As patients drive down the street to the clinic, it’s common to see men and women trying to wave down cars and give out pamphlets of information meant to guilt women about their choice and convince them to turn back. One patient's young daughter was so traumatized by the protesters that she ran off—it took almost an hour to find her. Some weeks pro-life protesters have even tried to deliberately misdirect patients from the clinic, chalking arrows on the street that lead patients away from the clinic and promising “free ultrasounds,” adding chaos to an already stressful situation. If a black patient is walking in, there are often comments about abortion being “black genocide” in a weird twisting of the Black Lives Matter movement. Unfortunately, that tactic is not uncommon at many anti-abortion protests, which can be incredibly upsetting to patients and staff.

No one should have to go through this traumatic tunnel of protesters just to access health care they are legally entitled to. Can you imagine that happening at any other medical center?

Thankfully, we have a private parking lot. Once patients reach our property, they’re greeted by a group of volunteers who are willing and happy to be there supporting patients, asking if they need a welcome shoulder or support going into the clinic.

The thing I want people to know is patients seeking abortion care aren't this strange population. They're average, regular women. We have a whole range of patients including 15- to 16-year-old minors coming in with parental guidance or judicial bypasses, and 40-something women who have two kids and are just fine not having another. I've seen students, mothers, teachers, preachers—there’s a whole gamut of patients.

It bothers me that there’s no chance to have a real dialogue with the people who protest outside our clinic every week. If someone has it in their head that what you are doing is fundamentally wrong, they're not going to want to listen to you say something different. I often ask why, if they are so concerned about ending abortions, they don’t dedicate their time and energy to better access to contraception and sex education. Often, they say it’s against their belief systems.

I am a huge supporter of the ability to have free speech. I've been to my fair share of protests in my life (and am an organizer with the Women’s March in Charlotte), but there's a sincere difference between protests and harassment. The latter terrorizes not just our staff but the patients coming to us for care. Harassment is not help.