The local weather reporters have been predicting severe winter storms for nearly a week now. Last week it was heavy snow and freezing fog. This week it’s single-digit temperatures, black ice, drifting and blowing snow. You know, everything you guys expect a Montana winter to be like: cold, wet, dangerous, nearly Arctic. However, in the fine tradition of weather forecasts the world over, precise predictions keep moving the dire forecast back a day to two days or even this coming weekend. I’m disappointed because I had a plan.
I have an appointment with my doctor today. It’s for my annual stem-to-stern check-up: blood pressure, weight, breast exam, cholesterol, tests to see if my recent sexual partners left any parting gifts. I know women between the ages of 30 and 60 only have to get a pap every two to three years. However, I had some major health problems when I was young. I’ve never posted about this until now, but when I was 14 I had to have major surgery to remove a gangrenous dermoid tumor attached to one of my fallopian tubes. I nearly died. The tumor damaged all my reproductive organs, some had to be removed, and to this day I have complications from the growth and the surgery. Unlike a lot of women, I don’t make a face when discussing a pap because I’ve become comfortable with putting my feet up in the stirrups. It’s not painful or embarrassing anymore.
I’ve been going to the same clinic for years; I’ve been a patient practically since I moved to Montana in 1990. Blue Mountain Clinic offers a wide variety of services for families, but unfortunately they’re the target of violence and intimidation because they provide abortions. They were bombed about fifteen years ago. Happily, the clinic was rebuilt in a different location because of strong community support. The new architectural style is best described as army bunker under attack. There are steel gates, high windows, concrete walls and three sets of thick locked doors. However, that’s the minor price I and other clients have to pay for safety and dignity. It’s very important to me to remain Blue Mountain’s client, no matter the danger, because I firmly believe in a woman’s right to choose abortion.
I say “under attack” because for some people here, a bomb wasn’t enough. Every Wednesday, a knot of self-righteous fanatics form outside the gates of the clinic to harass employees, clients like me, and our families. They hold aloft their fetal porn and scream at anyone going in and out of Blue Mountain. Community volunteers have to protect us from our cars to the clinic doors. Normally I just give them the finger, but I was half-hoping for something more today thanks to the winter storm that wasn’t. My mechanic (my stepbrother) has repeatedly told me the brakes are the next thing to go on my car. A little black ice, blowing snow, faulty brakes, a sharp turn into the parking lot…who knows what would have happened.
So, if you hear something on the news, something about a car losing control–even though the roads were dry–and crashing into some protestors in Montana, we didn’t have this conversation, right?