“You do abortions here, right? You promise?” a patient asked me as I began her state-mandated counseling and ultrasound.

She was understandably skeptical and afraid of being misled, after mistakenly visiting two crisis pregnancy centers, including one that intentionally masqueraded as an abortion clinic to create delays in getting the care she was seeking.

“They told me, I was too early for an abortion. To come back and see them in two weeks. And then, when I went back, they said, ‘Oh, the doctor is not here today, you’ll have to come back next week.'”

After that happened multiple times, she realized they were lying to her, and she came to see us.

When I looked her in the eyes and assured her, “We do abortions here, and we respect your right to chose what happens with this pregnancy,” she erupted into tears of relief.

I feel privileged to get to meet the incredibly strong women who walk past the protesters and through our clinic doors, and I know many have overcome difficult barriers to get to us. They drive hundreds of miles, patch together childcare, rearrange work, and scrape together money, all to be able to obtain treatment that is an essential part of reproductive health care and legally their right to access. I feel grateful to be able to offer them the care they seek. I also know that being a doctor grants me significant privilege to have my voice heard, and it feels incredibly important not only to bear witness to their stories but also to amplify them, because I know they can and will change how people perceive abortion and the women who have them. The more we share, the more we’re able to help people see how normal, common, and essential abortion care is.