanding to 蜜柚直播 with potential escorts undergoing training now.
The 蜜柚直播 Clinic Defense Force was started in 2016 by Serena Knierim, who was recently hired as organizing manager for Planned Parenthood of 蜜柚直播. Knierim said she decided to start the force after she was struck in the face with a baby doll covered in fake blood as she walked from her car into an abortion clinic. She went ahead with her abortion and says she vowed to find a way to prevent what happened to her from happening to other women.
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During the force鈥檚 first few years, Knierim worked a full-time job and volunteered between 40 and 60 hours a week, training and working as an escort herself at Planned Parenthood clinics in Tempe and Glendale. The main purpose of escorts, she said, is to provide safe, calm passage and shield patients from recording and amplified speech by protesters.
蜜柚直播 clinic escorts will either be issued pink vests like this one or rainbow-colored vests, making them easily identifiable to Planned Parenthood patients.
鈥淲e provide a safe and sane space from the time they arrive to when they leave,鈥 Knierim said.
蜜柚直播 hasn鈥檛 seen an escalation in protest action and there was no precipitating event that brought the force to town. Knierim said that Planned Parenthood鈥檚 physician, Dr. William Richardson, had been asking the group to head down south for quite some time, but that hadn鈥檛 been feasible until Knierim was hired by Planned Parenthood.
With the addition of the 蜜柚直播 clinic, force volunteers will escort an estimated 16,000 patients over the next year.
Being a clinic escort is not a pro-choice or pro-life issue, Knierim said.
鈥淭his is unbiased and neutral, this is about protecting the safety and sanity of someone going to the (expletive) doctor,鈥 she told the group of escorts-in-training.
Bob Pawson demonstrates with signs outside the posted no-trespassing zone at Planned Parenthood with about a dozen other abortion opponents.
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
During a recent 蜜柚直播 training session, escorts were advised on how to conduct themselves and on potential pitfalls.
They were told not to use each other鈥檚 name while at the clinic or while out as a group. Instead, they should refer to each other as 鈥渆scort.鈥
鈥淲hen they know your name, they use it to taunt, terrorize and intimidate you,鈥 Knierim told the group before showing a several-minute-long video of a protester shouting into a loudspeaker, addressing Knierim by her first name and repeatedly calling her a murderer.
鈥淢y name is known to insulate all of you,鈥 Knierim said after the video. 鈥淚鈥檓 the one they pray for.鈥
Since starting the force, Knierim has had knives wrapped in rosaries left on her doorstep and at one point had a $15,000 bounty put on her hands by a pro-life group called Operation Save America. She鈥檚 been 鈥渄oxxed鈥 by protesters, who鈥檝e published her address, phone number and the name of her child鈥檚 school, and other escorts have also been doxxed after protesters obtained their license-plate information.
Guidelines about interacting with law enforcement were also discussed, and Knierim went over the pros and cons of filing charges against a protester should one become physical. The upside is that the volunteer would be able to get a protective order, but in filing a police report, the volunteer鈥檚 name and personal information are also entered into a public record.
The 蜜柚直播 Police Department has been informed that the escort program is starting in 蜜柚直播, with conversations occurring about laws and rights of escorts and clinic employees.
The protesters in 蜜柚直播 are different than those in Tempe and Glendale, and the activity level is a 鈥渓ittle sleepier,鈥 Knierim said.
A Planned Parenthood staffer attending the training laid out the schedule for a typical week: On Monday, the 鈥渓adies that pray鈥 are outside; on Tuesday at 4 p.m., there鈥檚 a person who stands outside and preaches. On Thursday, there are typically two women staked out in lawn chairs, and on Friday, a larger group of protesters gathers on the sidewalk with signs and a loudspeaker.
Knierim made it clear that not all protesters are bad, asking the group if anyone has ever been to a protest for a cause they believe in. Protesters who follow laws concerning not blocking sidewalks, staying off private property and keeping clear of traffic and the roadways are, for the most part 鈥済ood,鈥 she said, despite the fact that they鈥檙e there to harass patients, Knierim said.
In Tempe and Glendale, protesters block driveways and streets, post signs and approach patients on private property, typically trying to steer them to nearby crisis pregnancy centers, which often pose as abortion clinics to mislead women about their reproductive-health-care options, Knierim said.
In a Google search for abortion in 蜜柚直播, Planned Parenthood 鈥 the city鈥檚 only provider 鈥 is at the bottom of the list. The first listings are all crisis pregnancy centers, one of which is located a block away from Planned Parenthood.
Hands of Hope crisis pregnancy center is affiliated with the group Pro Love 蜜柚直播, whose members try to pass along informational packets disguised as presents to patients on their way into Planned Parenthood. If a patient takes one, escorts are supposed to stop them, as the materials can be triggering to other patients in the waiting room, Knierim said.
鈥淲hen they鈥檙e lying to people and trying to get them into free clinics, or yelling, we need to intervene,鈥 Knierim said. 鈥淥ur love needs to be super palpable (to patients.)鈥
Escorts are also trained to be on the lookout for coercion by those accompanying patients to the clinic, either discouraging or pushing the patient into getting an abortion. Knierim told the group to watch for leading or defensive behavior and to pay attention to body language. If coercion is suspected, an escort is advised to tell a staff member privately about the concern.
鈥淓very person who comes through our doors should be a free human being,鈥 Knierim said.
On Friday morning, about a dozen protesters gathered near the sidewalks to the east and south of Planned Parenthood鈥檚 蜜柚直播 clinic.
Some held signs, others sat in lawn chairs, asking to talk to patients as they walked into the clinic. Most didn鈥檛 engage, but one patient yelled at the group before going inside.
Bill Kuder said he and his wife have been coming to Planned Parenthood on Fridays for the last five or six years.
While many of the protesters seemed to know one another, Kuder said they鈥檙e not part of any one particular group.
鈥淲e basically come here to encourage the ladies not to get abortions, but to encourage them to go to places like Hands of Hope,鈥 Kuder said, adding that Hands of Hope provides free counseling and ultrasounds, and encourages patients to not get abortions by providing support.
Several other organizations in town distribute free baby clothes and diapers, free prenatal care and adoption services, Kuder said.
鈥淲e just have a heart to do this,鈥 Kuder said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just trying to give the ladies alternatives and different directions to go.鈥
鈥淲e basically come here to encourage the ladies not to get abortions, but to encourage them to go to places like Hands of Hope,鈥 abortion opponent Bill Kuder says.
BUILDING THE PROGRAM, TRUST
Ideally, 10 to 12 escorts will be working each shift, which will likely last 2陆 hours. But even in Glendale, where there are 100 volunteer escorts, staffing shifts can be difficult, Knierim said.
Since it will take time to train enough 蜜柚直播 volunteers to fill those shifts, trained escorts will be traveling from Tempe and Glendale to help fill the gaps, as well as guide the 蜜柚直播 escorts through their first few shifts.
Inclusivity is taken seriously by the 蜜柚直播 Clinic Defense Force and Planned Parenthood, with patients at Planned Parenthood running the gamut, including people of all races, migrants, DACA recipients and, sometimes, undocumented individuals.
鈥淥ur doors are open to everybody,鈥 Knierim said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e here to serve the community, and the whole community.鈥
As a result, the 蜜柚直播 Clinic Defense Force will make a push to get Spanish-speaking escorts, with Knierim saying it鈥檚 important for the organization to immerse itself in the community to let people know this opportunity is out there.
The force has provided de-escalation at Walk for Our Lives, political events and speaks on panels. The group has become part of an elite network of other clinics that do this work around the world, Knierim said.
鈥淲hat we do is very strange. Your friends and family won鈥檛 understand a lot about it,鈥 Knierim said. 鈥淭hey will see you change and become more confident in your values.鈥
One escort-in-training asked if protesters have a physical reaction once escorts are put into place, to which Knierim said they typically 鈥済et amped鈥 for a few weeks before diminishing. When the clinic in Tempe opened a year and a half ago, there were 50 to 100 protesters on a bad day. In the last eight months, the volume of protesters on such days has dropped to 10 to 12 people, Knierim said.
鈥淭hey get bored and stop,鈥 she told the group, reminding them that escorts don鈥檛 engage with protesters. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be so boring that they鈥檙e going to get bored and leave in a few weeks or months.鈥
Additional 蜜柚直播 escort training sessions will be forthcoming, but anyone interested in volunteering can email azclinicdefenseforce@gmail.com.
