Thinking of Counter-Protesting Abortion Protesters? There Are Better Ways to Help

by Megan Burbank

As a reproductive health policy reporter, my inbox is a rich text. Every day, I field a deeply chaotic assortment of messages from abortion-rights activists, reproductive health care providers, and anti-abortion organizations peddling misinformation about abortion. (I also get weird invitations to take part in “collabs” that have nothing to do with my beat; if you do this to me, I delete without reading, sorry!) Among these messages, the latter usually presents the biggest minefield for myths about abortion: The anti-abortion movement has propagated many since the rise of the Moral Majority after Roe v. Wade was decided, and the narrative they lean heavily on — that abortion harms women and ruins lives — is easily dispatched if you look at existing data on how most people feel about abortion.

But lately, I’ve been seeing some unhelpful ideas percolating on the left, too: Namely, the idea that counter-protesting the anti-abortion protesters who often gather outside of clinics is a progressive or helpful choice. In practice, it can simply compound the confusion patients face in seeking care, and the clinics these gatherings are ostensibly trying to help don’t universally welcome this tactic.

According to Mack Smith, communications manager at Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, and Kentucky, counter-protests are “more harmful than helpful.” That’s because facing down a crowd of impassioned strangers standing outside a clinic — regardless of their political persuasion — is a pretty terrible prelude to a medical appointment.

“While we understand it’s frustrating to see anti-abortion protesters, we discourage our supporters from holding counter-protests outside our health centers because any form of protest outside of our health centers, even in support, is not beneficial to our patients who are simply trying to access their health care,” says Smith. “Having demonstrators of any kind outside the health center can create an intimidating and disruptive experience.”

There are also far more effective ways to help people seeking abortions, if that’s your goal. “To those interested in getting involved, we recommend they consider volunteering, donating, and following us on social media to stay up-to-date on local events to join, both at Planned Parenthood and other community organizations that support reproductive rights,” says Smith.

The Northwest is home to a number of organizations that engage in this kind of reproductive health equity work. Here in Seattle, Surge Reproductive Justice centers the experiences of queer and trans People of Color, Black women, and Women of Color “for a movement that rises from the bottom up” and fights for meaningful change that truly reflects the values of reproductive justice, from making doula support accessible for all birthing people to decriminalizing sex work and making space for storytelling rooted in reproductive justice.

On the direct-support side of abortion care, the Northwest Abortion Access Fund provides logistical and financial support to people seeking abortion care across the Northwest and beyond. In May, the volunteer-led organization reported a 39% increase in clients seeking support, with average grants going up by $300-plus to $1,542 per case.

And while Planned Parenthood is often treated as a shorthand for abortion care, independent clinics provide 58% of abortions nationally — despite making up just 25% of facilities that provide abortion care, and with none of the name recognition or institutional support of big national reproductive rights organizations. There are several doing this critical work in the Pacific Northwest. You can learn more about them through the Abortion Care Network.

Finding a way to support any of these organizations is a much more concrete approach to helping people who need abortions than responding to performative protests outside clinics with … performative protests outside clinics.

I want to be clear, though: The impulse to be of use — especially during a time of great need — is never a bad thing on its own. Unhelpful though it may be, I have a theory about why counter-protesting is having a moment in progressive circles right now, and though I question their methods, the sentiment among the activists promoting them isn’t a bad thing at all: Since Roe was overturned last summer, more and more Americans have woken up to the reality that abortion access actually is imperiled across the country. It’s good to want to do something about this. It’s powerful to reframe abortion access as a social good and a shared value, one rooted in a framework of reproductive justice, linked to racial and economic justice and an effort to undo the damage of rising fascism and Christian nationalism.

But if we approach this vision of justice without talking to the folks who have been here doing the work for years if not decades — abortion access was already under siege well before Roe was overturned — then we run the risk of getting in the way of the very values we claim to support. As I’ve spoken to reproductive rights and justice activists since last summer, and even well before, I’ve heard a common refrain: Activists already doing this work don’t want you to reinvent the wheel. They love that you want to help, but you don’t need to instigate protests clinics don’t want, and you don’t need to start a movement that already exists. All you have to do is take a look at the folks already out there doing the work, and ask (nicely) how you can help.

Megan Burbank is a writer and editor based in Seattle. Before going full-time freelance, she worked as an editor and reporter at the Portland Mercury and The Seattle Times. She specializes in enterprise reporting on reproductive health policy, and stories at the nexus of gender, politics, and culture.

📸 Featured Image: Photo via Stephanie Kenner/Shutterstock.com

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