Soon women in Utrecht will no longer have to go to an abortion clinic on their own. They can be accompanied by an abortion buddy to avoid being bothered by anti-abortion protesters.
“Not everyone can take someone to a clinic and that is why an abortion buddy can be nice as protection,” says Djoeke Gerding at RTV Utrecht.
Gerding is chairman of the Samen naar de kliniek Foundation, which also allows abortion buddies to attend in The Hague and Rotterdam.
At abortion clinics there are sometimes loud demonstrations, usually by demonstrators of the Schreeuw om Leven foundation, a Christian pro-life organization. Sometimes it gets hard. “When I arrived by bike, a protester started screaming that I was a murderer,” says a woman at BOOS† Another woman was confronted by a poster with a fully grown embryo on it.
Buffer zone at clinics
Numerous cities have established a buffer zone at abortion clinics. They want to prevent demonstrators from getting too close and women from feeling intimidated.
There is also such a buffer zone at the abortion clinic Het Vrelinghuis in Utrecht. “But there are often people waiting at the bus stop,” says Gerding. “It’s hard to enforce when a person approaches someone and asks what they’re going to do.”
“Not everyone can bring a family member or friend with them, or can tell other people at all. We also set up this foundation to combat loneliness,” Gerding continues.
Annoying experience
She emphasizes that no one ‘just’ has an abortion. “It is very important that it is possible, but it is a major intervention in someone’s life. If you are there and are also treated at the door or questioned why you are doing that, it is an unpleasant experience. We try to prevent that to go.”
Not everyone can just become a buddy and to work to go. “We select people with a certificate of good conduct VOG. They must live within a radius of five kilometers from the clinic and be flexible in their deployment,” says Gerding.
The House of Representatives decided recently that the statutory cooling-off period for abortion is abolished. Now women have to wait another five days after an initial decision to have an abortion before being allowed to go to a clinic. “Patient, too rigid and unnecessarily burdensome for many women”, a majority in the House of Representatives ruled. The Senate has yet to approve the decision.
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