Last Friday, after finding out that an anti-abortion protest was scheduled for Saturday at Planned Parenthood on NE MLK, I reposted an all-too-evergreen article I wrote in 2015 on best practices for counter-protesting the very angry people who make it their business to stand outside of abortion clinics for the sole purpose of intimidating people trying to go to the doctor. I've spent a lot of time covering this shit, and I can tell you that counter-protesting, while well-intended, is almost never a good idea.
Today, I heard from Katie Rogers, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands and Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii. Rogers confirmed that Planned Parenthood is urging people to seek alternatives to counter-protesting. Here's the carefully-worded statement from their website on that:
Our number one focus at Planned Parenthood is our patients and while we know you want to show your support, we also know our patients come see us for high-quality health care, not for a political statement. The privacy and safety of our patients is of utmost importance and we ask you to respect that privacy and avoid giving voice to the opposition by holding counter protests at our health centers. There are a number of other ways to get involved, here are just a few to get you started.
You can see the full list of alternative actions here. It's pretty specific to Rogers' regional Planned Parenthood affiliate, but the advice—which boils down to contacting your lawmakers, volunteering your time, and talking openly about abortion—is applicable no matter where you are.
So there you have it. An ironclad excuse not to waste your precious time talking to judgmental strangers. There are other, better ways to resist.