Pray to End Sidewalk Bullying

I live around the corner from a Women’s Center, a euphemism for abortion clinic.  Every day, a crowd of the faithful gather in front of the clinic to protest abortion, and few things infuriate me more.  Several months ago, some brave soul added lawn signs that read “Pray to End Sidewalk Bullying” and “Jesus Didn’t Shame Women”, which I thought were absolutely brilliant, hence the inspiration for the title of this post.

Over the last year or so that I’ve been monitoring the protesters, they’ve changed tactics.  The Catholic church a few doors down leads parades to the clinic, some carry signs, and one man brings rather grotesque posters, opting for the horrify-the-masses approach.  I can’t deny I find the protesting irksome – I’ve often been tempted to pull over and explain that there is a center for women’s health around the corner that offers pregnancy testing and assistance to pregnant women that could probably very much use some volunteers, and that seems like a far better use of time.  But the latest approach has me absolutely stunned – parents are now bringing their small children to stand outside the clinic to protest with them.

I suppose they believe this to be effective, visually reminding people of what a fetus becomes after birth.  But I really take issue with this tactic – it was bad enough when I passed a girl who definitely should have been in school instead of standing on a sidewalk in the middle of the day, but this afternoon two tiny kids, no older than 5, were standing out in the pouring rain, aides to their (I presume) mother’s protesting.  At what point do you sacrifice your own child’s health to prove a point to women whose circumstances you are completely ignorant of? Also, have you explained to these small children what abortion is? Do they understand the cause they’re being used for?

I don’t have children, so I hesitate to pass judgement on parenting – but something about this just seems off to me.

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