Anti-abortion zealots take creepy action to deter abortion clinic users

As the decision on Roe v. Wade draws near, many abortion activists fear what could happen next to patients who visit abortion clinics, especially given the harassment patients face already.

Already, anti-abortion organizations show up at clinics like Planned Parenthood, stand outside attempting to harass patients out of an abortion, and protest abortions with graphic images on signs.

One pro-choice organization, Charlotte For Choice, posts videos on their TikTok page showing how intimidating anti-abortion activists can be to patients visiting a clinic.

In videos, anti-abortion activists can be seen wearing GoPros on their bodies, taking pictures of visitors' license plates, and offering free gift bags to visitors with baby bottles, pacifiers, and more.

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Speaking to MIT Technology Review,Heather Mobley, a board member for Charlotte For Choice said she and other volunteers put themselves between people visiting the Preferred Women’s Health Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, and protestors.

Using colorful umbrellas, Mobley and other volunteers will walk visitors to the clinic for their car and offer support to people visiting if protestors begin shouting at them.

They also "surveil the surveillance" that protestors use.

Mobley told MIT Technology Review, that sometimes anti-abortion activists will offer free WiFi to visitors under the name 'abortion info' that immediately brings up a webpage filled with anti-abortion material.

Her job is to help those visiting the clinic ignore the messages and harassment and obtain safe and helpful services from the clinic.

Defenders like Mobley fear that should Roe v. Wade be overturned, many of the surveillance tactics anti-abortion activists use could be used in court.

“The biggest fear, I think, is that there are going to be states that not only ban abortion in short order, but start criminalizing pregnant people who are seeking abortion services even out of state,” Nathan Wessler, deputy project director of the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project at the ACLU told MIT Technology Review.

By obtaining a visitor's data via their phone, license plate, or taking a photo of them, anti-abortion activists could send their information to their local government to penalize them for getting an abortion out of state.

Some states have "trigger laws" that can go into affect upon the landmark case being overturned. Some of these would make abortion a crime.

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