On the Commonwealth Avenue sidewalk by Boston University, near the Babcock Street T stop, there are frequent sounds of prayer, instruction, and random pop songs. Demonstrators speak to passersby about their faith and convictions, while Planned Parenthood volunteers play loud music to drown out the protesters.
The scene has more or less looked similar for decades, with two groups of people holding opposing views on the same slab of pavement.
According to the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, most of the 2.1 million patients who visit their health centers annually “seek education, resources and preventive services—including birth control and sex education, STI testing and treatment, and screenings for cervical, breast, and other cancers.”
Of those many services, it is abortion that draws most of the unwanted attention. Massachusetts is one of 37 states where the procedure is legal, and pro-life demonstrators push information and prayer on those seeking health care and help.
Meanwhile, volunteers welcome and guide patients to the front door.
Deadly history
The ongoing protests on Comm Ave reflect everlasting tensions over abortion in Mass. The debate is forever marked in blood by the murder of two Brookline clinic workers by a right-wing terrorist in 1994. With this year marking 30 years since the trial which followed that commonwealth tragedy, the temperature around the issues of women’s health and family planning seems as hot as ever.
Rita Russo is a demonstrator and retired obstetrical nurse who works with Boston’s 40 Days for Life campaign. In an interview, she said that abortion “hurts women,” called the procedure “barbaric,” and argued that pro-choice passersby spur violence upon conservative demonstrators.
“I’ve been shoved off, physically shoved off the sidewalk,” Russo said. “We’ve had a woman that had a head injury because she was pushed down forcibly and hit her head on some concrete.”
On the other side of the line, Shosh sees the situation differently. A volunteer escort whose goal is to get patients “in the door without … being obstructed,” and to treat them with “respect and dignity,” she described having to physically shield people: “We almost put our arms behind people to sort of make sure that they’re not accosted by a protester.”
Shosh continued: “We’re the ones that are on the street with the protestors, and we’re very visible. So we tend not to use each others’ names.”
Mass after Dobbs
This Boston sidewalk is just one of many theaters in the neverending national fight over abortion.
“You can see, there’s a painted yellow line on the sidewalk outside the door.” Caroline Kimball-Katz, director of communications at Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, explained: “You’ll notice protestors will walk in and out of that line. That line exists for large groups. …
“There was litigation many years ago … to enforce what’s often called a buffer zone so that protestors cannot get too close to the door and really block patients’ access.”
Those protections have remained in place since the 2022 Dobbs decision to repeal Roe v. Wade, in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not protect a right to abortion. Mass nonetheless continues to support reproductive rights, and this month Gov. Maura Healey signed legislation strengthening protections. Specifically, the new law “ensures patients facing serious pregnancy complications can receive medically appropriate care from trusted providers.”
The recent news expectedly stoked old animosity. Demonstrators like Russo continue standing outside of Planned Parenthood locations, hoping to speak with anybody walking by, whether they are seeking care or not. She said that her beliefs come from her experience in the medical field: “Working in the delivery room, I knew those babies were precious.”
At this point, Russo has been demonstrating with the 40 Days for Life campaign for 14 years. “It’s more of a prayer vigil than a protest,” she said. “It’s like a family out there. People know each other.”
As for her political and legal view of the abortion issue, Russo said women should not be prosecuted in places where it is illegal, but added that “providers should be prosecuted,” since it is a “doctor that broke the law.”
Although the demonstrations she participates in are passionate, and loud, and consistent, Russo said that her group dislikes protesting.
“We don’t go out there because we like it, or we think it’s fun, or anything like that,” Russo said. “We all hate being there because it’s such a dark ministry.”
The volunteers
Shosh, the volunteer, emphasized that Planned Parenthood is not exclusively an abortion clinic.
“People might be coming in for a cancer screening,” she said. “People might be coming in for an abortion for a variety of different reasons. It doesn’t matter to us what someone’s doing.”
Shosh added that the volunteers don’t focus on the protestors themselves, but are instead primarily concerned with making sure patients arriving for reproductive health care are greeted with respect and dignity. As she described the process, “getting them in to the door without us being obstructed or having their access interfered with.”
Speaking of the patients, Shosh continued, “They have a right to be there. … They have a right to get the care that they’re entitled to, and they’re entitled to their bodily autonomy and respect for that, regardless of what kind of health care they are seeking at Planned Parenthood.”
“Whoever’s on shift, we really work as a team,” she added. “I think that’s really powerful.”
Kimball-Katz echoed that the escort’s role is to make patients feel “safe” and “welcome.” “Point blank,” she said, “abortion is health care.”
“Having protesters outside has been a reality at Planned Parenthood health centers in Massachusetts and all over the country for years.” The comms director continued, “The presence of protestors outside is certainly frustrating to both our patients and our providers.
“We always affirm that sexual reproductive health care, whatever patients are seeking, is basic health care. … To us it is not up for debate.”
