In New York City, many people assume that the battle for reproductive choice takes place in “flyover states”—and certainly not in our own backyard! Yet these assumptions were proven incorrect again just a few days ago.

Last week, the Daily News reported on the closing of a surgical center in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, reportedly due to anti-abortion protests. Dr. Terry Lazar, an owner of the surgical center, told the Daily News, “It was getting more and more difficult. Doctors were getting harassed, and patients were getting harassed. It was a decision we finally had to make.” Although Dr. Lazar was later quoted by WNYC as stating that the closure was for “economic reasons” and was unrelated to protests, the bottom line is that this surgical center has closed, while another surgical center, under out-of-state ownership, will not provide abortion services. The protesters held a celebratory mass at a church located down the block.

Reading this story led me to flash back nearly 20 years, back to the spring of 1994, when Lincoln Women’s Services was denied a renewal lease at 1995 Broadway, in the old Jamaica Savings Bank building. Then, like now, the landlord denied that the protests had anything to do with the decision. I was the newly elected president of Community Free Democrats, and our Democratic club activists worked closely with then-Assembly Member Scott Stringer, then-District Leader Eric Schneiderman and others on this issue—first, to raise public awareness and to bring public pressure on the landlord to reconsider its decision; later, I worked with the owners to assist them in seeking alternative space on Manhattan’s West Side.

Earlier this year, just weeks after Rush Limbaugh labeled Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” for daring to speak up about health insurance coverage for reproductive choice, I was among a handful of men who worked with Unite Women New York to organize a march and rally in support of reproductive rights along with other issues such as education, workplace equality and protecting women and children from domestic violence. Thousands of activists of all ages marched from Washington Square Park to Foley Square as part of a national call to action.

The brazenness of the anti-choice forces across the nation cannot be underestimated. This year, we have seen a Virginia governor who wants to deter abortions by requiring medically unnecessary and invasive procedures, a vice-presidential candidate who sponsored legislation to define life as beginning at conception, and a U.S. Senate candidate in Missouri who believes that rape victims cannot get pregnant. Still, when we see medical clinics closing here in New York City because abortion is one of the medical options offered to patients, we are reminded that the struggle to protect reproductive rights must begin here at home.

Marc Landis is a candidate for New York City Council and an Upper West Side Democratic District Leader.

According to movies and television it is a scientific fact that Nerds have long been plagued with debilitating social diseases such as acne, braces, limp wrist, four-eyes, and polio. But now the Wizards over at the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington have crafted a method of casting the Sequence Genome spell on a fetus using only plasma extracted from the blood of a mother. With this conjuration the Wizard will roll for perception and may reveal any number of genetic cankers blighting the womb. In the end, of course, it’s up to the parents to decide the fate of their spawn.

In this video a handsome sounding scientists explains the benefits of the new magick:

.@BYTES1GHz is a single serving of undigested tech for the unfocused and/or unconcerned. Don’t be disappoint. Like. Enjoy.

The ads, which feature a serious young woman and direct viewers to a website (abortionchangesyou.com), are the work of Michaelene Fredenburg, a Wisconsin-born mother of two who now lives in San Diego. Fredenburg became immersed in the issue as a guest lecturer in college sexuality classes, where she’s spoken about getting an abortion at 18. She says her goal is to shift the discussion from “should you or shouldn’t you” to examining the range of emotions that follow an abortion. The website posts visitors’ thoughts on their own experiences with abortion, and offers local resources.

Michaelene Fredenburg, of the website AbortionChangeYou.com.

We spoke with Fredenburg over the phone to ask about reactions to her ads, and whether the campaign intends to dissuade women from considering abortion.

Q: Are you surprised at the response your ads have gotten?
A: It was unexpected. Because we’ve run ads before, in late 2008, on subways, and there certainly was an ample response, but it was primarily individuals who were visiting the website. But being surprised that people would misunderstand them? No I’m not surprised. Abortion is a very polarizing and politicized issue and for decades now, when we see the word “abortion” we immediately want to put a label on it. Like where are you coming from on this? Trying to communicate with those after abortion, that’s something really different and I think that people right now aren’t quite sure what to do with that.

Q: Why did you guys target New York City?
A: There are similar ads that are running in the Saint Louis area and then in the fall they’ll be running in San Diego. And in time we want to take the outreach into other areas across the United States. New York seemed like an ideal place to start because of the subway system. It’s a way that you can communicate with just about everybody. You have time when you are on the subway. Even when you are with a lot of people, it can sometimes be a little private in your interaction with something, and we thought that setting would be more of an invitation and that’s how we would really like the ads to be understood.

Q: The website purports to be neutral, but it has a lot of focus on the negative parts of abortion. How do you respond to that?
A: The website is open to everyone to come as they are, but it certainly is attracting individuals who are having difficulty with their abortion. And I think that’s understandable. If I’ve gone through a significant life experience but I feel healthy and whole about it, you continue to move on with your life. If I go through a significant life experience and I feel sad or confused or broken over it, I may be seeking support. We wanted to create a place that was safe and focused fully on after the decision. There isn’t anything on the website that talks about pregnancy or beforehand or any sort of political views.

Q: I think it would be fair to think that a person considering abortion would look at the website as well.
A: I acknowledge that possibility. Quite frankly, that’s not the target audience that we are trying to reach.

Q: The Times pointed out that resources slant toward religious organizations. For example, when I put in my zip code I noticed that Planned Parenthood didn’t come up. How were the resources on the website selected?
A: If you noticed when you went to the “Find Help” page, it does acknowledge that different resources work for different people, and we also have suggestions on there about seeking out a therapist or a bereavement support group in your area. And this is for someone who actually feels like they need additional help.

But your observation that there certainly [are] many more religious-oriented after-abortion services is reflective of, that there isn’t, in our opinion, enough of a variety of specific after-abortion services that are available. If someone actually has a service, meaning that there’s an actual program and not a referral service, where you can speak with someone, then they can apply to be listed on the website.

Q: You speak openly about your abortion. Is it a decision you regret?
A: I am public about my experience because I have found that it can be helpful for someone else to relate. But in saying that, I had a much more extreme reaction to my abortion than I typically run across. Sometimes I think when I see stories told, they tend to be one extreme or the other—meaning, “It was really great and empowering,” or in my instance, I fell apart—and I think there can be a danger in that because yes, people fall into both of those areas, but most people fall into some area in between that.

I probably, more than anything, wish that I had not gotten pregnant because I realize that if I had chosen to parent—and it certainly would have been single parenting, my partner was not someone, we were not going to get married—or if I had chosen to relinquish for adoption, those would have had their own difficulties and would have changed my life as well. So I don’t really reside in the “what ifs” anymore because there’s nothing that I can do about it.

Q: Is there anything you will do differently in future campaigns?
A: I would imagine that we will do some things differently, but we’re not sure what it will be yet. Once the ads go down, that volume of communication from New York will also start to dwindle, which will give us time to go back and look over everything and to consider really carefully the criticisms that were raised. Is there something that we can do preemptively to better define the outreach so that it’s not understood as an argumentative phrase, or trying to agendize or make someone feel bad? We’re not sure yet.

Transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.