Some protesters spend more than five days a week picketing outside Planned Parenthood's Albemarle county offices. But what they might not realize is that their actions have raised thousands of dollars for the organization.
Through Planned Parenthood's Pledge-a-Picket program, those protesters are helping the organization more than they're hurting it. That's because donors have agreed to make a pledge of financial support to Planned Parenthood for every protester that shows up outside.
During her years as a clinician at Planned Parenthood, Elke Zschaebitz has seen her fair share of protests.
Elke said, "It's quite intimidating when you have a group of people who are shouting at them as they're trying to go into Planned Parenthood."
She says the Albemarle county offices have seen an increase in picketers in just the last year.
Elke stated, "If there are a lot of picketers, we get a lot more money for our services here."
Last year, the Pledge-A-Picket program brought in more than $20,000 for Planned Parenthood in Virginia. Zschaebitz says that money is used to help low-income patients get preventative reproductive health care services.
Elke said, "The intention was to pare down the picketers so they wouldn't be as intimidating to the women who are actually trying to seek reproductive preventative health care services."
Christina Hampton organizes anti-abortion rallies and prayer meetings in Charlottesville. She says the success of the Pledge-A-Picket program means the protesters are doing something right. "We're having an effect. If they're trying to seek money for us being out there, that probably means they're losing money in another sense."
One of the largest protest rallies, the 40 Days for Life Campaign, is coming to Charlottesville in September. Those involved will spend 40 days and 40 nights holding a vigil in front of the Planned Parenthood facility.
