When you hear the phrase “women’s clinic”, what is the first thing you think of? For most, it’s political turmoil—debates about abortion rights and access to birth control top the list. In the face of criticism and devout protest, clinics such as Planned Parenthood continue to operate, even with each wave of restrictions to their services.
In Raleigh, the only clinic offering abortion services operates under the name “A Woman’s Choice.” As the only clinic around for hundreds of miles offering these kinds of healthcare options, it’s understandable that it’s often flooded with anti-abortion protests.
So where can the line be drawn between freedom of speech and right to protest and the right to privacy of women entering the clinic? Midtown Raleigh News reported that anti-abortion protestors have begun to use megaphones outside of A Woman’s Choice, causing noise disturbances for hours on end.
Additionally, protestors have approached patients as they enter the clinic, attempting to counsel. It must be noted that A Woman’s Choice offers many, many other healthcare services besides abortions, meaning that protestors are often heckling patients who may simply want a pap smear.
These protestors even go as far as mocking a Catholic group that comes to pray quietly, with one man saying, “If you see a blind man walking off a cliff, are you going to tell them or just stand there and pray?”
Though police are called about every time the vocal protestors appear due to the fact that they are breaking sound ordinances and violating trespassing laws, there has yet to be any legal action preventing the vocal protestors from being denied access to the clinic’s immediate vicinity. It doesn’t appear the protesters will be leaving or quieting down anytime soon.
So which group of people have truly autonomous rights in this scenario? Yes, the vocal protestors have a right to be there. But should they be allowed a megaphone day in and day out at the expense of the sanity of both those working around the clinic, and the women entering the clinic for unknown (but very personal) reasons?
It’s a tough call. As a woman in college, I understand the value of women’s health clinics for basic checkups and affordable services. While I have not been a patient at A Woman’s Choice, should I become one in the future for any reason whatsoever, I expect dignity and respect as a human being—and in my opinion, that means being free from personal heckling.