Abortion is a deeply personal issue. If a woman makes the decision to terminate a pregnancy, the last thing she or her partner should have to contend with are protestors who disagree with her choice screaming at her as she enters the clinic.
Sadly, it happens all the time, which is just one reason why clinics usually have escorts. It’s the escort’s job to help people enter the building safely. One escort took that job even further, clapping back at the protestors with a spicy rant that’s quickly gone viral.
The video, popularly known as the “Sky Daddy” rant, was filmed in Charlotte, North Carolina, by a TikTokker named Reiley (whose handle is @loveurmother). Reiley is a volunteer with the non-profit Charlotte for Choice, an organization that works to keep abortion safe and legal as well as providing escorts and “Clinic Defenders” for on-site support to patients.
“But that’s loving her by calling her a coward,” the escort scolds the protester.
The protester responds by trying to say, “No, he’s a coward.”
The escort cuts them off and explains that her anti-choice rhetoric isn’t welcome. “You can shut the f**k up, because they’re making the best decision that they can in their situation, and you’re trying to make them feel bad about it. So go off, Jennifer. Is that the validation you want from sky daddy? Calling people a coward?”
“Sky daddy” was the phrase that people latched onto the most, with many commenters writing it out, and people on Twitter sharing memes with the phrase. Another person called it “poetry in motion.” Some atheists said that it’s a relatively common term used to mock religious extremists for their beliefs.
“Validation from Sky Daddy,” lmao. Aaaah, takes me back to my baby atheist days.
— Iron Spike (@Iron_Spike) December 1, 2020
In an Instagram DM, Reiley told Newsweek that she didn’t anticipate the video getting as much notice. “[I] think it’s funny that so many people love the term sky daddy!! [B]ut it was unexpected that the video would get this much attention,” she wrote.
The TikTok was posted on Monday, garnering over 7 million views. It was also shared on Twitter, where it has received over 500,000 views.
A number of Reiley’s videos, as well as Charlotte for Choice’s TikToks use humor to make fun of the protesters or to debunk their arguments. One video features Reiley asking a protester for a “Sparknotes version” of the Biblical Book of Proverbs, when she tells them to read it for proof of her pro-life argument. Another clip shows a sarcastic prayer to mock the protesters.
Reiley explained the role that volunteers have in helping patients get treatment without being disturbed by protesters. “[S]o our goal as volunteers is to try and distract and overpower protestors so that patients don’t have to hear them yelling as they are going in for their appointment. when we engage in conversation with them or make jokes, the protestors divert their attention from the patient to us,” she wrote.
She also said that by sharing humorous videos on social media, it helps break the taboo that discussing abortion can sometimes come with. “[U]sing humor has made the topic of abortion more approachable on social media i think, and with videos like this going viral, people are forced to step back and ask themselves how they feel about it,” she wrote.
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