Orlando abortion clinic escorts stand guard as Florida's six-week ban looms
By McKenna Schueler
“Volunteers with SWAN, or “SWANs,” as they call themselves, act as clinic escorts and clinic defenders. They take on the task of guiding patients to and from the clinic wherever they’re coming from.
Some patients are dropped off for their appointments out front. Some patients park in a lot behind the small building, and some walk up to the clinic from public transit.
The SWANs, often clad in neon pink vests, accompany patients or walk beside them as they approach the clinic, using umbrellas to shield patients’ faces from protesters.
“One of the things that the anti protesters will do is they will take pictures of everyone coming in and out of the clinic,” Tanya, a SWAN volunteer, told Orlando Weekly. Some of the more “prolific” photographers, she added, will post patients’ faces on their “very open, very public” social media.”
