Phoenix, Arizona

We arrive at 7:15 a.m. and park on a street adjacent to the health center. We greet each other and proceed to walk toward the employee entrance. As we walk down the block to enter the building, the second greeters of the day are the protesters. They are lined up along the sidewalk in front of the health center, telling us why we shouldn’t go to work today and saying how terrible we are. We ignore them and keep walking.

Inside, we begin our day. We prepare medication for the patients, set up the rooms, and prepare the front desk so that patients can check in — very routine and very status quo.

The first patient walks through the door. Maybe she is thinking about what the protesters said. Maybe she is thinking about the choice she made to come in that day. Or maybe she is just glad that she was able to choose.

We check her in, and then she comes back to an exam room. Along the way she is greeted by every person on staff. Each one reassures her, through actions and words, that we care and that everything will be OK. The doctor successfully completes her procedure. She recovers, and is discharged. On the way out, she expresses her sincerest thanks to the nursing staff and asks them to convey that same message to the rest of us.

We see so many patients just like her during the course of a day. In some respects, we know that any one of us could be her. And we realize that this is more than just a job, more than just a set of tasks.

It is vitally important for us to be here, to provide a much-needed service for the women of Arizona. What we do at 7th Avenue makes a difference. No matter what obstacles we face, or how many protesters line our streets, we are proud to work for Planned Parenthood. We are proud to change the lives of Arizona women.

Protesters: 13

I am Emily X.

We are Planned Parenthood.

Houston, Texas

They arrived Wednesday, before I got to work. We’re used to protesters here in Houston. Usually they target the two health centers that provide abortion, but this time of year they target double that number of health centers.

There were about a dozen – including one protester who harasses our clients with a video camera. He asks them provocative questions, tries to get a rise out of someone, anyone, to get some kind of outburst on film.

We have our ways of dealing with it, though. We’re prepared. All our escorts have signs that read, “You do not have permission to videotape,” and they use them to block our clients’ faces, protect their privacy.

Unfortunately, our patients are used to this kind of thing. One client described the group of protesters as voyeuristic. She wondered why they didn’t have better things to do than to come and watch clients entering a health care organization. She specifically asked one protester if he wanted to come in and watch while she got her Pap test!

It’s a long walk from our parking lot to the front door of the health center, which gives the protesters more opportunity to harass and antagonize than we’d like. And they are particularly aggressive during the 40 days. Sometimes they try to lure our patients to the crisis pregnancy center next door, where, instead of medically accurate health information, they receive anti-choice rhetoric.

Ninety-nine times out of 100, though, the protesters fail. Many of our patients have a long relationship with Planned Parenthood—we provide them affordable, high-quality health care that they often can’t get anywhere else. Our clients know where to go for compassionate care, for nonjudgmental service. They aren’t fooled by the lies of these anti-choice extremists. That’s something the protesters will never understand.

Protesters: 12
I am Emily X.
I am Planned Parenthood.

This is what we're here for

I'm here to work. That means making sure that every woman, man, and teen who walks through our doors gets the health care, information, and help they need. And it seems like every day there are more and more people showing up here for just that — to get care they can't get anywhere else.

And then there's them — the anti-choice people who appear at our health centers every year at this time for another round of the "40 days for life" protests. They're not here to work, or to seek care, or to find solutions for the people who rely on Planned Parenthood for everything from birth control to cancer screenings — they're here to intimidate medical staff and harass patients.

I am Emily X, and I've been dealing with these protests for years.

I refuse to feel intimidated by the protesters — but I have to admit they make me angry. It bothers me that Planned Parenthood has to devote our limited resources to dealing with extremists harassing our patients at a time when millions of women lack health insurance — that’s time, money, and energy that should be going to help the people who rely on Planned Parenthood.

So I've decided to do something about the “40 days for life” protests. For the past two years, I've been doing my part to turn what could be a negative into a positive — by blogging. And in addition to blogging, I’m sharing stories, posting videos, and letting you into our world for a month.

And I’m inviting you to turn the anti-choice 40 days of protest into 40 days of fundraising, with our Pledge a Protester program. Your donations will help keep our health center doors open for women, men, and teens in need.

So join me. Stay in touch on the blog, leave me a comment (I love your comments), pledge a protester, send a note to a clinic, volunteer … it all matters. This year, with so much attention on the increasing need for affordable health care, it matters more than ever.

Thanks for reading this. Thanks for your support.

I am Emily X.

I am Planned Parenthood.

I come from a poor family; we need Planned Parenthood

Nearly 75 percent of Planned Parenthood clients have incomes at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level. Whether it is helping low-income clients afford the health care they need, or helping women make serious choices about whether and when to have a child, we are here to help.

I spoke to one man who understands how Planned Parenthood helps those most affected by the worsening economy — poor families:



I’m Emily X

I am Planned Parenthood.

I'm uninsured, and I need Planned Parenthood

When you are uninsured in the United States — like nearly 46 million Americans who lack insurance today — you are often forced to make difficult choices. Sometimes it's as stark as choosing between getting the health care you need and paying the utilities or even buying food. Planned Parenthood is the health care safety net for many uninsured women, men, and teens — especially now, as the economic downturn continues to spread far and wide.

Hear one woman's story:


I'm Emily X

I am Planned Parenthood.

Tomorrow Is Another Day

Well, it’s over — for them at least.

The 40-days vigils have come to an end. Across the nation, these vigils sprung up at our health centers, disrupting basic women’s health care. And at each of those health centers, Planned Parenthood staff came to work every day. Our clients still came in for health care. We continued to do the important work we do, regardless of the opposition.

These vigils are a symbolic event, full of hype and hyperbole. But even symbolic events can be a barrier. Nothing should stand in the way of women, men, and teens accessing safe and legal health care. And especially in the midst of a growing health care crisis, it’s appalling for people to make it harder to access affordable care. Planned Parenthood health centers are a key part of the health care safety net in this country. Who benefits when you stand in the way of that?

But today, I’m not concerned about our protesters — I’m concerned with November 4. We are on the eve of one of the most important elections in my lifetime. Tomorrow, I will vote — I urge you to do the same.

And while the 40 days have ended, today, tomorrow, and every day to follow, our work goes on.

I am a volunteer.

I am an escort.

I am a health center manager.

I am a physician’s assistant.

I am a doctor.

I am a minister.

I am a woman.

I am a teenager.

I am Planned Parenthood.

You are Planned Parenthood, too.

If you want to be part of the Planned Parenthood family, please join us: http://www.plannedparenthood.org.

We Are Family

I am a reverend, and I am part of the Planned Parenthood family. I serve on the board of Planned Parenthood of Illinois. My wife and I are proud donors. With our daughter, we have lobbied, marched, spoken at press conferences, served as escorts, volunteered in the clinics, helped with fundraisers, and served on committees.

We do it all because we are committed to human freedom and dignity. We believe that in order to be fully free, women must be able to choose if, when, and with whom to have a child. Planned Parenthood is the champion of reproductive freedom.

We do it all because we believe that sex is a wonderful part of being human. Planned Parenthood provides the knowledge and services that we need, that our children and grandchildren need, to enjoy that gift.

The people who have stood outside the Aurora, Illinois, clinic almost every day since the doors opened 14 months ago, seem to believe in something very different. There is usually just a handful, though on special occasions the numbers swell to a dozen or more. Sometimes they are quiet and law-abiding. Sometimes they are vocal and abusive. Occasionally they overstep the boundaries — though careful to avoid actual arrest.

I am sad for them. They could accomplish so much with that much energy and commitment. I want to take them with me to the programs I work with that help survivors of domestic violence; or to places that shelter families that are homeless; or to the centers that provide early childhood education; or to recovery programs for ex-offenders. That is what it means to me to be “pro-life.” My message to the protesters: “Please, get out of the way of people simply exercising their legal right to medical care. Go out and do something that actually brings life to someone else.”

I am Emily X.

I am Planned Parenthood.