Do you wear a bullet-proof vest to work everyday? Well, some abortion clinic workers do.

Back in the late 1970s I worked in an abortion clinic that was fire-bombed by an anti-choice zealot. I wasn’t scheduled to  work that day. I arrived at the scene immediately after a co-worker telephoned me with the news.

Clinic staff stood together on the sidewalk watching the firefighters put out the blaze numb but determined we’d fight back.  No one was killed. Staff acted swiftly to get everyone out of the building. Most of the injuries suffered were invisible.

We quickly moved clinic operations to a location about 30 miles away. This was inconvenient and disruptive to the staff and people we served. There was limited complaining and a lot of collective action to make this work. Women counted on us.

Since then there has been an organized campaign by anti-choice extremists resulting in physicians and clinic workers being murdered; more abortion clinics bombed, burned down, invaded, and blockaded; and patients persistently being harassed and intimidated.

Ever wonder how the people who work in abortion clinics in our country are dealing with the violence and threat of violence in their lives on a day-to-day basis?