Quote of the Day: “They don’t wake up and say, ‘I’ll brush my teeth and go have an abortion.'”

Curtis Boyd and Glenna Halvorson-Boyd. (Photo credit: Justin Clemons for the Guardian)

“These women who come to us are not idiots. They know what they are doing. People can’t get that. Women take this seriously. They think about it. They don’t wake up and say, ‘I’ll brush my teeth and go have an abortion.'” – Dr. Curtis Boyd 

Texas abortion providers Curtis Boyd and Glenna Halvorson-Boyd have worked in abortion clinics since right after Roe v. Wade was decided. They’re currently on the FBI watch list as potential domestic terrorism targets and have been warned not to give media interviews. But despite the safety risks, in this profile at the Guardian, they’ve decided to speak out about the current rollback of reproductive rights. The Boyds say the stigma around the procedure has gotten worse over the 40 years they’ve been doing this work. They had imagined that by now abortion “would be available in every family practice, that there would be no resistance. Every medical school would be teaching it.” Instead, Curtis says, “We wake up and think, ‘My God what has happened?’”