“PLEASE STEP AWAY, SIR!”
“DPS TROOPERS DIRECT REV. STEVE SANCHEZ OF JOHNSON CITY to step away from abortion rights demonstrators during the Texas Rally for Life at the Capitol on Saturday January 27, 2018.” That was the caption of this photo taken by Jay Janner of the Austin American-Statesmen.
You may be wondering what I did. Just exercising my First Amendment Right to Free Speech.
It was the end of the march and the crowd of 5,000 pro-lifers had come to the Capitol to hear Governor Greg Abbott and other anti-abortion advocates speak on behalf of the pre-born. Instead, I wanted to engage the fifty or so people who had a different opinion regarding the “Life” issue, specifically, the ten “handmaids” who stood speechless in their white bonnets and deep-red robes at the entrance of the Capitol gates. The handmaids are a class of women from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, who are kept for reproductive purposes by the ruling class. They were the only silent protesters.
I wasn’t there to argue, but to bring a very different message, one that had nothing to do with abortion. I was shouted down by a young lady with a bullhorn and an angry attitude. I couldn’t get a word in edge-wise because of her cursing at me. Still, I persisted. I stood in-between two troopers, a small gap in the wall of deputies that surrounded the loud obscenity-shouting “Choicers,” apparently, for their protection.
