WE ENGAGE - Both on a small scale and on a larger scale…

ONE smile, one person at a time

Through our Pink House Defenders clinic escort program, We Engage affected people in the most direct way, challenging abortion stigma and supporting people one smile at a time. The Pink House Defenders made sure patients felt as safe and as comfortable as possible as they accessed care, as uninvited strangers yelled at them from the sidewalks with shaming, uninvited, unkind opinions.

Now, the Pink House Defenders no longer have a “home clinic.” The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision closed our clinic, and so many others. Our clinic was the clinic the state of Mississippi, “Dobbs,” sued and won the end of Roe v. Wade.

The Pink House Defenders still have a lot to offer in this moment. We learned about dealing with aggressive anti-abortion protesters every day and how to use engagement with them to shield patients. If you are a clinic, a provider or an escort team that wants more information about handling antis and protecting patients with responsible engagement tactics, contact us and we are happy to help where we can.

Our number one rule - ALWAYS - is patients first. It is why we do what we do. From escorting and defending to fighting stigma and fighting back against antis’ lies at protests.

ALWAYS - PATIENTS FIRST.

AND

AFFECTING change, CREATING culture shift

SOCIAL MEDIA - Facebook, instagram and twitter

Since August of 2018, the Pink House Defenders’ Facebook page has brought attention to what is really happening to pregnant people and their companions when they approach the clinic for their appointments. Most people have no idea that their fine upstanding friends and neighbors come out to the abortion clinic and behave in ways that they would never dare elsewhere. Our social media presence with thousands of followers has shown people what happens every day at the Pink House as well as at other clinics throughout America.

With our social media presence, We Engage has increased public awareness of the realities facing pregnant people when they need abortion care. We Engage has introduced people who had NO IDEA of what happens outside clinics at the hands of anti-abortion protesters and “sidewalk counselors” to the reality of what happens outside clinics. New people are reached, engaged, and encouraged to speak up about issues surrounding abortion; people are armed with real facts and are vocally supporting unfettered abortion access in an informed way, and sharing that knowledge with others.

We Engage has engaged new volunteers, new community voices, and new voices to speak to legislators - this is culture shift, culture change in action.

MEDIA COVERAGE

Because of the unique position of being the last abortion clinic in Mississippi for so long, The Pink House Defenders have been part of documentaries such as The Last Clinic and Jackson - The Film. Media outlets worldwide have interviewed Derenda Hancock and other Pink House Defenders though the years.

In 2018, the CNN Series United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell visited the Pink House Defenders as a part of an episode on reproductive justice in Jackson, MS; the episode won an Emmy.

On the global front, a short documentary called Abortion Activists was done by Zoomin, an outlet in the Netherlands. We Engage has an extensive platform to reach the public as well as people already involved with abortion work.

Counter PROTEST COORDINATION

When anti-abortion groups gather to rally and spread misinformation, lies and shame, We Engage has been there to counter their misinformation with facts.

For years, the Pink House Defenders under the direction of Derenda Hancock, has coordinated with other groups, such as Stop Patriarchy, Feminist Majority, Abortion Access Front, as well as other independent clinic escort groups to show support for abortion access as well as counter protest anti-abortion rallies.

For instance, in January 2019, before We Engage, the Pink House Defenders saw Operation Save America (OSA) aka Operation Rescue hold their annual Leadership Conference in Jackson, MS. The Pink House Defenders coordinated a counter response that hosted clinic escorts from across the country, as well as Lizz Winstead and Abortion Access Front. This effort saw a large pro-choice presence come into Jackson, Mississippi and speak back to the OSA religious propaganda with humor and facts in a very public setting.

In July 2019, the Pink House Defenders traveled to join with other escort groups to counter Operation Save America/Operation Rescue at their annual National Conference in Milwaukee, WI. This publicly visible and accessible activity reached people who otherwise may not have known about abortion issues, using news media, social media, and informing the public with facts and humor.

And in February 2020, We Engage organized a protest of the largest gathering of anti-abortion extremists at a state capitol, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. On February 11, the anti-abortion extremist lobbying group Free the States organized “Abolition Day” at the Oklahoma State Capitol, where over 1000 anti-choice extremists gathered to lobby for OK Senate Bill 16, a bill to “abolish” abortion in Oklahoma completely, with no exception.

Without We Engage’s counter response, there would have been no pro-choice presence at the capitol that day whatsoever. All media coverage of the event would have focused on the false narratives of the anti-abortion extremists there to ban abortion, but with the presence of We Engage and our partners that day, there was equal time given to the a pro-choice counter-rally, and through the media the public was able to see more than just antis were present.

In order to reverse the shameful Dobbs ruling, change the direction of legislation and court decisions, and STOP the march to the criminalization of people who can become pregnant, we all MUST be seen and be heard…we must ENGAGE with antis and one another to make a change for the better.