The man in the above clip was going with his wife to a women’s health centre in Boston for surgery. It followed the devastating news that their unborn child had been diagnosed with Sirenomelia, otherwise known as ‘Mermaid Syndrome.’ The child had both legs fused together and no bladder or kidneys – there was a zero chance of survival. The surgery was so the woman involved would not have to give birth to a stillborn baby.
On there way to what they describe as “the worst day of their lives”, they were accosted by two anti-abortion protesters, shouting “You’re killing your baby!” and holding up pictures of aborted fetuses. In his article, Aaron Gouveia describes what happened next:
Running on pure adrenaline, and without even a hint of a plan, I grabbed my cell phone and crossed the street. I didn’t know what to say or how to say it, I just knew I wanted to make public the cowardice of these protesters . . .
I learned a few important things from this encounter. First, these people aren’t used to being confronted. They prey on the weak and they pounce on the wounded. It’s easy to berate people and shame them when they’re too beaten down to fight back. But I chose to do just that, and you can see what happened.
They spout the same tired rhetoric passed out at rallies and subway stations. They don’t have one salient response to any of my questions . . .
Consider this my plea: stop terrorizing women. Stop adding trauma to their trauma. If you’re able, stand up to these bullies in nonviolent ways. Speak out. And if you have a camera, use it.”
Bonus: Check out SSY’s confrontation of anti-abortionists earlier this year, and their hilarious/horrendous responses.