40 Days for Anti-Choice Harassment

Today marks the start of “40 Days for Life,” a campaign of escalated harassment outside targeted reproductive health clinics. Anti-choice bullies are working to turn out folks at clinics in the US, Canada, Australia, and Northern Ireland.
While many clinics have regular street harassers, 40 Days engages folks who have never done this before. The campaign is framed as being mostly about prayer, and there will be an increased number of folks praying outside clinics. These people are using what should be a personal religious action to guilt and shame women. But there will also be an increased number of sidewalk stalkers, folks who more actively harass anyone walking into or out of (or even just near) a clinic.
Antis who are outside the clinic every week can use some pretty disgusting tactics, but there’s definitely an elevated level of concern when antis who have never done this before are present. New antis often don’t know or really care about any rules that exist outside a clinic. They bring new energy and zeal to trying to stop every woman from accessing reproductive health services. Even just increased numbers of antis can lead to confusion and a more visible barrier to access.
There is a list of targeted clinics on the “40 Days for Life” website. If a clinic in your area is being targeted and you feel up to taking on this work, please contact your clinic or local clinic escorts to find out the best ways to get involved (I’d recommend Googling the name of the clinic or “clinic escorts” and your city and state).
A heartfelt thanks to everyone taking on the unfortunately necessary work of increased clinic defense during this campaign of cruelty, lies, and hate.
h/t @ClinicEscort