Husband Gives Clinic Protesters a Piece of His Mind

In order to access an abortion — or, sometimes, a host of other reproductive health services provided by the same clinics — women regularly have to walk by frothing anti-choice protesters screaming about baby-killing. It's trying almost no matter what their reason for having the procedure. Most women hurry past the harassment as charges of "murderer" fall about their heads, helped along by loved ones or clinic escorts. The protesters, rarely confronted or stopped by police, wait for their next victim.

Aaron Gouveia and his wife walked into the clinic on what he terms the worst day of their lives, past shouts of: "You’re killing your unborn baby!" In an essay written for the Good Men Project, Gouveia writes: "Hell is sitting next to the person you love most and listening to her wail hysterically because her heart just broke into a million pieces. ... Across a crowded street, two people with 'God Is Pro-Life!' signs and pictures of torn-up fetuses managed to drive the blade in even deeper." Gouveia and his wife deeply wanted the pregnancy and had been planning to name the baby "Alexandra" (seeing my own name here definitely yanked on the heartstrings), but the 16-week-old fetus had a severe defect that left it with zero chance of surviving.

Unable to make his wife feel better or follow her into surgery, Gouveia went back to the protesters, and filmed the exchange for all of us.

When Gouveia tells the protesters off for "yelling at my wife for doing nothing more than having a nearly dead baby inside her," one of the protesters attempts to criticize them for coming to "one of these places," saying that his wife should be "cared for in a hospital." As Gouveia points out, the clinic they attended was, after all, affiliated with a hospital. And whatever your reason for having an abortion, a clinic is usually where you go for one — due to anti-choice protesters and violent extremists who have driven a safe medical procedure out of a hospital setting.

The protesters attempt to pretend to be on concerned for women by asking "do you know how many women commit suicide after an abortion?" But, beside the fact that there's no link between abortion and increased risk of depression or suicide, Gouveia points out that the tactics used make this "concern" ring hollow: "Even if she believed that were true, does she really think yelling at them and shaming them in public is going to encourage these women not to kill themselves?"

Gouveia points out that the protesters were taken aback to actually be confronted, and had the audacity to complain that he was recording and verbally attacking them, even threatening to call the police. (Yeah, that's rich.) So he has a message for others: "If you’re able, stand up to these bullies in nonviolent ways. Speak out. And if you have a camera, use it." You can also look up a local clinic and sign up to be a volunteer escort, to help those women who aren't lucky enough to have an awesome husband like Gouveia accompanying them to their procedure.