Lizz Winstead: This is what happened to me when there was no buffer zone at an abortion clinic:

The violence at clinics started in the late 1970’s. I was in my teens and I paid attention as in 1979, at 17 years old, I got pregnant. The journey that led me to my abortion choice is here:
http://vimeo.com/7548216

I went alone, I had no support, and the first time I could have real feelings about my choice in front of someone was at the clinic. I could speak freely, and without judgment.

I was professionally counseled; I was asked questions that did not have an agenda attached, it was only to evaluate my decision. It reaffirmed what I knew about myself, not as I had experienced days before at a Crisis Pregnancy center, what a stranger tried to impose upon me. I felt safe, I felt heard and – as I say almost every time I have written about this subject – I felt relief.

I made a promise to myself that I would always be there to advocate in anyway I could. And when the violence at abortion clinics started escalating in the 1980’s, I tried to help.

Doctors were being gunned down at their clinics and in their homes. Their children were followed to school, taunted by dangerous pied vipers shouting, “Your mommy (or daddy) is a murderer.”

There wasn’t organized clinic escorting yet so some activists would do things like stay overnight to protect clinic entrances before the most rabid of the protesters arrived. These people would do ANYTHING to gain access and even chain themselves to the clinic door, disrupting women’s access to health care for the day.

There often was swarming between camps and chaotic pushing and shouting. We were without training so we made up rules as we went along. First rule we learned quickly was always wear thick jeans. No matter how hot it is.

Why?
<snip>
Read the horrifying rest:
http://bluenationreview.com/hey-scotus-right-get-stabbed-anti-abortion-protester/

An article about what abortion clinics can still do to protect themselves:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/06/29/abortion-clinics-are-not-defenseless-but-there-is-reason-for-caution/

The plaintiffs presented a 'kindly', elderly grandmother as the face of 'counseling' that people outside clinics do. The reality is far different.

SCOTUS seems to believe that clinic violence has is no longer a factor.(see the article above) They need to live in the real world. This is the same attitude that they had about voting rights. They seem to think that voters are no longer impeded.

Per ABC, one clinic had more than 200 people volunteer to be escorts after the ruling.

If you volunteer to be an escort, you have to be ready for anything. The loons will be out. Winstead spells out some of their nasty tactics. It won't just be locking arms.
You will literally have to fight and learn tactics that won't get you arrested. That might mean surreptitious self-defense. If they aren't seen attacking, you can't be seen forcefully defending yourself.