The clinic escorts come from all walks of life to support the fight, and each and every one of them have the utmost admiration and respect for Mia. Ranging in age from 17 to 84, they show up every clinic day, put on their bright orange vests, grab an umbrella, and start their shift protecting women from the protestors. Of course, it’s hard to feel like you’re protecting the patients, armed with just an umbrella against screaming lunatics but nevertheless, the job is invaluable. “The patients need to know there’s someone there on their side. They have a right to healthcare. They have a right to this. A friendly person can help that experience even just a little.”

Plus, if there weren’t escorts keeping tabs on the protestors, they would do more harm. Mia has strict rules against trespassing on both the P.O.W.E.R. House property and the clinic property. She also has a strong relationship with Montgomery Police Department to uphold those rules. The escorts play a major role in keeping the protestors at bay--and off of the private property, ensuring patient safety. “We don’t play. We do not give them one inch. You can’t. They’ll take advantage of it. One inch over the property line of the clinic... One inch too close to this house....That’s it. We call the police.”

Though Mia is an expert on their strategies, she still finds their opposition to be perplexing and sometimes downright chilling. “[The protesters] are so delusional about abortion. They have to be. They have to be so sure in their beliefs surrounding abortion in order to literally kill and bomb people. You know they have a skewed view of the development of fetuses. They basically think we’re aborting [fully-developed] fetuses. The truth is… when we do abortions, it’s just tissue--and it’s hard to even recognize unless you know what you’re looking for! There aren’t body parts, the fetuses aren’t crying, they aren’t kicking… Some of the things they think we do is… crazy. They have no real understanding of the actual procedure we do here. And their response to it all is creepy--no other word for it. They’re just creepy.”

Creepy is an understatement when you consider what radical anti-choice groups like Operation Save America have done in order to “end abortion.” A quick Google search will bring up hundreds of articles explaining the violence abortion clinics and providers have seen in America. As this New York Times article chronicles, abortion providers like Dr. David Gunn, Dr. Paul Hill, Dr. George Tiller, Dr. Barnett Slepian have been shot and killed in the last 30 years for providing abortions. In January of 1998, Eric Rudolph bombed a clinic in Birmingham, AL, killing a police officer and permanently blinding an employee. In November of 2015, Robert Dear shot and killed three in a Planned Parenthood mass shooting in Colorado Springs. And these are just the plots that have been successful.

Mia takes her job, and the threat it creates for her life, very seriously. “I am always, always on guard. I get nervous about mail that I don’t recognize. I have to assume things are a bomb or something that can hurt someone. I mean, Rudolph bombed Birmingham with a houseplant…. So I have to be careful. I don’t let people leave things on our property. When OSA was here, there was literally a convicted bomber standing a few feet outside of the clinic. It’s not a joke.” She’s also incredibly private about her personal life and family, never posting about them on her social media and never mentioning them when she’s in the presence of protesters. And her caution doesn’t just extend to her own life. “I want to be safe, I want my patients to be safe. I want people in the [P.O.W.E.R.] House to be safe.” Fighting to maintain safety is truly the reason the P.O.W.E.R. House exists today. It’s been called a safe haven, a sanctuary, and a gathering space by all who know it. Mia, Melissa, and the many supporters and escorts have made it that way.

After talking for hours about her tumultuous job, I asked Mia what made this work all worth it. Her answer was simple.