I offer no excuses for what the pro-choice escorts have done to you: those are just shitty people, and again, I am so sorry that has happened to you
Before I respond to your points, let me just clarify my usage of two terms, so there are no misunderstandings. I'll use pro-life for folks who think that faced with the decision, carrying pregnancies to term should be overwhelmingly chosen. I'll use anti-life for folks who believe the decision shouldn't be there at all.
At the clinic I escort at (for only a few months), the experiences are turned around, as escorts have a do-not-engage policy. We've got both pro-life as well as anti-choice protestors. The anti-choice folks are much worse. Quite a few years ago, they were so aggressive that the only way to get a patient into the clinic was to literally lift them over the protestors' heads. They used to superglue doorknobs, and a host of other unpleasant things. A couple of weeks ago, the window at another abortion clinic was smashed. Some anti-choicers scream hatred and hellfire in patients' and escorts' faces. Top of their lungs. One of them got within two inches of my face and asked me if I thought what I was doing was "godly" and just tried to stare me down. Another asked me outright if I've ever been in a fight, and after my negative response, say "that's a pity". I've had a bible-thumber come up to me and say that "I used to be a sinner, lying and stealing like you do". We've head ultrasound vans from crisis pregnancy centers insinuate they're part of the reproductive health care clinic to get folks to go in there and say whatever they want (people who went in there did
not have good things to say about the experience).
Both pro-life as well as anti-choice protestors harass patients, in that they are initiating and persisting in unwanted contact. Pro-life folks are merely about giving people options, which I cannot disagree with - and do things similar to what you've described yourself as doing.
As for more specific points:
- Abortion clinics must provide psychological counseling prior to performing abortions, and partners/company
should not be allowed in, to avoid coercion! Limited usefulness, I know, when the system outside of the clinic still coerces them... We have cases where people come out not having done the procedure because they realised they didn't want to. This is as it should be!
- The intersection of abortion and sex trafficking sounds really complex
It's really distressing, even to me when I don't have to witness it
I'm not sure the answer is to not have abortions accessible, and I'm not sure there is an obvious answer either. But it is something that really, really, really, really needs to be addressed!
- We have called and have had the police called on us, usually for legitimate reasons on both sides.
- Stretch mark person sounds like a generally terrible person. Definitely not the kind of person able to give a child a happy, loving life. I'm sure there were a host of other reasons for them not to want to have a child, but sometimes being faced with protestors brings out the worst/sassy in people
And finally, I think we disagree on what constitutes a human. I believe the fetuses are definitely on the way to becoming humans, but are not there yet, much like sperm or eggs but further down the line. Physicians seem to agree with this definition, and I'm happy to believe them.
I'd be protesting abortion clinics too if I were to consider fetuses as humans - for whatever that's worth
Sounds like there's really bad apples on both sides. That clinic should seriously become aware and proactive in fighting the sex trafficking problem. Maybe that's something you might be able to engage them with?