At the September 15th Granite City Council meeting, votes were cast to DECLINE a waist high, transparent fence installation at the property borders of the Hope Clinic. Since 1974, Hope Clinic has been a good neighbor to this community, providing safe, legal abortion care and other critical reproductive health services. All of the surrounding neighbors to Hope Clinic were given notice of this proposed fence — none were opposed to the construction

Every day, protesters create a chaotic, confusing, and loud scene outside of the licensed surgical center where Hope Clinic is located. People yell, use threatening and harassing language, and many times are not masked or socially distanced. The protesters have not been good neighbors to this community. This directly affects patients and staff at Hope as well as nearby businesses and medical facilities.

The Granite City Council members and Mayor that voted against the fence supported this disruptive and dangerous behavior and put their personal feelings about abortion over the health and safety of the people and businesses in this community.

Hope Clinic proposed this short, see-through fence as a measure to clearly delineate the space patients are welcomed to legally access healthcare. It is well documented that organizing and clearly marking property lines reduces confrontations, violence, and illegal trespassing activity. It is imperative to keep patients, staff, and other people in and near the Hope Clinic safe. Not only will the proposed fence keep protesters off the clinic's private property, it will clearly designate who is with the clinic and who is not, prevent unwanted physical contact, and keep verbal contact at a much safer distance during a time when such distance is critical for the health of our community.

We call on the Granite City Council and Mayor to reverse the decision and allow Hope Clinic to move forward with installing a low, simple fence around their private parking lot. Patients, staff, clinic escorts, and many Granite City community members support safety and their GOOD NEIGHBOR, Hope Clinic.