By Jasmine Knox
August 14, 2024
“A Whole New World” from Aladdin was blasting in the background while a stocky, middle-aged man in a tight t-shirt and cargo shorts yelled “C’mon baby girl! You know you don’t want to do this!” and warned me that I would face divine judgment for my decision. A volunteer grabbed a rainbow umbrella and shielded us from the man’s gaze.
I was there to interview Betty of Stand With Abortion Now, or SWAN, outside of Orlando’s Women’s Center, an independent clinic providing abortion services as well as crucial OBGYN care, including mammograms and cancer screenings. I wanted to speak with her about the work that abortion clinic escorts do amid constant fluctuation in abortion access laws and in the face of sometimes violent harassment from anti-abortion activists.
Continued: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-its-like-to-be-an-abortion-clinic-escort-in-the-post-roe-era