Since last October, a group of young women, and a few young men, have been escorting weekdays at Ambulatory. We learned from the clinic staff that having escorts on Saturdays was a big help in how patients felt entering the clinic. After a couple of weekday visits ourselves, we saw how the antis "owned" the clinic's entrance and gathered around patients. NYU students have taken the lead in going as often as 3 days a week. Most are members of the new NYU Refuse & Resist! chapter. Over the holidays when the students were gone, members of the Refuse & Resist! Youth Network filled in, bringing young men, friends, and a mother to help. They don't have a set schedule, and keep the antis off balance. When they're there, they make sure they don't get to encircle the patients. Contact Refuse & Resist! at (212) 713-5657 if you or someone you know, of any age, would like to help out during the week.

What do the weekday escorts think about it? The following comes from a young woman organizer:

"Sometimes you don't realize the kind of effect you have on the patients coming in and out, but then, when you least expect it, a patient or her mom will smile at you briefly and say, 'Thanks.' Of course, a good percentage of the time, we're getting into great discussions, as well, about who the antis are, and why we volunteer. The look of fear and anger on the faces of the antis when they see us enjoying what we're doing, and the climate of resistance and sense of "I don't have to take this" that is created among the patients give us all such a sense of excitement that is really too difficult to explain to people who've never done it before. So we bring more and more people with us each time. We're taking back that corner! Neighbors and even delivery boys welcome us! People we talk to who know Refuse & Resist! is not an escorting group ask us why we do this. The simple answer is this: we want to change the whole climate around abortion so that women and their partners can walk into clinics with their heads held high. Not to mention the thrill of it!"