One might think that an event called the Women’s March, where its speakers and attendees claim to be speaking for women, all women would be treated with respect. Angry protesters, however, couldn’t handle the presence of a viewpoint which dared to challenge their pro-abortion narrative. They couldn’t help themselves from committing harassment, assault, and vandalism. Our team members were pushed, shoved, and screamed at. Clothing, banners, equipment and skin were vandalized with spray paint.
This is nothing new, however. Students for Life team members were also outside the Supreme Court less than a month ago as a peaceful pro-life counter-protest in response to a NARAL and Planned Parenthood Action rally opposing the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Autumn Schimmer was punched in the face, other team members had their phones knocked out of their hands. According to those present at both the events, these same characters showed up to cause trouble once more.
This is further evidence of how dangerous the pro-abortion crowd can be, as we’ve explored before. Angry pro-abortion protesters are not merely violent towards the preborn who don’t otherwise have a voice, but those who take up the cause to be their voice. If such people are willing to accept the violence of abortion, it sadly isn’t surprising that they’d accept the violence of their voices, or even commit it themselves.
What was it, then, that had people so angry, so triggered to the point that they were willing to turn to harassment, vandalism, and even assault? The unapologetically pro-life presence of Students for Life.
The Women’s March has been occurring in Washington, DC since January 2017. Despite the name it hardly speaks for all women, no matter how much and how loudly it claims to. Fortunately, Students for Life of America was there to be a voice for preborn women, a demographic all too ignored by the pro-abortion movement. As our team members have done in the past, Students for Life crashed the front of the Women’s March as it made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition to our banners, members of our SCOTUS Squad came with images representing our She Could Be campaign.
This project uses the power of the ultrasound—windows into the womb—to humanize preborn baby girls by reminding us of their dignity, worth, and potential. The possibilities for what these women can do is endless. She could be a Ruth, or an Ida, or a Rosa. Or, she could be aborted. If she is aborted, gone are those endless possibilities, as any and all of those opportunities are cut short when her life is prematurely ended.
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There could hardly be more peaceful, enlightening, and eye-opening projects. Yet it still triggered angry protesters as deeply as it did, in a way which speaks volumes. Mary Kate Knorr, the Strategic Partnerships Advisor for Students for Life Action spoke to the issue through a Facebook live video while on the ground, particularly about the contrast of young women attending the Women’s March. “There are many young people who are just blinded by the lies” of the abortion industry and pro-abortion politicians. The pro-life presence is “so powerful then, because it totally counters this narrative of the left, that the future is pro-abortion. We know that that’s false. The future is pro-life. We know that that is true. We know that we have the truth on our side.” Through their pro-life presence, Mary Kate explained, others “in the back of their minds know that there are normal women just like me on the other side who care about defending life inside the womb.”
From what video footage is available, viewers can see that many of those engaging are young women and girls. One has a “F*ck Trump” shirt as she laughs, points, and scoffs. Another young woman is on camera spray painting pro-life signs. Others are twerking and proactively dancing.
While Mary Kate noted that it was “one of the craziest days I have ever personally been a part of,” and that protesters were “being very aggressive today, crowding around us, bumping into us, physically harassing us,” she also spoke of “real beauty on the pro-life side,” and how the pro-life presence is “one of the best parts of being out here at these events.”
