Pro-abortion students threaten pro-life student group, vandalize sign

According to The College Fix, a pro-life student group at the University of Mary Washington recently dealt with hostility from pro-abortion students as they attempted to advertise and host a pro-life event.

Key Takeaways:

• Signs promoting an event by the Students for Life student club at the University of Mary Washington were removed by pro-abortion students.

• The pro-abortion students also spray-painted over writing advertising the event on the college's Spirit Rock.

• One pro-abortion student said he would not be civil with pro-lifers, while another threatened to 'pee on the floor,' and another asked if someone could dox the pro-life students.

The Details:

Students for Life of America's (SFLA) University of Mary Washington (UMW) chapter member Spencer Lombardo recently wrote for The College Fix, "Over the past couple of days, my fellow pro-life student leaders and I witnessed first-hand the hostility that many young adults have to the idea that unborn babies shouldn't be murdered in the womb."

The group was organizing an event featuring SFLA spokesperson Lydia Taylor Davis as part of her "Make Gen Z Anti-Abortion" tour. The student group posted flyers of the event, which pro-abortion students continuously removed. The pro-life group then pivoted, deciding to advertise the event on The Spirit Rock, a boulder on a high-traffic route on campus, which school clubs can use to promote their events. However, the pro-abortion students painted over the event information.

When UMW SFLA students repainted the rock the following day, the chapter president was met with pushback and ended up in a debate with a pro-abortion student who showed up to paint over the rock again.

When asked why he was painting over the group's sign, the pro-abortion student said, "Because I don't like you and I don't like your message." He added, "I'm not planning on being civil with people who want to take away what I perceive as a human right: the right to choose, the right to medical privacy."

Another pro-abortion male student is heard in a video clip saying, "If someone I care about wants to get an abortion, I will stick a coat hanger up them if they want me to."

Dispute over the event also took place on the app Yik Yak, an anonymous social media platform. In messages shared there, one student said they were going to "pee on the floor" of the event, though no one followed through on that. Another message asked about doxxing members of the pro-life club.

Pro-abortion students were present at the event and, at times, heckled Davis. But ultimately, the event went smoothly, with no violence.

The Bottom Line:

Pro-life groups have faced an increase in vandalism and violent attacks since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022. In April, a pro-life woman was assaulted in New York, and in June, a pro-abortion man vandalized a pro-life display on UCLA's campus. In September, a pro-life man was violently assaulted outside a Denver Planned Parenthood. In the initial months following the fall of Roe, about 70% of abortion-related violence and threats were perpetrated by pro-abortionists against pro-life organizations — with few (or no) repercussions.