In today's episode of “What fucking dystopian reality are we living in?” I bring you this gem from Faux News, which I read so you don’t have to. Anti-choice extremist, Wendy Faustin, sues Colorado Democratic politicians to end the anti-protest zone around abortion clinics, saying it’s unconstitutional because it violates her First Amendment right to “free speech."
Faustin claims that she's the victim due to the 100-foot buffer law in Colorado that prevents anti-choice extremists from blocking patients from accessing the building, violating the physical safety of patients seeking abortion, screaming in the faces of patients, and so on. It shields people who are seeking reproductive healthcare from harassment, and it doesn’t apply just to abortion clinics.
Faustin says that she hopes the case will go all the way up to the Supreme Court since they have a conservative supermajority and overturned Roe v Wade.
She is centering herself in the conversation and claiming she’s the victim for not being allowed to be too close to patients. The law, however, doesn’t regulate what she can and can’t say but rather where she can say it. For example, she does not have the right to scream in patients’ faces. She can scream those exact same words from 100 feet away for patient protection.
The government is allowed to regulate the time, place, and manner in which free speech can occur.
Anti-choice extremists arrogantly believe that their religious beliefs grant them the power to obstruct patients' access to abortion clinics and get in their faces. It is entitlement and a complete disregard for the rights and well-being of those they see as “sinners” and “less than." Their religious beliefs do not grant them the authority to trample on the rights of individuals seeking reproduction healthcare.
What they do is a gross violation of basic human decency. It is infuriating that these individuals feel justified in invading personal space, subjecting patients to verbal abuse, and creating an intimidating atmosphere. They have a complete lack of respect, a lack of empathy, and a lack of understanding for people seeking reproductive healthcare.
Once the pendulum swings back, we need to change how things are done. Instead of being offered in separate clinics that patients have to travel to, abortions should be offered within the privacy of our doctors’ offices. That will enrage these extremists because then they won’t have access to patients to scream at. They can’t protest at all OB/GYN offices across the nation.
Women and other people seeking abortion care need to have privacy and be free from harassment. Traveling to a standalone clinic violates our privacy because then the protesters see our identity and license plates. Our physical safety from these extremists and our privacy should take precedence.
And Faustin is a perfect example of entitlement and arrogance, thinking she should have the right to approach and harass people seeking healthcare. How would she feel if Satanists, for example, protested at her church? Would she agree that they have the right to dissuade people from church and hand out educational flyers about the Satanic Temple? I'm willing to bet that's a huge no. It's yet another example of hypocrisy.