​Red River Women’s Clinic under siege

By Tom Bixby

tom@hpr1.com

On August 26, 2015, an anti-choice protester drove her car up onto the sidewalk in front of the Red River Women’s Clinic, and tried unsuccessfully to get into the clinic. “Had she had full access to the building,” said Director Tammi Kromenaker, who knows?...”

How has the clinic prepared for 40 Days for Life, the largest anti-choice mobilization in history, and its numerous protesters?

High Plains Reader: In the recent BBC documentary, you said that the protesters’ aggressiveness and violence have gotten worse.

Tammi Kromenaker: Yes, that’s true. We’ve had to call the police more in the last probably three months than in the last three years. Their behavior has gotten worse and more aggressive. I do believe that the folks who are behind 40 Days for Life and are the national leaders -- when they come to visit, they see these nice, kind, non-aggressive folks; but when cameras aren’t running and the national leaders are not watching, their behavior is often very different. We had a local reporter who watched video with me from our security footage, and she said “Whoa, it’s way different than when I was out there.”

The protesters are exercising their First Amendment free speech rights, which we all have. And I don’t want that impinged on. However, when a patient says no, no thank you, or they get aggressive, or they try to stop a woman from walking in, or they block her way, that’s the part I have a problem with. Everybody is entitled to state their opinion on the city sidewalk.

The clinic conducted two training sessions for volunteer escorts, on September 15 and 20. I counted 34 women and 11 men. Escorts are told not to argue with protesters or speak to them. “Think of them as ghosts,” said Kromenaker.

HPR: From your escort manual: “Talk to patients as a distraction when appropriate.” Okay, pretend I’m a greeter escort approaching a patient.

“Hi, I’m with the clinic. Can I show you the way to the entrance? We have some protesters today, but don’t worry, you don’t have to talk to them.” Then I assume the teapot position, stick my elbows out for the patient and companion to put their arms through.

TK: If they want to. And that is totally up to each escort. You heard [clinic escort trainer] Warren say he won’t do that. The thing I emphasize in the training is I don’t want someone holding the patient and looking as if they are pushing her in, whereas when an escort can offer her their arm, then the patient can take that and be led rather than being pushed.

HPR: That’sa barrier for me because I’m shy. I assume the teapot position and the patient says “Are you doing a folk dance? Is that a part of your job?”

TK: You watch her body language. Sometimes patients put their hoods over their heads and their faces down, and then you might say, “Did you want to hold onto my elbow and I’ll guide you there? Some patients are like oh my god, and they are scared for their life. They tell us they think the protesters have weapons and are going to try and harm them as they come in; so anything that an escort is comfortable doing...each patient is different...she could be stressed out, and she’s just driven here, and maybe got lost and couldn’t find parking.

As the patient makes her way to the entrance, protesters shout at her. “You could be celebrating a birthday next year.” “No man will ever love you again.” “You’ll regret this for the rest of your life.” “Mommy, mommy, please don’t kill me.” “Six women died in there.” “The doctor will rape you.” “Abortions are very painful.” “You won’t be able to have children after this.” “If you go in, they won’t let you out.” “Let me adopt your baby, you bitch.”

HPR: I thought if the patient really looked like she wanted to enter, but then she somehow turned around, the escort would feel bad, like they’d failed. Warren said it’s not like that, they can back off, they can do what they want. He said, though, there was one time he felt bad. He was out of position, in front of the patient, and that enabled a protester to engage her in conversation. So there’s this huge importance of position. Don’t get between the patient and her companion. Don’t get in front of the patient.

TK: The first year we had escorts [2008], we had this training manual, and then the first day -- nobody’d ever done it -- and people fell into natural formation, creating this nice bubble around the patient as she walked in, one person on each side, one in front and one in back. But if a patient wants to stop and talk to one of the protesters, the escorts always respect the patient’s autonomy, and let her decide where she goes.

HPR: Two years ago, Massachusetts had a 35-foot buffer zone in front of clinic entrances, and a federal court struck it down. Is that when you stationed the two escorts at the door, one on either side?

TK: We’ve never had a buffer zone here in Fargo. Since the beginning of 40 Days for Life, we’ve encouraged escorts to take the last two spots as the patient comes in. What I would like is the last thing that she sees is the escort vest, a smiling, happy face, a welcoming face, rather than having to deal with the protesters. But that’s all a matter of who gets there and who stands there, because it is a public sidewalk. If protesters position themselves there, there’s nothing we can do about it.

HPR: One escort said the protesters are bullies and like to target patients who appear to be weak, scared, and very young.

TK: The protesters target folks that -- English isn’t their first language -- who may not understand what’s going on -- ‘Oh yes, kind sir, you’re with the clinic, let me talk to you.’ They don’t realize that maybe that person who’s talking at them is trying to dissuade them from coming in. And they’re just being nice compliant folks. That’s what we have seen the most of.

HPR: How did you get started in this?

TK: I took a Women’s Studies class, and the instructor later campaigned, ran for mayor in Moorhead...I worked with her outside of the classroom. She had worked at a previous clinic that was here in Fargo, and it was getting close to graduation. I wanted to work in something that would use my Social Work degree and feminism, and in Fargo-Moorhead there are not a lot of options for that. She asked if I’d be interested in working at the Women’s Clinic and I said yes.

HPR: You’d rather not name her?

TK: Oh, yes, Cindy Palmer. She passed away [in 2004, age 52]. And she actually called that clinic and I was hired without even having to interview. Cindy’s word was good enough to get me in the door and I started working as a part-time patient educator in 1993.

HPR: You’re in danger. I’m talking about the murder of Dr. George Tiller, and the three murders in Colorado Springs last November. Are your security measures a response to that?

TK: We’ve known since the day we opened that women’s reproductive centers and abortion clinics are targets of folks who oppose the care that we offer. Not a lot has changed about our security. We consult with the National Abortion Federation as part of our membership. The only thing that’s changed is doing the formal program with escorts. We didn’t start that until 2008. It wasn’t until we’d been here ten years that we needed that additional community help.

We purposely chose this location. We knew there was sidewalk, we knew there would be protesters out there. We didn’t want to be a fortress somewhere far away. A part of our mission is to reduce the stigma of abortion, and say “We’re here. We’re part of the community, like any other healthcare provider in this community, and we just want to be treated equally.

HPR: One escort said she gets nervous about every new protester, especially if they’re not affiliated with the regulars.

TK: Exactly. It is true, it is the people you’ve never seen before, he’s got his hood up and is acting shady, and lurking about, and maybe even your regular folks don’t know him or aren’t interacting with him, and you see them get their own bad vibes, that’s the one you want to keep a closer eye on.

But we need to keep an eye on all of them. These regulars live in our community, we know most of their names. You never know -- somebody who appears to be okay -- you never know what can set them off. The man who killed Dr. Tiller was a regular protester in Wichita, known to them, and something set him off. And last fall, the woman who drove her car up onto the sidewalk, and attempted to get into the building, was a known protester.

In 1993, Dr. David Gunn, an obstetrician and gynecologist, was murdered during a protest in Pensacola, Florida. In 1997, Dr. JackFainman was shot and severely wounded in front of his house in Winnipeg, ending his career. In 1998, Dr. Barnett Slepian was killed in the kitchen of his home, near Buffalo, New York. In 2009, Dr. George Tiller was murdered during a service at Reformation Lutheran church in Wichita, Kansas, where he was serving as an usher.

HPR: Your site coordinator said that in all the time she’s been here, she’s had to call the police maybe five times.

TK: I’ve had to call the police many more times than that. I called the police in June of this year, three weeks in a row, on a protester who was each week getting more and more aggressive. We watched her behavior for a couple weeks, we told her what she could and couldn’t do. She was getting in front of patients, standing between JL Beers and the light pole to block the sidewalk, so that a patient and her partner had to go into the street to go around her.

HPR: Have you received any threats, written or spoken?

TK: I have files of letters we get. Without compromising security or ongoing investigations, we have received many phone calls, emails, and --

HPR: You mean death threats.

TK: No. Our doctors have received threats, and there certainly have been threats made to the clinic over the years. Many of them, it’s a letter you receive that has no return address, nothing traceable, not like Tom Bixby sends a letter saying --

Caitlin Ross: -- ‘You better look out,’ postmark Fargo on the 23rd! (laughter)

HPR: There were a lot of counter-protesters out there last year; in October, Nik Severson, who wore a Jesus costume, and assaulted a man who spat on him.

TK: There are people who feel strongly about the issue on both sides, and we certainly don’t want anybody’s free speech to be infringed on. But when we’re seeing patients, we don’t want a circus out in front. Thankfully I was able to connect and communicate with Nik and ask him to think about his sister, his mother, his girlfriend -- what would he want her experience to be like? And he decided to comply with my request, and not do judo or dress up as Jesus.

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[Editor’s note: this interview has been edited for length and clarity]