Episode 11 Echo on Abortion Clinics, Threats and Access

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Outline:

S: This is Sprout

C: and this is Charyan, and we are the hosts of Molotov Now! on The Channel Zero Podcast Network, thank you for joining us on this episode of the podcast.

S: if you like what we do here and want to support it, you can do that by going to linktr.ee/al1312 and clicking donate, or scrolling to the bottom for Patreon.

C: Today on the podcast we have Echo, an organizer in the world of abortion rights and healthcare access to talk to us about the challenges facing abortion clinics and patients, as well as concrete actions you can take to help those in your community with accessing safe abortions.

S: We also have an after action report from RiotDad on the ground level actions happening around the PNW right now, supporting the clinics and pushing back against the anti abortion protestors.

C: We have some upcoming events as well as local news and our radical news roundup to share next but first, a message from our sponsor.

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The Communique Vol 8:

Upcoming Events:

There is a Mutual Aid Fair @ Cal Anderson Oct

On the evening of Oct 28 there is a spooky cover show fundraiser at the Vera Project fundraising for Free Food Wednesdays (aka Cal Grill)

Radical zine fair + benefit show for Kitsap FNB Nov 11 @ The Charleston in Bremerton

Come out to support The Blackflower Collective at their 2nd Comrades with Benefits Show Series. Running from October to March.

Oct 14th | The Mortuary 414 Franklin St SE, Olympia: The Autocratic$, Stoned Evergreen Travelers, Schmutzhund, Chance of Ghosts, Wilting, and The Stuntmen. Join them for some freaky deaky punk music and support low income housing and land projects on the Harbor.

Local News:

Going into winter, City of Aberdeen destroys alternative shelters built by campers

Wednesday Sept 27 the City of Aberdeen worked with Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) in order to demolish the structures the homeless residents had previously built, or assembled to make themselves homes on State Street. The campers have been steadily building and preparing their homes for another winter without a cold weather shelter, since Aberdeen refuses to allow them in its City limits. They spent the entire last year finding, hauling, nailing, and tarping whatever building materials they could get their hands on in order to make shelters that meet their needs in terms of space and warmth. The City chose the beginning of winter to come in and smash it all with excavators and throw it into dump trucks.

The campers were notified last week that this would be happening to them, and were only given a few days to move their belongings, and no real place to move them too while waiting for the City sweep.

The 8th volume of The Communique  shared a moving story from a couple who lives at the camp that was swept and mentioned that everyone from campers, to City workers, to police, to social service workers expressed disgust at the action the City was taking, yet none provided any real form of resistance. For example, helping the campers learn their legal rights in situations like these, rights that afford them the same ability to deny entry to their home without a warrant for entry. No one seems prepared to resist these sweeps, so much as assist them and then complain about the action they themselves are involved in carrying out.

Cleaning up Aberdeen

Unsurprisingly, after the last three to five years of the issue being pushed by hate groups like Save Our Aberdeen Please (SOAP) trash is the No. 1 concern facing Aberdeen, according to the city of Aberdeen, its residents, business owners, unhoused community, the general public and people who shop within the city.

This focus on trash is the result of a directed campaign by local hate groups and politicians to demonize the extreme poverty and difficulty living in a tent under the bridge. While denying these people shelter they will complain about the lack of shelter and point to the accumulation of trash at the local encampments as a sign that the homeless are a huge money sink.

Recently the City began to publish the cost of City wide clean ups, posting them publicly for all to see, with the implication that the entire cost is for the two encampments under the Chehalis River Bridge. These reports are also thanks to anti homeless politicians such as Kacey Ann Morrison. These reports are used to further blame the homeless for the building costs facing the City, instead of realizing that the City is the very reason these costs exist in the first place and blaming them.

They even say that it is because of the trash accumulation that the City now realizes it needs a shelter. Not because of the lives lost in the years they haven’t had one, but because businesses in town might have to deal with trash, or the monetary cost of tossing all the garbage dumped down there. It couldn’t be clearer who and what these people actually care about and it isn’t trash and it isn’t the unhoused.

The newsletter also shares some reporting from The Daily World, who talked to one of the City workers and his words are illuminating. Go check it out.

After years of failures, Grays Harbor County re-creates homeless housing task force

The Grays Harbor County Board of Commissioners voted this month to establish a state-required homeless housing task force to provide recommendations and advice on future homeless initiatives and plans. As the 2/3rds fascist board selects the members we can guess that they will stock the task force with cronies and obstructionists. The State mandates that all counties create a homeless housing task force in order to develop a five year homeless housing plan, something Grays Harbor County previously fulfilled through the Health and Human Services Advisory Board, which drafted the most recent Five Year Plan to Address Unmet Housing Needs, published in 2019. But that board was put on pause during the COVID pandemic “due to diminished public health changing requirements for county boards of health,” according to Cassie Lentz, healthy places coordinator for Grays Harbor County Public Health.

The County has failed to meet the basic goals of making homelessness rare, brief, and one-time. The newsletter’s graphic comes from the report published in 2019 that outlines the performance benchmarks for the County.

The most recent performance report from the County Health Department shows how out of line with reality these paltry benchmarks were. Instead of making homelessness more rare by reducing the number of estimated unserved literally homeless households to 172 by 2021, we can see that even by 2022 the number has, in fact, risen to 415. The average length of time a household was homeless has stretched to an astonishing 536 days, a far cry from the estimated 60 days of the original report. This means that the people who were homeless when the original report was filed are likely still experiencing homelessness and have been this entire time. The percentage of households served who actually ended up moving to permanent housing went down to 76%, as opposed to the predicted rise to 80%. Meaning that in all aspects this county has failed its homeless population.

The newsletter details some problematic specifics of the law requring this task force, and the implications of how it may be stocked, saying, the board will be made up of members who have been recommended for the position by the commissioners, meaning that if they want to stock the board with business and real estate interests, then that is what we will see.

Despite denying multiple shelters, officials emphasize need for homeless shelter

At the same meeting this month local government leaders discussed the prospect of greater collaboration in addressing homelessness and the immediate need for a homeless shelter in Grays Harbor County.

Aberdeen City Administrator Ruth Clemens delivered a presentation to the Grays Harbor County Board of Commissioners with information about the city’s Homelessness Response Committee meetings and recent community surveys, which the city is using to create a homelessness strategy. This strategy seems to be to remove as many resources and rights for the unhoused as they can, forcing people out of town when possible. Their terribly written survey was used to present the ignorance and hostility of the local business community in regards to the unhoused. The City said it’s next steps include looking for permanent shelter options, a process being carried out in secret by City of Aberdeen Mayor Pete Schave and County Commissioner Kevin Pine, both members of the local hate group SOAP (Save Our Aberdeen Please). They seem to desire to put them in an open air prison setting and if possible force them into work and treatment.

Clemens said a majority of responses indicated the city of Aberdeen has been “very ineffective” in addressing the challenges of homelessness, and people were “very doubtful” of the ability of political and civic leaders in that regard.

“The people have lost hope and trust in the government’s ability to respond to these important social issues,” Clemens said. “If we were able to get a shelter, that would be one of the greatest responses, to be able to provide something like that. That is our ultimate goal.” It seems they will only approve a shelter that is outside the City limits, regardless of how terribly they are doing at their jobs, and the desperate need for shelter years ago. In 2021, the board of commissioners passed on an opportunity for nearly $1.5 million in state and federal funding to develop a homeless shelter in Aberdeen, with Pine and Commissioner Jill Warne stating they were not in favor of providing a “low barrier” shelter that did not mandate sobriety or treatment for an overnight stay.

Input from surveys and meetings pointed to the need for shelter and brought to light “both sides of the coin,” Clemens said. Business owners raised the problem of people urinating and defecating near store entrances and in nearby alleys; homeless people, especially women, indicated that was their only safe option when nature called in the middle of the night. This is the result of the City removing all portable restrooms from the City last year.

Clemens said getting people off the street (and out of the way of business) would benefit the city’s downtown core, and ultimately help an effort to “rebrand” downtown Aberdeen. They know their priorities and are beholden to the business community and real estate and development interests. A big part of the Cities current gentrification platform is removing the unhoused from the City. The ruling class wants to impose a high barrier forced treatment model that is located outside Aberdeen City limits.

She then went on to complain about the ability of law enforcement to criminalize homeless existence because of the US Constitution. The 2019 case Martin V Boise decided that such behavior when there is no available low barrier shelter in town violates the 8th amendment and amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. State and federal grants usually mandate shelters to be low barrier, or without requirements of background checks, program participation, identification or sobriety.

Pine, who represents District 2, which includes Aberdeen, told The Daily World Tuesday that he would not be supportive of a low barrier shelter within the city limits. He and Aberdeen Mayor Pete Schave have searched for a shelter site outside the Aberdeen city limits for months but have declined to share locations. He also lied and claimed that funding was the biggest obstacle, ignoring the $1.5 million they turned down in 2021.

Schave said in August the pair identified an adequate site just outside of Aberdeen. Pine said Tuesday a potential site is “close enough to services that someone could walk and/or take a bus.” This interpretation is being made by these two able bodied men on behalf of the entire unhoused community, many of whom are disabled, have pets, or shopping carts and need to be located near to services. Congregate shelters like this are the worst option for housing people, they provide a nexus for abuse and exploitation. The County’s vision is having all the homeless people concentrated into one place, with heavy security and forced treatment, then they can criminalize their existence outside this location and force the decision to go there on them.

Food shortages and inflation cause local food banks to call for more community donations

K Bramstedt, volunteer for the Aberdeen Food Bank, says this year’s count of mouths fed is larger than Bramstedt, a former food bank director and 40-year volunteer, has ever seen.

Bramstedt estimates the food bank fed 36% more people so far in 2023 than at this time last year. That equates to an increase of anywhere from 200 to 1,500 clients per month. Despite people’s needs increasing three fold since before the pandemic, food supplies including community donations have declined in the same time.

Instead of having a variety of local producers all the food pantries in town rely on the Hoquiam-based non profit Coastal Harvest for much of their food supply. That supply has dwindled in the last few years for a number of reasons, said Coastal Harvest Executive Director Brent Hunter. Supply chain issues are still lingering from the pandemic, while natural disasters have affected farms where key ingredients are grown.

“This is a nationwide problem,” Hunter said. “It’s not a Grays Harbor problem. Every food bank network in the country is feeling the same thing.”

Inflation of food prices have also hit the food banks in town as the shortages of free food donations have led to them having to outright buy food to stay open. With prices rising, “that can only last so long,” Bramstedt said. Food costs in Western Washington have risen by 4% in the last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and items like peanut butter are especially pricey but critical to the food boxes the pantry provides.

The conflicts of capitalism and climate catastrophe are here and we need to be building systems of dual power outside control of the State, and ruling class. Having our own local food sources is an imperative. Small greenhouses can start plenty of plants for a decentralized network of small plots throughout the County. Through local food sovereignty we can not only decrease our reliance on a single provider of food, as these antiquated systems collapse, but learn how to organize our communities to accomplish countless actions aimed at making our world better.

After contributing to the opioid epidemic, Walmart agrees to pay Grays Harbor $5.4 million in settlement

Monthly Radical News Roundup:

Music:

Segment one:

Welcome back to  Molotov Now! we are joined today by our guest who here to talk to us about abortion access. Can you introduce yourself, give us your pronouns, and talk about any relevant experience you want to bring up today?

I go by the name Echo (she/her) and I’ve been involved in supporting access to abortion healthcare in the Pacific Northwest for more than a decade. I’ve been a clinic escort as well as being involved in other ways to support abortion. Of course, probably like yourselves and most listeners – I do a variety of other mutual aid work as well.

Can you bring us and our listeners up to speed on what all has been happening since Roe V Wade was overturned?

The ‘Dobbs ruling’ by the US Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned Roe v Wade. In that moment, 1 in 3 Americans lost access to abortion healthcare. And since then many states keep chipping away more and more. (Idaho, I’m looking at you.) 25 states now ban or severely restrict abortion access, such that it’s functionally inaccessible for most pregnant people.

What has Idaho put into place in regards to abortion?

Oregon and Washington still have access to abortion as healthcare. But as abortion rights and abortion access fall in more states – the PNW is increasingly important as a refuge for abortion healthcare. Abortion is healthcare. This is why it’s so important for all of us to hold the line. The PNW is not only serving the healthcare needs of people in our states — but absorbing the needs of people traveling from the growing number of states with little or even no access to abortion healthcare.

Since Idaho is blocking abortion access, keeping Oregon and Washington accessible is more important than ever.

What role is the PNW playing in helping to provide people with safe abortions?

People from states without abortion care are increasingly traveling here for care. This, ofc, is a huge burden. And frankly one that is out of reach for many people. It requires a lot of travel money for a flight or road trip, time of work, lodging costs, potential childcare for other children, and the cost of the abortion itself. And all of this needs to be done at an urgent time turnaround. Most of that is simply realistic for many people. Yet loss of body autonomy and forced parenthood is the alternative (and the goal) of the anti-abortion states.

But once someone gets to a state with abortion access, the struggle isn’t over. Many anti-abortion groups target all sites that provide abortion (namely Planned Parenthood clinics and independent abortion clinics). One of their main methods is with in-person anti-abortion protesters. These anti-abortion groups are always religious. Their rise matches the overall rise in Christo-fascism that is happening nationwide. It’s the same people taking over school boards with their ‘panic’ of LGBTQIA rights and out trying to shut down Drag shows and Drag story hours.

There are two main anti-abortion groups:
1.    Catholic-based
2.    Evangelical-based

Of course, these religious wackos are also anti-LGBTQIA, misogynistic, and all the other bigotry you’d expect.

I imagine there are networks working to facilitate travel from state to state for those in states without access to abortion services?

Absolutely. There are many orgs specific to red states. Here in the PNW, Northwest Abortion Access Fund is a big one. I recommend anyone support them, who is able to. But what we’re finding is that many people in states with no abortion access are putting together their own ad hoc methods to get to an abortion sanctuary state. Calling on friends to help fund or support them.

Is there any idea where the funding for these kinds of groups is coming from?

A lot of the funding comes from churches and church members. Ofc, they are benefiting from the tax exempt status churches get in this country. They also get a lot of money from political fundraising orgs.

Their opposition to abortion is much more related to the desire to create a patriarchal society with hetero-cis-white men in power than any real concern for ‘saving babies.’ These antis – of course – don’t do any MA work with babies, foster care, feeding children or anything else. It’s about controlling people.

There are anti-abortion protesters out at clinics year round. Then twice a year the clinics get flooded with anti-abortion protesters during something called 40Days for Life.

So, who is organizing the 40 Days for Life protest that just kicked off?

It’s mostly Catholics who are behind the 40 Days for Life protests that happen twice a year at abortion clinics. Each time (spring and fall) literally for 40 days. Daily protesters who pray and hassle patients. As a clinic escort I’ve been assaulted by a Catholic during 40 Days – but they are usually less aggro and less violent than the evangelicals. The evangelicals tend to be more aggressive (and potentially armed) plus backed by chuds.

Is this 40 days of life a national action or is it just in the PNW?
40 Days is a national org and they run this program twice a year nationwide.

So if that’s what the Catholics are doing what are the Evangelicals up to?

The Evangelicals protest year round and are usually the ones with more graphic signs. Think people yelling gross stuff like the Westboro type people. Several of the evangelical groups are aligned with Proud Boys and, with their overlapping agendas, have worked together several time in anti-abortion actions.

Here in the NW we have another big group protesting at clinics and they are called TCAPP. This is: The Church at Planned Parenthood. These folks also align and have brought in PBs as ‘security’ at times.

What sort of harassment do patients and clinics experience?

blocking driveways, being yelled at, having sidewalks blocked, etc. Unique issues during covid.

What about ‘fake clinics,’ what’s up with them? And are there any effective counter?

Fake clinics AKA Crisis Pregnancy Centers that try to trick potentially pregnant people (they are all over the PNW). They lure people in with free pg tests then lie to them about how pregnant they are to run out the clock past the ability to access abortion.

What dynamics does the religious nature of the protestors bring up in regards to those supporting the right to abortions?

Local 40Day Catholics literally believe in demons and evil. They believe that Black Bloc is possessed by demons – this is not colorful language but their actual worldview. They view their efforts to shut down abortion access as the battle between Heaven and Hell. They are deeply fearful of what they view as tools of Satan, incantations, and that their souls/spirits are going to be attacked by demons that our side might send to them.

This must leave open the possibility of extreme viewpoints causing anti abortion protestors to take potentially extreme actions, what examples of this type of violence can you share with us?

Violence by anti-abortion protesters is a serious issue. Since 1977, there have been 11 murders, 42 bombings, 200 arsons, 531 assaults, 492 clinic invasions, 375 burglaries, and thousands of other incidents of criminal activities directed at patients, providers, and volunteers. I’ve been assaulted as a clinic escort. A couple of summers ago a group called TCAPP brought the Proud Boys to the Salem Oregon PP and there was quite a bit of violence that day.

So what can someone do who want to join the fight for abortion rights?

You can keep an eye out for the twice a year 40 Days events (fall and spring each year). It’s happening now until Nov 5th, then starts again in Feb 2024. Literally 40 days each time, of people showing up and hassling clinic patients. You and friends can go by and help these anti-abortion protesters feel less comfy hassling patients. Ofc the core 40Days folks are showing up no matter what. But if there’s a new anti-abortion protester who is just trying it out, they might be discouraged by having some push back.

People can sign up to be a clinic escort, which is a role I have done for a number of years.

There are other great organizations to volunteer with, to directly help people traveling from out of state who need abortion care. Giving them rides and such, since abortion bans bring such an undue financial burden to pregnant people. A great group for this is called Cascade Abortion Support Collective (CASC). Highly recommend this group.

Coming up on Oct 17th there is another event (this one run by Students for Life) called Chalk Day. They will be covering clinic sidewalks with chalk messages about ‘murdering babies’ and similar messages. I usually stop by my local clinic with some gallons of water and a push broom + a few friends to clear away the messages. The clinic staff (and patients) are always appreciative.

What role can direct action play in the struggle for abortion and healthcare access?

Direct action can make a huge difference. In a country increasingly opposed to abortion as healthcare, I’d suggest keeping opsec in mind.

This means taking appropriate steps to hide your identity and plans from unfriendlies. Crimethinc has a great in depth direct action guide that goes into a lot of what it takes to pull of any successful action. Be creative, be smart, be safe, stay dangerous.

How would you recommend people stay prepared for abortion needs in their community?

At the heart of mutual aid is helping make abortion accessible to each other. Organizing with others to have medication abortion on hand means that people can work around the bans. And doing this ahead of time means that the clock doesn’t run out on getting medication abortion in time.

Here’s how to access medication abortion. Which can be done in all 50 states. And the importance of keeping emergency contraception on hand (what folks often call plan b). Also if someone has the finances to afford it. I recommend getting medication abortion pills to keep on hand for themselves or their community. Costs $150 to order. Vs. getting medication abortion at clinic is generally $300-700. And that’s if you are in a city with access.

Get a pencil out, bc I’m going to share some resources.

Aidaccess.org

Note: Real name, address, and birth date must be provided. But this is currently legal to mail-order in what is called “advanced provision.” Meaning, you aren’t currently pregnant

PlanC.org

Northwest abortion access fund at NWAAfund.org

LifeSciencesPharmacy . com 3 pack of emergency contraceptive pills for $20. This is what many people call Plan B. It’s not abortion care ofc, but important to keep on hand for yourself and to share with others. At Target or similar this is $50 per pill. But 3 pack for $20 with no shipping.

We need transcription help, if you are interested please get in touch!

Its time for a musical break but when we come back we will have an after action report from RiotDad on the 40 days of life counter protests going on in the PNW right now. But for now here is Abortion is Normal by No Fun. Hit It!

Music:

Conclusion:

Welcome back to Molotov Now! we are joined by RiotDad for their after action report on the counter protests.

Outro:

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Molotov Now! We hope you found it informative and inspiring. Our goal with the podcast is to reach out beyond our boundaries and connect the happenings in our small town with the struggles going on in major urban centers. We want to talk to you if you’re a big city organizer, we think we have a lot you can learn from, and we know you have much to teach us. If you would like to come on the show please email us at sabot_media@riseup.net with the header “Molotov Now!” and we will be in touch about setting up an interview and crafting an episode to feature you. Don’t forget, if you like what we do here and want to support it, you can do that by going to linktr.ee/al1312 and clicking donate, or scrolling to the bottom for Patreon. You have to go check out the amazing shirts up at feralthreads.square.site, all sales from these shirts are also donated to our comrades with The Blackflower Collective. Thank you!

We want to give a shout out to our friends at:

• C: Sabotage Noise Productions for helping to promote such awesome benefit shows, including one for The Blackflower Collective, and for being all around awesome people.
• S: The South Florida Anti-Repression Committee who have launched a solidarity campaign for two individuals facing 12 years for an alleged graffiti attack on a fake Christian anti-choice clinic that does not provide any reproductive care. This Federal overreach and use of the FACE Act, an act meant to protect people visiting reproductive clinics from harassment, is unprecedented. To support this solidarity campaign please visit bit.ly/frCeeourfighters
• C: We want to thank The Blackflower Collective for their continued support and wish them luck in their fundraising efforts. To support them or learn more their website is blackflowercollective.noblogs.org.
• S: Kolektiva, the anarchist mastodon server, is growing faster than ever thanks to Elon Musk’s stupidity as many activists close their accounts for bluer skies as can be seen in the fluctuation of followers over on IGD’s socials, join at kolektiva.social and follow us and other online activists on decentralized federated internet.
• C: Chehalis River Mutual Aid Network is holding a fundraiser for their weekly meals with Food Not Bombs. To donate visit linktr.ee/crmutualaidnet
• S: The Communique is looking for artist and upcoming event submissions, please write to sabot_media@riseup.net to submit your entry.
• C: As reported previously, Katey Hussey is still struggling in the wake of harassment by Dayton Police that has cost her their employment and housing. Luckily it appears as though the charges against her have been dropped. But she has lost everything because of this and still faces an uphill battle getting back on her feet. Please send any donations to Venmo @katyHussey or Cashapp $KatyHussey to help them during this time.
• S: Thank you to Pixel Passionate for producing our soundtrack, please check out their website at www.radicalpraxisclothing.com and check out their portfolio in our show notes.
• C: and Thank you to the Channel Zero Anarchist Podcast Network. We are proud to be members of a network that creates and shares leading critical analysis, news, and actions from an anarchist perspective.

Remember to check out sabot media’s new website for new episodes, articles, comics, and columns. We have new content all the time. Make sure you follow, like, and subscribe on your favorite corporate data mining platform of choice and go ahead and make the switch to federated social media on the kolektiva mastodon server today @AberdeenLocal1312 for updates on Sabot Media projects such as The Harbor Rat Report, The Saboteurs, The Communique, our podcast Molotov Now! and many other upcoming projects.

That’s all for tonight. Please remember to spay and neuter your cats and don’t forget to cast your votes at those who deserve them.
Solidarity Comrades,
This is Molotov Now! Signing off

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