{7} Choose life.

But like, really.

You really do.

This writing below is entirely my opinion and does not represent the opinion of any organization that I may or may not work for. Also, I will not engage in debate. There are plenty of places to do so. If it happens in the comments, so be it, but I will not be joining in. Please be respectful, always.

I work at a clinic that provides reproductive health services. We do all kinds of things, from STI screenings and treatment, to birth control, to gender affirming hormone therapy. We’ve caught I don’t know how many cases of breast and cervical cancer in the past year, even after people have gone to the hospital or their PCP. And yes, we offer abortion services. (This is the part where I say things like, “It’s a very small percentage of what we actually do” and stuff like that, but really, that’s not the point. The choice to terminate a pregnancy is one that has been around and has been made — safely or otherwise — for thousands of years, for hundreds of reasons. We simply provide a safe place to do so.)

Anyway.

For whatever reason, we often have protesters from the middle of October through the middle of November. (There’s a reason. It has something to do with the bible.) They are largely peaceful, sitting across the street with their signs and handing out “bags of hope” with literature and baby booties.