The Pinkhouse Defenders are often asked why they do this work. Every volunteer has their own reasons. When I started, my answer was pretty typical. I wanted to assure that future generations had the right to bodily autonomy, the right to choose. That statement is still true. But over the years at the clinic I've met hundreds of people and heard countless stories, many of which were heartbreaking. After so much of that, this became personal for me. There is a lot I could share, but this was what solidified my commitment to doing what I do. I call it: The Dollar Story.
We Engage is based in Jackson, MS. We Engage coordinates the Pinkhouse Defenders, the volunteer clinic escorts supporting patients at Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the last remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi and the clinic at the heart of the current case threatening Roe, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
If you would like to support abortion access in Mississippi, here’s how. Support the groups here in Mississippi on the ground working to keep abortion accessible.
We Engage was happy to have members of Capital Care Clinic Escorts of Toledo, OH join us in Phoenix, AZ to “counter-message” the Operation Save America (OSA) National Event “Further Up and Further In.” Upon her return home, Kristin Hady, Capital Care’s Escort Coordinator wrote this and graciously allowed us to share it here. Also, Kristin was featured on a recent episode of the Feminist Sleeper Cell podcast - check it out!
We Engage and members of Abortion Access Front, Capitol Care Clinic Escorts, and Feminist Flag Corps showed up at the annual Operation Save America (OSA) National Event in Phoenix, AZ called “Further Up and Further In,” (yes, they named it that).
On June 9th, a Wednesday morning, while escorting patients at Jackson Women's Health Organization (JWHO) in Jackson, Mississippi, we went live for a little bit on Tik Tok. Look for us over on Tik Tok - search for “Pinkhouse Defenders” or for Derenda’s personal account, “Engaging Defender.” We show what’s going on here…but in minute videos, and mostly funny moments :) BUT ANYWAY…
Recently on the front page of the New York Times, there was a picture showing the Pinkhouse Defenders. It may have been hard to tell what was going on in the picture…This is what happened.
Dr. George Tiller helped people who had serious problems with their pregnancies and was murdered for it in his church. Anti-abortion language creates an environment for violence against providers every day.
On Monday, May 17, The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decided that it would hear arguments on Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban. Passed in 2018, this unconstitutional bill was passed with the intent of making it to the Supreme Court and overturning Roe v. Wade.
Anti-choice propaganda has sold the public a false picture of who is on the clinic sidewalks. Antis would have you believe the trope of the "sweet grandma" who is "there to help" and is just "sidewalk counseling." Those people are there; however there is NO such thing as "sidewalk counseling", that's harassment.
Meet Daniel and Mary Rusk. The Rusks are the ultimate “anti-abortion tourists.” Daniel and Mary travel around in their recreational vehicle – “the Jesusmobile” – with their religious hate banners and 1200-watt bullhorn, harassing people at colleges and clinics nationwide.
Here’s a good example of antis lying with no regard for patient safety. There is no such thing as “medication abortion reversal”. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) says that claims about “medication abortion reversal” are "not based on science and do not meet clinical standards.” But antis are happy to push this onto patients because it fits their agenda.
Seeing patients on a Saturday at the Pinkhouse is no longer a rarity and neither are the large number of antis, usually around numbering around 100 to 125. The noise level is often double what we endure on a typical day. There are always more signs, more bullhorns, more children…and ladders.
We Engage was founded on two beliefs - that the bad anti-abortion laws that reach all the way to the Supreme Court, have their start on the sidewalks, and that ignoring anti-abortion protesters’ behavior and messaging on the sidewalks isn’t good for patients or our rights. This year alone, almost 400 anti-abortion laws have been introduced in the states and antis have blocked access at 3 clinics and caused all kinds of other problems outside clinics.
Friday, March 5th, a group of twelve Christian extremists, four of them children, led by Operation Save America (OSA) members, blocked the entrance to an abortion clinic in Mt. Juliet, TN for at least three hours hours. The local police, stood by for most of that time and made it clear they were not interested in arresting anyone, and only made arrests when the protesters refused to leave the building.
