Throughout the country, it is common to see anti-abortion protesters outside of clinics harassing women who are seeking medical treatment and the doctors who provide it.   Unfortunately, these anti-abortion protests are often very effective in scaring away patients and medical staff.  In an interesting turn of tables pro-choice activists decided to adapt the strategy for themselves by protesting in front of a Wichita crisis pregnancy center (CPC).

As part of an Abortion Rights Freedom ride which is touring the country, activists staged a protest outside of the A Better Choice crisis pregnancy center in Wichita.  Crisis pregnancy centers are known for disseminating false, biased information with the goal of stopping women from getting abortions.  The pro-choice activists stood outside A Better Choice with signs saying things like “Lies” and “Stop Forced Motherhood.”

After enduring so much harassment from the anti-choice groups, protesting in front of one of their facilities must have felt great simply because of the revenge factor.  However, it is debatable whether it is smart to fight fire with fire.

As we have seen in the past when pro-choice activists organize counter-protests in front of abortion clinics, the protests only rile up the anti-choicers even more.  Yet, protesting crisis pregnancy centers is a completely different issue than counter-rallies at abortion clinics.   The protests very well could increase awareness about the fact that CPCs are run by biased anti-abortion groups.   At the very least, it could inform the women who are entering the CPC that day.  In this Wichita case though, this didn’t happen because the activists staged their protest on a day when the CPC wasn’t even open.

Whether or not protesting is the right tactic for pro-choice activists is unclear.  However, what is clear is that pro-choice activists need to start getting more creative with their campaigns.  Otherwise, the anti-choice groups will continue to succeed at tearing away at women’s rights with their aggressive tactics of harassment and lies.