Both abortion mills were full yesterday. Patrick said that at Summit most people going in would not even acknowledge his presence. At American Family Planning, the situation was different. First two Hispanic women arrived, but they immediately identified themselves as “supporters.” Only a few minutes after their arrival, another Hispanic woman approached–this one headed into the abortion mill. The first two, apparently, knew her, and had come specifically to cut her off from going in. One of them, Theresa, actually blocked the door while the other, Laura, pleaded with their friend not to kill the child. The friend, though, was determined to get inside, so Theresa finally stepped away from the door.
Meanwhile, Janice had arrived. We have been talking to Janice on the phone for several days. We also knew that she might show up that morning. After she had gone in and done her initial paperwork, she came back out to smoke and talk with us. She is living with her boyfriend, the father of her 8 year-old daughter, but is now pregnant by another man. She was sure her boyfriend would kick her out, which would mean that she would be separated from her daughter, since her boyfriend has full custody. We assured her that we would help her find a place to stay, that we could help her start all over again. She did leave after about an hour, first giving us her address and agreeing that we could visit her that afternoon.
Theresa and Laura, meanwhile, had decided to take turns going into the abortuary in order to talk with their friend inside. I was surprised that they were able to keep this up almost for an hour before they were threatened with arrest. Finally, calling through the door, thay told their friend that they were leaving in order to find her father and tell him what was going on. When she failed to emerge, I recommended to Alicia that she go with Laura to find the father.
Alicia took the lead from there. Arriving at the house, the door was opened by two small children who told her that the father was not at home. For some reason, ALicia told them that he was home, that they had to go look for him. They did so, and found that he was in the back yard raking leaves. He came out to the front to see these two women standing there, neither of whom was known to him. Laura’s nerve then broke; she began pleading with Alicia not to tell the father, so frightened now that her arms were shaking. Alicia, however, was determined. She asked the father how many children he had, how many grandchildren. She asked him if any of his daughters had ever become pregnant before marriage. He said yes, but they were now married. Satisfied that this patriarch was a benevolent family man, not the monster that Laura imagined, Alicia told him that one of his younger daughters was pregnant, and at that moment she was at the abortion mill. She told him that she could take him to the place. But he said no; and, in tears now, he begaan to stumble back up the front steps. “Tell my daughter,” he said, “not to do it.”
Back at the abortuary, Chris had been talking to the boyfriend of one of the clients. He was a very large man, and he initially tried to intimidate Chris. Chris kept right on, though, and eventually the man quieted down, and to a certain extent there was a conversation going on between them. He then went back into the abortuary, soon coming back out with his friend. They walked off down the street. She was crying. They went about two blocks, then disappeared. I thought I would not see them again that morning, but after about 20 minutes she came back down the sidewalk, walking by herself this time, and she re-entered the clinic. He showed up again in another ten or fifteen minutes, carrying a take-out package from the coney island restaurant. After the conversation with Chris, after having witnessed the visible distress of his girlfriend, all he had to say was, “I got to sit down and have me something to eat.”
We were in Detroit another three hours after our time at the abortuary. There were several turn-aways last week. We made trips to downtown, to Mexican town, to the west side and to Taylor. An exhausting day, all in all.
