Our Story…

We Engage was a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization born in 2019 on the sidewalk outside Jackson Women’s Health Organization (JWHO) in Jackson, MS, also known as “The Pink House”, the only abortion clinic in Mississippi since 2004.

The Pink House was unique in that it was one of the few clinics in America where clinic patient escorts ENGAGED regularly with the anti-abortion protesters on the sidewalks, hence the name, We Engage.

We Engage grew from the experiences of patient escorts/clinic defenders at the clinic, known as the Pink House Defenders, led by Derenda Hancock since 2013.

We Engage believed that when you put on a clinic escort defender’s vest, you have already engaged with antis. This was in direct conflict with most clinics, who generally require “non-engagement” on the sidewalks on the part of escorts. Escorts are instructed not to talk to the anti-abortion zealots that are harassing the patients and the clinic, or counter any of the anti talking points.

We Engage believed the sidewalks were ceded to the anti-abortion extremists for much too long.

The big ugly signs, the bullhorns, the grandmas all working to lie to the public and to patients with no pushback whatsoever on their religious based falsehoods and opinions has led us to this place. They were left to spew their lies without any counter narrative because they stigmatized abortion so well, no one wanted to speak up. Abortion stigma from religious anti-abortion groups drives behaviors such as harassment and violence against patients, abortion providers, clinic escorts.

We Engage took issue and pushed back with fact-based messaging and signs supporting patients and safe abortion access.

We Engage stood up for responsible engagement at clinics and elsewhere and stood up against anti-abortion extremists. While We Engage was active, there was a definite increase of escorts at clinics engaging the antis at their clinics, as well as people speaking up against them elsewhere.

Anti-abortion zealots have been successful with their decades long campaign of terrorism, intimidation, and lies because their tactics of shame and fear worked; their stigmatizing lies are the cultural narrative surrounding abortion. Even people who support abortion don’t say the word “abortion”, because many of the “pro-choice” folks believed the antis’ propaganda of shame and stigma was correct.

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In 2018, JWHO was sued by the state of Mississippi in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that reversed the protections of Roe v. Wade, the UP Supreme Court case that made abortion legal nationwide.

The Dobbs case, brought by the state of Mississippi and the Alliance Defending Freedom, ended the federal protection of abortion rights, leaving abortion laws to the individual states and upending bodily autonomy for millions.

The Dobbs decision ended the protections of Roe across the country on June 24, 2022. Abortion access ended in the state of Mississippi on July 6, 2022.

Immediately upon the Dobbs decision, thirteen states banned abortion access in their states; since then, more have followed suit.

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Today, the building that was once the Pink House is now painted white, an upscale furnishing consignment store.

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We Engage operated in support of the full spectrum of reproductive justice, focused on abortion access, and the de-stigmatization of abortion and was rooted in equality, equity, and progress for all.

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The loss of bodily autonomy and the intrusion of religion, specifically the Christian Nationalist type, into our legislation harms us all.

So, it is time to do something different. We can’t keep doing the same things and expecting something different.

And know this, restoring Roe isn’t enough. Roe wasn’t enough then, and it certainly isn’t enough now. Roe was the floor, the barest of minimums.

Bodily autonomy is NOT negotiable.