Pro-life vs. pro-choice has always been a heated point of debate and opinion among people—mostly between those of a more liberal and those of a more traditional approach to things. And then there’s everyone stuck between these two groups talking it out.
Meet Wendy Shannon, a 26-year-old mother of 4 and a clinic defender who has been recently going viral on the interwebs for two reasons: one, she was defending a person arriving to an abortion clinic against some hateful protesters, and two, “sky daddy.”
Meet Wendy, an abortion clinic escort and defender who's recently been going viral in a TikTok video
Image credits: _dragonflywitch
So, Wendy, with whom Bored Panda got in touch, is a part of an organization called Charlotte for Choice, which is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she volunteers as a clinic defender and clinic escort.
You see, a clinic defender is a person who stands in front of an abortion clinic and makes sure protesters are kept at bay—they hold up parking signs and talk over the protesters in hopes of making sure the patients don’t hear all the protesting. As for clinic escorts, those are people who escort patients from their cars to the clinic, holding an umbrella to ensure privacy.
So, Wendy was on guard duty and a patient had just passed by when one of the protesters, Jennifer, who’s a part of the Love Life organization, called the patient a coward.
A pro-life protester called one of the patients "a coward", which prompted Wendy to come to the patient's defense
Image credits: loveurmother
“I volunteer at the clinic because I think that people have a right to access a safe abortion without being yelled at. Although I love volunteering, I feel like this shouldn’t have to be a thing!” elaborated Wendy. “I just want to make sure the patients know that we don’t think it’s right that people are yelling at them and we don’t mind being the barrier between them accessing a safe abortion and those yelling at them.”
At this point, Wendy snapped and started giving Jen a piece of her mind. Wendy said that Love Life’s volunteers are supposed to spread love and light, yet Jennifer was tearing down a person who was already dealing with a lot at that point, and she became the reason why patients are scared to come to an abortion clinic in the first place.
Instead of being loving and caring, Jennifer, the pro-life protester, chose to be hateful
Image credits: loveurmother
“How can you sit there and talk to someone like that when they’re already in a vulnerable situation,” said Wendy. “Why would they even approach Jennifer after she had talked to them like that?” One of the other volunteers was taking a video of Wendy, who was trying to explain how wrong Jennifer’s words and actions were, during which she said “Is that the validation you want from sky daddy?” to which Jennifer had nothing to say.
Needless to say, the video took off, in part due to people being amazed that clinic defenders are a thing and how much they do just so the patients feel safer in their time of need. But also because of “sky daddy,” a phrase that has echoed throughout the internet.
The video went viral on TikTok, gaining 9.4 million views with over 1.6 million likes, but also found its way to a number of social media websites, including Twitter, as well as a number of news media outlets, making “sky daddy” a trending keyword for days.
Wendy explained that patients are already going through a lot and hate isn't going to make things any better
Image credits: loveurmother
Turns out, it’s a phrase that many people use in the clinic that Wendy volunteers at, and some claim that the term has been around for a while, but it is not that it was popularized to such a degree. People online were both praising the woman for her courage in actually doing the volunteering that she does, but were also pointing out just how brilliant of a term “sky daddy” is.
After going viral, Wendy posted another video on her Instagram, explaining how she tried to reason with Jennifer after the incident, but to no avail. “She didn’t care and she has a very hate-filled heart. She told me that she doesn’t believe Jesus died on the cross for everyone, [but rather] only those elected by sky daddy,” elaborated the Instagram video caption.
During the confrontation, Wendy used the term "sky daddy" which resonated throughout the internet
Image credits: loveurmother
Check out the full video, which already has 9.4M views, below
Wendy was surprised that all of this went viral, as she told Bored Panda:
“I wasn’t expecting it at all! To me, it changes nothing. I’m still going out there as much as I can. I just hope all of this opens Jennifer’s heart. I love all the comments about ‘sky daddy,’” laughed Wendy. “It’s not a new concept at all, we use that all the time. But one thing that stands out the most to me is that people are wanting to volunteer with their local clinics. So that is pretty amazing and I’m glad that something good can come from this!”
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comment section below!
Here's how people reacted to the video as well as to the use of "sky daddy"
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