Every Thursday morning, before most people get out of bed, Erika Hathaway packs her wheelchair into her uncle’s truck and heads to the Planned Parenthood clinic on Valencia Street.
Hathaway isn’t receiving ongoing medical treatment at Planned Parenthood. She is an anti-abortion protester who situates her wheelchair in prime position — in front of the clinic doors.
Hathaway and her uncle, Ross Foti, have been protesting outside the Valencia Street facility for about two months. Planned Parenthood staff members have repeatedly called the San Francisco Police Department and the city attorney’s office, and have consulted a lawyer to see what can be done about the couple encroaching on the space of patients walking in and out of the clinic.
“It’s absolute cruelty,” said Adrienne Verrilli, director of communications for the San Francisco Planned Parenthood Health Center. “The way our health care center is, you have to walk close to them.”
The protesters are using a San Francisco exemption that allows wheelchairs to remain in white zones designated as a pick-up/drop-off area in front of the clinic.
“If I was near the street, it wouldn’t be as good as right in front of the door,” Hathaway said.
Hathaway said that she has early onset arthritis in her hips that requires her to use a wheelchair at times, although not continuously. She said she runs a pet-sitting business in San Mateo. A website detailing her services includes photos of Hathaway walking dogs.
She has not always been pro-life, she said. A re-establishment of her Catholic faith — she attends St. Mark’s church in Belmont — propelled her to become active in the movement.
Hathaway and Foti are not considered “run-of-the-mill” anti-abortion protesters. Yes, they have the gruesome signs, the hurtful exclamations and the uncomfortable presence. But they are also provocateurs, a characteristic of veteran activists.
In particular, Hathaway said, she addresses the partners of women going into the clinic. A man once walked into the clinic with a woman and started a conversation with her of his own volition, she said.
“I am his conscience, combating him,” she said. Responding to a man who asked her why she was there, Hathaway said, “I can judge you because I see you coming into this abortion clinic with your girlfriend.”
Both Planned Parenthood representatives and the anti-abortion protesters say they have received generous support from the community.
“Every time they would see the protesters they would come in and donate everything in their wallet,” Verrilli said of one patron.
“We have a lot of people supporting us out here,” Hathaway said.
Beth Parker, Planned Parenthood’s pro bono attorney, calls the situation “a travesty.”
“They are flouting the system that has been designed to allow to drop off patients,” she said.
Parker has worked with Planned Parenthood for over 20 years, and has brought restraining orders against Foti at Planned Parenthood clinics in San Mateo and Redwood City. Foti, in turn, has sued Planned Parenthood for what he believes are violations of his freedom of speech.
“They thrive on lies,” Foti said of Planned Parenthood. “My point is not to harass patients; they have a right to go into the clinic. My point is to persuade them against abortion.”
Employees at the clinic are told not to engage in conversation with the protesters, and they do not provide escorts for people in and out of the clinic.
“We try to keep it as calm as possible out there,” Verrilli said.
In order for the Valencia Street clinic to obtain a restraining order, several authorizing agencies, including San Francisco’s planning and police departments, have to state that city ordinances are being violated before the city attorney’s office can sue Foti and Hathaway.
Planned Parenthood representatives, for their part, believe the white zone laws are being violated, as well the “bubble” law.
The so-called bubble law is a San Francisco ordinance that provides patients who are entering a health clinic with an 8-foot buffer zone within 100 feet of the clinic. No one is allowed to approach them within that fixed distance without their consent for the purposes of educating or counseling them or to pass out leaflets, according to NARAL Pro-Choice California, a political advocacy nonprofit.
“We are doing everything we can to address this issue,” said Deputy City Attorney Yvonne Mere, who is familiar with the Planned Parenthood case.
A front desk employee at Planned Parenthood, who asked not to be named, said she calls the police every week in order to show that the clinic is making every attempt to remedy the situation, and failing.
“Morally, it’s challenging,” said Verrilli. Referring to Hathaway’s wheelchair use, she added, “We don’t want to set a precedent of SFPD challenging someone’s ability.”
One recent rainy Thursday morning, Hathaway and Foti were in front of the clinic. A man walked in with a woman, then walked out several minutes later.
“Sir, don’t you want to be a father?” asked Hathaway.
The man turned and looked at her. “You don’t know what I am,” he replied. “I am already a father.”
As I said, myth and superstition.
Longwinded, at that.
I have to go now. I’m ill and have to attend to the leeches on my body.
I won’t see anything. I’ll be dead and cremated.
I’m happy my life isn’t rooted in myth and superstition.
I was reading an article a couple of years ago about a coalition of pastors, catholic parishes, and the council of American Islamic who were asking everyone throughout the world to start praying to God to intervene to end that latest disaster, the gulf oil spill.Well, how could they have had the nerve to has God to intervene to end that gigantic oil disaster when our country, with its court rulings and laws throughout the years, have violated most of His laws and have shut Him out of our country! What should have been asked was that all people from every country throughout the world to get on their knees and repent and ask God for forgiveness for their sins! Also, a needed world reform of a sincere repentance and conversion to obey the unchangeable laws of God that have been violated throughout the years. Our country could start, by their example, by bringing back God to our country by dong this! 1- to repeal the ban of pray in our schools! 2- to repeal the legalization of contraceptives for married and unmarried couples! 3 -to repeal the legalization of abortion! 4- to repeal the legalization of pornography! 5- to repeal the legalization of homosexuality, sodomy! The disasters that we have been experiencing for the past fifty years throughout the world, and that latest disaster, the gulf oil spill, caused by the greedy corporate elite, are the fruits of Satan for our sinful country! Lastly, Atheistic Secular Humanism, the religion of the Anti-Christ, is a true manifestation of the forces of evil that have taken over our country and many others. So, it is your CHOICE to CHOOSE God’s laws, without compromise, or Satan’s laws, Secular Humanism!!!
These comments remind me of some songs of my youth.
“God must be dead if you’re alive” Dead Kennedys.
To paraphrase the Beatles, “If you keep talking about killing babies, you ain’t gonna make it with anyone anyhow.”
I’ve stayed away from this article. When someone justifies his position with good vs. evil, satan vs. god explanations, he is incapable of independent thinking.
Sorry I wandered in. Human sexuality is natural, not depravity.
I choose Evil according to your doctrine. Maybe try thinking for yourself, or lay off the heavy drugs.
All I can say, Eddie is, “You’ll see”.
As a 4th generation San Franciscan……..
Doesn’t the SFPD have anything else
better to do? Than to be called out for
people who are just excercising their
free speech? Don’t you think if anyone
should be harassed and told to leave,
it’s the abortion mill that is killing babies
and ruining mothers and fathers lives!!!
“All men are created equal.” At what point is a child “created”? Do you believe the child is equal only once born? Or equal when it’s decided the child will be carried to term? Why is it that if a pregnant woman is killed resulting in the death of both, that both lives are acknowledged but if a woman decides to have an abortion that she’s not killing a person?
A high place in heaven awaits Ross Foti and his niece for living their faith. We should all share their commitment to life, their love.
One more thing: When Roe v Wade was passed, the press and left had a field day, saying the abortion debate was over and done.
The March on Life held each January in Washington DC has been held every year since the first anniversary of Roe v Wade. Peaceful, solemn..but joyous.
Though it is several hundreds of thousands, even millions (informally confirmed by police, who cite these marchers as the most cooperative and CLEAN. The attendees of the president’s inaugural leave the place a pig sty. The march for life leaves it cleaner than before, all confirmed), who attend, all media is terrified to cover it because it shows this war will never be over until it is overturned (where rape will be legal, but the procedure, its ramifications for society and women will be out there and society will voluntarily reject it) .
And the marchers in the 70s, 80s, and 90s were mostly middle aged.
the tide has shifted and the ratio is now much more of young people. They are known as the ‘survivors’ because they are welll aware that Planned Parenthood stood there, eager to capitalize on the consumer, anti-God, ‘me first’ generation. Because of that they are WELL aware that rather than being in the safest place God CHOSE to place a baby, the mother’s womb, they barely made it out alive.
There is no love for abortion among a swell of the very youngest, not able to vote, and that makes it IMPERATIVE for the media to keep all of their witness quiet.
We are not CHina….yet.
Abortion, as slavery, will not end until it is rejected by our people…every race, creed, socio-economic and gender.
In the article the spokesperson for PP says
‘it is absolute cruelty’ what Erica and Ross
are doing….You HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING!
Have any of you pro-abortion people seen
what an abortion looks like? Perhaps you better look and then tell us what you think!
And two more caring people you’ll ever meet!
Planned Parenthood is the problem, not
these two wonderful pro-life people trying
to help God’s little ones!!! PP is full of lies,
Erica and Ross speak the truth. And one
can judge someone who is doing wrong….
we are to judge ‘their actions’….we are
NOT comdemning them to hell, God is the
judge, we are not God, but again we are
to judge people’s actions when they are
totally in the wrong.
It is so interesting. We cannot afford to ‘obey’ the militant pro- ‘choice’, because every woman who has changed her mind, including the hundreds of thousands now who are speaking up against abortion, has thanked us for being willing to take the swearing and the lies and the anger.
There is no pro choice woman or man who is doing so without one of two things: lying to themselves or ignorance.
I have very wealthy friends who have had abortions and in order to deflect the guilt, will not hear one word against abortion. They actually end friendships with friends who won’t agree with them.
Just a smattering of psychology isn’t necessary to see the guilt.
The defensiveness.
These same women, when pregnant (Planned as they say, as if God abides by their wishes, not his own choice to create), speak of that ‘fetus’ as their son or daughter and they are very protective.
Planned or unplanned it is the same situation.
Society, however, is rooted in two things now: money and sex.
If your boyfriend ‘supposedly’ is going to stick around you have to abort, because going through and adopting out will make you ‘fat’ and that marvelous marvelous guy will leave you.
If you are raped everyone is telling you that that baby will be a reminder of all that trauma.
…even when the millions of babies from rape have stories to tell now of how their mothers, who kept them or adopted them out, have lives so filled with love and gratitude, for not having to feel guilty, for maybe still having that grateful, loving and respectful child in their life and for not having the host of serious illnesses that abortion brought.
Even though a host of abortion clinics, LEGAL abortion clinics have been closed by the thousands, NOT due to silent prayer vigil (still a first amendment right, just as legal as ‘gay pride’ parades where nuns and clergy are routinely mocked with no comeback from the religious..fancy that), but to very legal hygiene violations.
Wealthy wealthy doctors and abortionists make a ton of money in these legal clinics, but they have hygiene violations more unsanitary than the streets of poorest India.
Why?
Because abortion clinics drag you in, give you a sedative before you have a chance to think, herd you in there, do the procedure (which hurts a LOT by the way), chuck you out and give you NO follow up advice.
which is why there is such a wealth of young and old women who mysteriously die right across town at emergency clinics, with doctors citing something completely unrelated, LYING that the punctured uterus that bled out, hte internal organs dragged out without the fetus and the puncture of some other major organ, were not the reasons.
There is no money and OBVIOUSLY no safety or gratitude from the public and the government on our side. We are out there on the lines because we love..and we have enough women and men who went through abortions, told that WE were those who would hate them, who came back to us because not only do we love them, but we let them talk and be forgiven and get on with their lives, while those who pressured them to abort…never want to hear them speak of it again.
to lose a baby by miscarriage is horrendous. To lose a baby by abortion is so much worse, because the moment a ‘planned’ baby is born, it becomes apparent just WHO, not what, was killed.
WE pray for all those who abort, all those who hate us…and all those who realize that we are those who love unconditionally and will put our heart and soul into helping them turn their lives back into the beautiful gift God gave it to them to be.
With much love,
J
I am sick and tired of hearing that misplaced word pro-choicer that is being misused by the media, press, television, and movies. As a pro-life sidewalk counselor throughout years, I have personally experienced the wrath of the anger, bitterness, and hatred of these, so-called, pro-choicer for exercising my constitutional right of free speech. I have, also, been assaulted, maced, spit upon, had objects thrown at me by passing vehicles, my car vandalized, my life threatened, my graphic posters, of aborted pre-born babies, vandalized and stolen. I have, also, been jailed, accused, and sued by Planned Parenthood for things that I never did. I, sincerely consider that what I am doing, as a pro-lifer, a direct mandate from God, to use every possible means, in a lawful way, to prevent the holocaust of the pre-born babies, who are the future of our country, by being their eyes, ears, and voice. Lastly, I strongly believe that the mothers who kill their babies by abortion are no more different then the serial killers who kill their victims because they are all acts of premeditated murder of innocent human beings. If these mothers do not repent to God before they pass on, they risk a good chance of going to hell for all eternity!
Ross Foti,
Yours in Christ.
To all anti-lifers The Roe V. Wade decision which gave women the legal right to kill their innocent baby was one of the most diabolical right of the Twentieth Century since the infamous Dred Scott decision in 1857 that ruled that black people were not to be considered human and had no rights! Firstly, no women should have been given the choice or, so called,legal right to kill her innocent pre-born baby, period! Secondly, only God,the author of life, has that right! As you obviously noticed, the anti-life proponents lack any sense of compassion for the victims of the cold blooded crime of abortion! They are only in a frantic race to declassify the humanity of the fetus, the pre-born baby, so that abortion of demand will not in any way be endangered. Abortion is a direct act of premeditated murder of a human being, and it should have never become legal. Lastly, Roe V. Wade should be immediately overturned, and the American people should demand that our country return to its Christian roots upon which it was founder . Every human being should never forget that God is the one who created the world and who established the moral code, not the U.S. Supreme Count. In the end of our earthly life, each one of us will have to give God a full account of our works and deeds to determine our eternal destination, heaven or hell.
Ross Foti,
Yours Christ.
I used to believe in abortion, but when I found out about how is done I felt terrible. I wish we would all would look at what is happening world wide, and find a different solution. Based on my research from the moment of conception it is a life and it feels like all of us. We need to explore different ways to deal with our sexuality and education and how we conduct ourselves about it. I agree that we should not give birth to children and not love them, feed them or care for them. However, I don’t believe that killing is the answer, especially when we are not well informed or we think we are. I have heard different women stating how horrible they felt and continued to feel after the abortion. I ask myself this question to find the solution to this problem. Why should a wanted baby or only some babies be precious, loving, and fragile. All babies are created the same way in all races, countries, and classes. I know some babies are born ill and suffer, but then I feel it is one of the reasons abortion does not make sense to me. I hope and pray to God or the creator to give us the wisdom and heart to solve this. My heart gets very sad about this issue for the sake of the aborted babies and the women with unwanted pregnancies. We need to find a way to deal with our sexuality and creation in a different way. My respect to all of you and all life!
I support people going out to Planned Parenthood, pictures and all. Amazingly, in virtually all discussions on this topic – everyone’s hardships, and emotional traumas are discussed and argued except the innocent little baby nestled in it’s mother’s womb. Why on earth is that?! It is because we have become callous in our hearts in this “it’s all about me” generation. People who go out like Erika and Ross are being a “voice” for the voiceless, and a needed voice of conscience as well.
Response to KT
Planned Parenthood specializes in early sexualization of our teenagers to have safe sex by using birth control and if it fails, they have the option of abortion which is their big money maker!!! Teenagers are also led to believe that their sole value comes from their sexuality and told that society expects them to behave in this manner. So, KT, this is not the way to decrease abortion but to increase abortion. So much for sex education!!!
Ross Foti,
Yours in Christ.
These are some crazy-ass motherfuckers in need of mental health services!
Replying to their stupidity is such a waste, they are a waste! What a shame their parents didn’t believe in abortion…
Do these people (and I use that term loosely) not realize that Planned Parenthood provides tremendously valuable health services to women (and men; they offer cancer screenings and STD tests)? Abortions are a very small percent of Planned Parenthood’s vast health services. I have gotten cancer screenings and gynecological exams there, as they are affordable for someone without insurance, and they treat me far better than any doctors ever did.
It’s unfortunate that these grotesque individuals harass women who are already making a decision that is difficult and painful, and more importantly, private. I hope that the city is able to stop them from harassing more people.
KT did you know that a large percent of girls and women presenting for abortion are pressured into it by boyfriends, partners, parents etc. It is not their choice. Also, I would contend that the decision is a whole lot more painful for the baby than for the mother in the short term, although the mother’s emotional pain will be lifelong when she realizes what she has done to her baby. Many women are now speaking up about regretting their abortions. Check out the Silent No More campaign.
These “grotesque individuals” you talk about are actually trying to spare women from a lifetime of heartache – to persuade them not to make a choice that can’t be reversed.
It seems to me that abortion serves men more than it does women. It relieves them of their responsibilities. Then women suffer the consequences which could include: heavy or persistent bleeding, infection, damage to the cervix making it impossible to carry a baby to full term, scarring of the uterine lining therefore preventing a future pregnancy from implanting, perforation of the uterus, damage to other organs and death. Those are the short term complications. Longer term complication include depression (post abortive women have a higher rate of suicide than the general public) emotional deadening, less self confidence, sexual dysfunction, increased tendency towards anger and rage.
Help is available for any post abortive woman experiencing these symptoms or guilt. Google “Rachel’s Vineyard.” It offers a safe place where you can find help and healing and rebuild your life in a non-judgemental environment.
What a waste! If these people are really so opposed to abortion, their time would be so much better spent helping to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first place. The U.S. has one of the highest rates of abortion among developed nations (more than double that in most European countries!), largely because of our social policies that result in inadequate sex education in schools, poor access to contraceptives, and little financial and logistical support for families with children. These people could really make a difference if they dedicated themselves to addressing these important social issues, but instead they prefer to bolster their own egos by getting in people’s faces and making statements like “I can judge you.”
We counsel young people on the virtue of chastity–yes, CHASTITY. You are not seeing things.
We have so many abortions, not because of “education”, or lack thereof. It is because of the sexual permissiveness in today’s society, and the fact that our priorities are a** backwards, “I don’t want this pregnancy ruining my daughter’s college plans, let’s go to Planned Parenthood.” It’s parents saying, “They’re going to have sex anyway, so let’s get them set up.” It’s Planned Parenthood throwing birth control at you, encouraging you to have sex young. Youth are impulsive, they take ridiculous risks, or they don’t take the pill consistently. Even if they did, it’s only 90% effective, and where do they go when the pill fails…
What does it mean when you state, “…little financial and logistical support for families with children?” There is so much financial support for people with children in this society. A few weeks ago a very volatile, pro-choice person who had several abortions, and has several kids admitted this to us. What specifically are you referring to?
With all due respect, Delicate Fleur, you are judging me. The comment I made to the reporter, was, of course, taken out of context. I was referring and related to the reporter, a specific incident in which a teenager had come into the clinic with his teenage girlfriend, and when I said to her, “Good Morning, I have some information for you.” He threatened me. Later, he kept coming out of the clinic to argue with me, yelling at me, of his own volition. Planned Parenthood staff had to come out and tell him to stop. He would say things like, “Why don’t you get a job!” I replied that you don’t know anything about me, you can’t judge me. He retorted, “You’re judging me!” I responded back, “That’s because you’re going into an abortion clinic!” We actually smiled at each other at this point, since he knew I had a point; he was actually a nice kid, but now he has to live with this horrible scar. Can you imagine being a guy, and as such having an innate protective character, and knowing that your offspring has been killed and not by a murderer, or a disease, but by your own choice?
If someone is robbing a bank, I judge that they are thieves.
If someone is having an abortion, I can judge that they are killing their child.
I thank people who point out my faults that I am oblivious to; otherwise, I may continue in my error.
As the old adage goes, “Your best friend is your worst critic”.
Please stop by and speak to us about these issues in person. We are at Planned Parenthood, 1650 Valencia every Thursday AM. I look forward to speaking with you.
Erika, you’re wrong, and I trust the neighborhood to show you that you’re totally unwelcome there. You can “judge” all you want. But it will always be only your opinion.
You are a boggart (look it up). And the more people cease to fear you and your judgement- which happily will not inflect our laws on abortion and contraception, as witness the last election- the less impact your “judgement” will have. I don’t think it has much now, in any case.
Sorry Suki, you are wrong. Dr. Edward C. Green (Former Director of AIDS Prevention Research Project, Harvard) says so. Look him up if you dare. Also, as a Latino raised in the Mission I take offense to your statement. You don’t speak for me or my culture. We are not “human weeds” like Planned Parenthood’s foundress (Margaret Sanger) said. Viva el Pueblo!
Do I need to purchase a bullet-proof vest? You are clearly inciting people, a Bernal Heights gang, as it were, to do me harm! What happened to the liberal live and let live, flower children, peace & love?! The “love” must be referring to “free sex”, not spiritual, brotherly love! 🙁
Only if we agree with you on abortion (including partial birth abortion—right?), contraception (contraception causes abortion 4-15% of the time {this happens when the women engages in sexual intercourse during certain times of her cycle}, it also promotes promiscuity, abortions, & the spread of countless STD’s). Did you know that 25% of women & 20% of men have Herpes? Why do you think so many STD’s are prevalent today as opposed to the past? Do you think there would be so many if the majority of our population engaged sexual intercourse within the confines of a marriage?
All of this anger and hatred because I am speaking the TRUTH?! What specifically am I wrong about?
DO NOT CALL THE TRUTH OPINION! This is truly disgusting! In your world does truth not exist? That reminds me of Margaret Sanger’s comment about infidelity on the 1957 Mike Wallace interview. You can find this online. She is the Nazi supporter who started Planned Parenthood. She, like you, did not believe in truth. When asked about infidelity, she said she could not say it was a sin or not. Is this what you believe? Is infidelity a matter of opinion for you as well?
I looked up your word, boggart. So, if you believe in evil spirits, then you must believe in God. So, now you are resorting to name-calling, to dehumanize me; that will definitely make it easier for people to attack me. Trying to save a life is evil in your world. You are advocating, fighting to the point of eliciting a gang, so that the slaughtering of innocent pre-born babies can continue without hindrance. Do you call this good? Is this the world you live in? When there is no such thing as truth, when situational ethics run the show, chaos becomes king. Life is TRUTH! God is TRUTH!
You are right about the election—Obama won, but you will not want to live in the “Change” he is proposing. Have you heard of Agenda 21? It’s the UN plans that Obama is right on board with to change this country into a place hospitable for animals, but not for people. Read about it. I guarantee you, unless you are certifiable, you will be thoroughly disgusted with it!
Did you know that the “coat hanger abortion” is a myth? This is the argument Planned Parenthood relies on—not a single woman died from a coat hanger abortion.
Did you know that the Roe of Roe v. Wade is a practicing Catholic now? She admitted that she fabricated the story of being raped, along with many other fabrications. She now works tirelessly to get the message out: ABORTION HURTS WOMEN! She has asked the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Did you know that Planned Parenthood consistently resists state measures that would make their centers safer by requiring them to conform to the same safety standards as other surgical centers—standards which in most states are not imposed on abortion facilities, a woman is truly putting her life in her hands going to Planned Parenthood?
If you don’t have money, or insurance, and this is why you go to Planned Parenthood; namely, to get free services/contraceptives, you would definitely qualify for a county hospital program. Why support a place that was founded by a prime promoter of eugenics? A place that to this day exploits the poor & minorities by offering free pap smears & contraception, but pulls you for their money maker when the pill fails. They rely on the slaughtering of pre-born babies for the bulk of their profit. Have you heard of Natural Family Planning? It is not the Rhythm Method. NFP methods are progressive. That is, they are based on the day -to-day observations of the naturally occurring signs & symptoms of the fertile & infertile phases of the menstrual cycle. No drugs, devices are used. Why should a woman take a hormone that is a group one carcinogen, in her body for 30 days, all year, when she is only fertile for 5 days of the month, tops? Does this make any sense to you? Are you seeing the picture here? This country is very much controlled by the pharmaceutical industry! We don’t need any more xenoestrogens in the environment. Our men have half the testosterone in their systems as men from 100 years ago. This is because the synthetic estrogen (xenoestrogens) pollutes our water system, the air we breathe–we can’t get away from it! NFP reflects the dignity of the human person within the context of marriage and family life, promotes openness to life, and recognizes the value of the child. By respecting the love-giving and live-giving natures of marriage, NFP can enrich the bond between husband & wife.
Try to listen, Suki, TRY…
First of all, It’s a popular misconception that increased use of contraceptives will reduce the number of abortions. See the study “Trends in the use of contraceptive methods and voluntary interruption of pregnancy in the Spanish population during 1997-2007” published in Contraception journal Jan 2011, which showed a correlation between increased access to contraception and increased abortion rates.
Second, many pro-lifers are very generous in contributing to poverty issues. Why do you think trying to to counsel abortion-bound women and addressing poverty issues are mutually exclusive?
Third, pro-life people are not judging the person (i.e., their culpability or the state of their soul), rather, they are judging their actions (i.e., killing their child.)
Lastly, it’s not valid to say to people “you shouldn’t be doing this good thing, you should be doing this other good thing.” That’s like the people who told Mother Teresa that she shouldn’t be helping the poor in India, she should have been addressing the root causes of poverty in India. But in any big issue there’s always many aspects to work on and it takes people working on each of the aspects to address the issue.
Ramon, I cannot understand why you say that my response to your comment shows you my arrogance! If I may say, my response to your comment was truthful, sincere, and civil. I definitely had no intention to be arrogant in any way but to be honest, sincere, and truthful in the regards to the negatives of abortion!
You, also. mention in your comment that there is in various websites that have opposite viewpoints. Yes, I do not denied that, but must of the latest research are leaning towards the negatives of abortion! If I were a women, I definitely would not take the chance of ending up with any of the negatives of abortion!
You also said in your comment that I have to be amenable to engage in meaningful dialogue with the people whom I criticize. Well, first I do not go to the abortion clinic to criticize the patients. Rather, I make the biggest effort to dialogue with the patients who intend to have an abortion to try my best to persuade them not have an abortion with the resources that I have.
Lastly, if I may say, in your comments, you seem to have a chip on your shoulder and on the attack towards me. I think that you are suffering with anger, hatred, and bitterness, and it is clouding your thinking. You have to try to make a big effort to stick to the subject!!
Ross Foti,
Yours in Christ.
Ross Foti is providing medical advice on the “nagatives” of abortion. And his medical qualifications are…Google?
And the “positives” of abortion are??!
One dead, one wounded.
From the minute you’re pregnant, you are a mother. Abortion just makes you the mother of a dead baby.
Ramon states in his response that if I could back up medical proof on the nagatives of abortion. Yes, the patients simply could google search it on the computer and get the information on its nagatives.
Ross Foti,
Yours in Christ.
No, Mr.; Foti, I will find at least as many Websites that negate everything you state. Please provide us with neutral, unbiased sites to which we can refer. Your response to my comment only serves to show your arrogance. Would you ever be amenable to engage in meaningful dialogue with the people whom you criticize in the name of Christ? And, if you indeed have a personal telephone to Christ and use it to talk to him, why don’t you share it with everyone else?
Ramon, again, research the information instead of labeling and dismissing it. Who knows, it might be true? Also, please refrain from the religious bigotry. This is a discussion about abortion not your religious intolerance.
Hi, my name is Ross Foti and, I am a pro-life activist. I have been doing pro-life work for over twenty years. I am currenly doing pro-life work at Planned Parenthood on Valencia ST. My main point in doing pro-life work is to inform,educate, and council. I feel that every women has the right to be fully informed in regards to abortion and its nagatives!
Its nagatives are, and have been medically proven, that abortion in many cases causes breast cancer, colon cancer, cervical cancer, blood clots, and heart attacks! This I consider very important for a women to know before they think abort having an abortion. I could assure you that Planned Parenthood will not offer their patients this kind of important information that they deserve to have. This would give patients the opportunity to research it for themselves if its true or force.
Lastly, I want you to know that my sincere aim is to help the patients that go to the abortion clinic and not to harass them!!! Instead, I have been continuously harass, threaten, and assaulted. The anti-lifers have vandalized my graphic signs and stolen some of them. They also stole a telvison set that I used to show a real abortion on video. So much for their free speech!
Ross Foti,
Yours in Christ.
Can you back up the medical claims that you make? Will you please post neutral (ie, unbiased) links to websites that discuss your statistics in a reasonable and non-anti-choice way?
And, your first paragraph seems to be quite misleading. A reader might assume that you work for Planned Parenthood. However, I checked with them to find out whether you are an employee (you can verify this by requesting a subpoena of their call logs) and their response was negative.
He (Foti) is the protester mentioned in the article…
Ramon, you need to pay more attention to detail and ACTUALLY read the article. That would be a helpful start.
If you’re looking for pro-abortion information then you will get pro-abortion information. You don’t need a rocket scientist to figure that out. Now if you really have an open mind then you’ll research the other side as well, unless you’re afraid to.
Someone who is semi-literate has no business commenting on anything medical. You don’t need a T.V. If you played a video of any surgery, it would be revolting to most people and have associated risks like ones you list. . No one’s going to be impressed by your video. You are stupid.
Cat, your confrontational and intolerant remarks show how really hateful you are. If you want to have an open discussion then discuss the issues. If not, then please don’t post your hateful comments.
These people are breaking both the spirit and the letter of the law. Why aren’t they under arrest?
Among the things that make me cringe is when the press refers to these people as “pro life.” Let’s call them what they really are: anti-choice. They do not do anything once a child is born. In fact, they don’t even care.thus, they do not deserve such a generous title
Very true
Hello Everyone,
I used to be pro-choice. I know exactly how you feel. I used to say to myself, “They call themselves pro-life when they don’t care about women’s rights.” What I learned is a life is a life. These babies are separate beings–genetically unique from his or her mother; they are not body parts–if you take another’s life you are going against the basic principle a society needs to adhere to–to be a community. You don’t see the slippery slope here? You don’t have to be religious to see this. Life is a continuum: zygote, embryo, fetus, baby, toddler, child, teenager, adult, elderly adult. To take a life because of fear is unnecessary, and because of inconvenience is so wrong. Aren’t you glad your mother didn’t abort you?!
We provide support for women in crisis. 60% of women that have abortions are coerced by parents and/or boyfriends. We offer another choice for them–life! 🙂 We have a packet of information that has referrals to local pregnancy centers. These centers offer counseling, testing, material support, and case management. If you Google: Alpha Pregnancy Center, in SF, you will get a better idea of the very caring people we refer them to. If the mother had an abortion, we also refer them to places to heal, emotionally & spiritually. I give them my number.
Abortion hurts women. Here are some of the risks: Depression, suicidal thoughts, suicide, alcohol & drug abuse, child abuse (of the children they have),difficulty in becoming pregnant in the future, etopic pregnancy, breast cancer (Google: Chris Kahlenborn, M.D.), perforation of the uterus, hemerroging, infection, convulsion, cervical laceration, uterine rupture & death.
A few weeks ago, I met a lady in her sixties who was deeply moved by our signs. She is still suffering from PTSD from her abortion in her youth, and described witnessing the pieces of her baby going into a jar! We tell women that each day is a new day–what seems like a crisis now, can change tomorrow, afterall she has about six months. NO WOMEN REGRETS KEEPING HER BABY. We also counsel them that relinquishing their baby to a loving home is a selfless option, and with open adoption they can stay in contact with him/her.
Even if you are non-religious, natural law dictates that if you don’t want to be killed, don’t kill. It’s important to try to listen to each other. I used to have knee-jerk negative reactions to pro-lifers, I learned they were right. When I see a woman walking into a Planned Parenthood, it’s as if they’re walking into a burning building. This is why I protest at Planned Parenthood.
I am pro-life AND I support all women’s legal right to choose reproductive freedom. I also support Ms. Hathaway’s right to fee speech. However, she is not entitled to disseminate false information, lies or to force her religious beliefs on anyone.
Satan is not involved. Abortion does not cause breast cancer. And it is not terrorism. Abortion is a legal medical procedure chosen by many women and men for all kinds of reasons. As the gentleman in the article noted, “you don’t know what I (or anyone else) am” and why they are at Planned Parenthood.
Please return home to care for all of the children you have adopted and leave the medical professionals at Planned Parenthood to provide medical advice and assistance to women and families in need.
Hello Dara,
Was it a typo when you stated you were “Pro-Life”? What about my comments are false information? You need to back up your allegations.
Everyone: Google: Senomyx. In my reply to Ramon I indicated that we are heading down a slippery slope by murdering our innocent children. Last week, a man approached me and told me to Google: SENOMYX. He said that a biotech company is presently experimenting on using the kidneys of aborted fetuses for food seasoning. All I can say is, “Dont drink Pepsi! (Unless you think cannabalism is A-Okay(!)
Evil, begets evil–it escalates.
Putting this horrifying matter aside, I clearly stated: Even if you are non-religious, natural law dictates that if you don’t want to be killed, don’t kill. Yet, you made the statement that I was forcing my religion on others.
We have a right, as you stated, but reneged on, to free speech, if we want to have a sign saying, SATAN’S SACRIFICE, that’s our right!
Did you look up the article (Chris Kahlenborn, M.D.) I referred to, before stating that abortion does not cause breast cancer? Of course you didn’t!
When you state, “Abortion is a legal medical procedure chosen by many women…” Are you saying that anything that is legal is okay? Are you saying that man’s law (this is not God’s Law [Thou Shalt Not Kill]) is perfect? Did you know that what Hitler did during the Holocaust was legal? Is this how you deem what can and cannot be done in a society? Did you know that modern law is based on the Ten Commandments? We are moving away from them, and we are already suffering the consequences of doing this (54 million babies aborted since Roe v. Wade, same sex marriage, promiscuity, universal usury {private and public sectors}).
Abortion is Terrorism, but instead of Al-Qaida doing it to us, were doing it to ourselves: the most vulnerable and innocent among us, are cut into pieces and vacuumed into a jar!
The gentleman that you refer to, flipped me off, (numerous men like to corral their girlfriends into the clinic without any hindrances) later, I asked him, “You don’t want to be a father?” His response is the trite one we always hear, “You can’t judge me.” Actually I can. When you’re walking your girlfriend into a clinic for an abortion, because you want to have fun, but don’t want to pay any price, when your pleasure means sacrificing and innocent life, Oh yes, I CAN JUDGE YOU!
Wake up Dara! No matter what the law says, women who are pro-choice are choosing to kill their baby. An innocent life. That is terrorism. The womb should be the safest place in the world and yet it has become the most dangerous. I don’t know of any other place where an innocent person can be torn limb from limb. The babies are a sacrifice for satan.And by the way, there is a ton of research on the web relating to the link between abortion and breast cancer. Just connect the dots; as abortions have increased, so has the incidence of breast cancer.
You are absolutely wrong when you say that “NO WOMEN [sic] REGRETS KEEPING HER BABY.”
My child was born with a severe medical condition that was diagnosed prenatally. We were told that he would require a series of invasive surgeries and other medical procedures in order to survive and were urged to consider termination. I reached out online to other parents of children with this disorder and two different women told me that their children had gone through multiple painful procedures in their short lives before dying and that they wished they had chose termination, as it would have prevented their children going through a lot of suffering.
Ultimately, that is not the route we chose, and although my child has been through a lot, he is one of the lucky ones that has a good quality of life. But as someone who has walked in those shoes, I would NEVER judge someone who made a different choice. Please leave the judgment to the all-knowing.
First, I’d like to say, I’m so glad you chose life! That was a wise and good choice! 🙂
My heart goes out to those parents you found online who suffered watching their infant suffer and in the end, die. It is heartbreaking, and their grief must be beyond measure, especially since they had hoped he/she may live. But they would have been wrong to abort their baby to “save it from suffering”. God only gives us what we can handle; God only gave that baby what it could handle. I think their ennormous grief has a lot to do with the comment they made. The unfortunate thing about the irreligious is they have extreme difficulty converting their negative experiences into positive energy–lasting peace. Without God, peace, if experienced at all, is a fleeting thing.
You should judge because those who have chosen to have abortions have taken a life. They can redeem themselves, but if all of society says it’s okay why would they? On Planned Parenthood’s website, they state: 1 out of 3 women have an abortion by the time they reach 45. (What they’re really saying is: NO BIG WHOOP(!)) But they will suffer the horrible consequences which I listed on my reply to Ramon.
You stated, “Please leave the judgment to the all-knowing.” The all-knowing says, “LET IT LIVE (Thou Shalt Not Kill)!” What kind of God do you believe in?
Lastly, what does this mean then, for us, that we cannot judge people who kill innocent babies, but we can kill innocent babies? Is this the society you so desire?
If being pro choice means being able to choose the death of a small person that doesn’t seem like a very good choice to make.
What a ridiculous comment to make” that these people don’t even care” they are out there everyday trying to save tiny lives. Now that’s caring. The most unnatural thing an expectant mother can choose to do is take the life of her unborn child. Think about the real truth of what’s takes place at a planned parenthood everyday. Lives are ended.
People who live in this neighborhood should make their displeasure felt.
Dennis Herrera (who is absolutely pro choice-a great city attorney) office can be reached at (415) 554-4700.
His address is:
Office of the City Attorney
City Hall, Room 234
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102-4682
Freedom of speech does not entitle the speaker to an audience. In particular, not an unwilling audience.
Their freedom of speech ends at their lips – not at my ears. They are not entitled to make the public or patients their targets – that exceeds freedom of speech and becomes harassment.
Robert, that comment makes not sense what so ever. They are in a public area free to speak as the wish. The mothers and fathers going in to pay someone to end the lives of their pre-born children do not have stop and listen.
If this position were true then free speech could only be speech uttered in an empty room. The chance of it reaching unwilling ears would be virtually guaranteed in any other setting.
I believe that freedom of speech means just that and can occur in any venue but also anyone within earshot is perfectly free to pass on ignoring the speech and cannot be coerced into staying to hear it in full.