Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Sims posted a video on Tuesday saying he would “do better” following backlash after he filmed himself shaming protesters outside a Planned Parenthood clinic.
Said Sims: “As a volunteer patient-escort myself at this clinic for the last seven years, I have seen insults, harassment, racism and slurs directed at mostly young women entering the building to seek care. Care for conditions that we, as outsiders, know nothing about. Last week was no different. What I failed to show in the video was the group of protesters praying at, not silently praying for, people entering the Planned Parenthood, intercepting them and harassing them for their personal choices.”
Added Sims: “When I was there on Thursday afternoon, I was not a volunteer escort; I was a neighbor, a concerned citizen and an unwavering supporter of women’s rights and yes, I was aggressive. I know that two wrongs don’t make a right, especially when I’m on the front lines of this civil rights battle. I can do better, and I will do better, for the women of Pennsylvania.”
Sims had posted the video of himself rebuking the protesters on the live-streaming platform Periscope, and a clip of it was reposted to Twitter by Lila Rose, the founder of anti-abortion group Live Action.
