Our Opinion/Abortion Counter protests getting out of hand

Hypocrisy exposed, time to move on

There’s been a lot of talk in the community both in social media and at local watering holes about a counter protester who was going after the hypocrisy of those participating in the 40 Days For Life campaign at the Red River Women’s Clinic in Fargo, North Dakota’s one and only abortion clinic in the state.

Those protesters from the 40 Days for Life campaign say they want to “protect the innocent” yet never mind that one of them was convicted of raping an adult family member and forced to register as a sex offender. What about the innocence of the person he raped? Does that not deserve to be protected? Severson’s counter protest helped reveal all this because the convicted rapist complained about his presence and someone ran his record. The hypocrisy was proven there. End of story yet like most things don’t end there.

Quick aside, if the Red River Women’s Clinic was closed as the 40 Days for Lifers want and there were no abortions in the state, abortions would not end in North Dakota. They just wouldn’t be done and administered in a safe, medical environment. The 40 Days for Life campaign will never end abortion in North Dakota, it would just push it to back alleys and warehouses. It’s ridiculous that some women have to drive hundreds of miles for something that is legal in the United States.

Back the local brouhaha, in a culmination of the counter protest this past weekend, the counter protester, Nik Severson dressed as Jesus, was spat upon and judo kicked the man who spat upon him, knocking him to the ground. This was the worst fears of those who work at the clinic rising tensions and confrontations resulting in a physical confrontation. Severson or Judo Jesus as he’s now called is being charged with disorderly conduct as is the man who spat upon him, Tyson Kuznia. Prosecutors were right to charge both of them, they were originally considering misdemeanor assault charges against Severson but decided against it. Violence is never the answer to anything, even when provoked. All of this is turning into quite the circus. Some have noted that spitting upon law enforcement is assault with a deadly weapon and perhaps laws should be changed so that applies to everyone. The way to go about that is to change the laws on the books if you want to make that your crusade.

Abortion is never an easy subject to discuss and there is no question that the constant presence of the protestors at the abortion clinic every fall downtown has been a source of frustration to many as they try to go about their daily business when these people just clearly need to let it go. Many of us have voiced that frustration at them and wanted to challenge them on subjects such as women’s rights. But there is a time and place for everything. Severson has made his points but he also lost many of us with anti-feminist rants like the only thing worse than a Christian is a feminist causing many to wonder just what his goals are. It’s unfortunate he lost his job but maybe he should’ve thought of that before he threw another man to the ground.

Paramount in all of this is safety of the clinic’s patients and what they want and what the staff of the clinic wants. They deal with enough stress as it is getting an abortion and on top dealing with people protesting them for making legal choices about what to do with their bodies. If the Red River Women’s Clinic says your actions aren’t helping matters and you continue to do them, you become part of the problem. Enough already. If your goal was to expose hypocrisy among the protesters, mission accomplished. Anyone else wishing to continue to fight that goal can volunteer as an escort at the clinic to help women enter safely when there are protesters. You can also donate money to their legal defense fund fighting laws trying to shut them down. Letting this clinic function safely and effectively without police constantly be called in front of it is one of the best things we can do so it can remain open.