Mary (not her real name) volunteers as a patient escort at a Pennsylvania reproductive healthcare clinic that performs abortions. Here, she shares her story with Bonnie Fuller.
I never thought we would go back to the Dark Ages. I was a teenager when Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. After that, I never thought women would lose access to abortion.
I happened to walk by a Planned Parenthood clinic not long after the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022. I saw escorts out front helping patients, and I began to think about volunteering myself. I thought, “I can do that.”
I’m not a person who is easily intimidated. I’m 69 and have had a long career as a medical provider, so I’ve always had a lot of empathy for patients. But I didn’t get a chance to start volunteering until I actually retired.
My very first day working outside one of Planned Parenthood’s Pennsylvania clinics was the day after Donald Trump won the 2024 election.
On that first day, anti-abortion protesters were out in full force. They were very happy.
I was given very comprehensive training by the clinic on how to cope with the group of protesters typically in front of the clinic every day.
The training emphasized that, as escorts, we should never interact with the protesters, who scream at women as they are coming in for care. The protesters shout at women as they arrive: “You know, you’re killing your baby!” and “You will regret this for the rest of your life!”
‘I want to serve and protect patients getting healthcare’
Our job is to focus on the patients, not the protesters. We wear neon pink vests and, as women arrive in Ubers and taxis or just walk in, I say, “Hi, I’m a volunteer at this clinic. There are protesters here. They’ll want to talk to you and they’ll say things to you. You don’t have to talk to them. It’s none of their business why you’re here. Your healthcare is your private business. It’s none of my business.”
So I try to get them ready, and I think that helps a bit. Then I tell them that I’m happy to walk them in.
I’ll be as supportive as I can and try to distract them from the protesters. I really try to protect our patients, even if it’s just for a few minutes. I don’t touch them, but I usher them inside.
Some of the people arriving are upset. I try to comfort them and will say something like, “This may be a tough decision, but this is your decision. It’s not anybody else’s.”
I want them to be able to make their own decisions and to empower them to get their healthcare.
Not all the patients are coming in for abortions, anyway. Our clinic provides comprehensive healthcare, so they could be coming in for a Pap smear or for STD testing or contraception.
When I was standing outside one day, a woman drove up in her van, stopped, and leaned out of her window and said to me, “You know, this place is wonderful. They saved my life. I had cervical cancer and they caught it early. Thank you for what you’re doing.”
Some of the patients who arrive are bewildered by the protesters. They look like deer in headlights, and others are defiant.
They give the protesters the finger and tell them off, but that’s not the majority.
What really upsets me is when protesters will try to convince patients not to come in but to go with them to a crisis pregnancy center instead. Crisis pregnancy centers are not real medical clinics manned by doctors or any medical professionals.
As far as I can tell, they offer free pregnancy tests, free ultrasounds, and anti-abortion counseling. From what I’ve read, they sometimes tell women that they are farther along in their pregnancy than they really are and that it’s too late for them to get an abortion.
One patient came into our clinic and told me that she had made an appointment at a crisis pregnancy center, which she found online. But then when she got there, she realized that it didn’t actually offer real reproductive healthcare.
She said, “It’s so deceptive.”
Crisis pregnancy centers also aren’t legally required to keep your medical information private because they aren’t real medical clinics. Your information isn’t protected by the HIPAA law there.
‘Most of the protesters are older white men’
I feel like the protesters are really taking advantage of the vulnerability of many of the women who are coming in—women who may have a lot of personal, social, or financial issues that the protesters know nothing about.
Planned Parenthood serves a lot of under-resourced individuals, so why make it even harder for them?
And at our clinic, most of the protesters are older white men who are screaming at the women. They try to hand out inaccurate literature that overhypes the potential side effects of abortion.
But abortion is very safe, whether it’s a surgical abortion or done using abortion pills.
The misogyny of it gets to me—these random old men telling women how to manage their healthcare.
‘Many people thank us’
I work as an escort two days a week and usually for four hours at a time. I am there in all kinds of weather. I bought a down jacket that goes to my knees. I had to buy extra warm clothes because this winter was so bad here.
I have neck warmers, gloves, and the clinic gives us hand warmers, foot warmers, and snacks.
In the rain, I try not to use an umbrella. I just wear a rain jacket.
There are a lot of very thankful patients. I’ve had patients hug me, and if they hug me, I hug them back. Sometimes it’s because they’re grateful. Sometimes they’re upset, but I’m not going to ask them why. It’s their private business.
Many people walk on the street outside our clinic and come up and thank us, the escorts. Sometimes they give us coffee or drop water off.
My husband is totally supportive, as are my daughter and son. My daughter is actually a physician.
I feel safe doing this work. The protesters at our clinic are the same most days. These are religious people. I don’t think they believe in hurting others physically. They’re just verbally aggressive.
But I try to keep track of the environment—who is driving and walking past.
I will keep doing this. I support Planned Parenthood tremendously. I think it’s a very important institution.
Donating money to charities is good, of course, but it’s great to be able to help real people. Being close and personal is invaluable.
