The abortion divide was stark in New York City Saturday as members of a Catholic church prayed while a performer mimicked having an abortion on the church sidewalk as her fans cheered “thank God for abortion.”
The incident at the Basilica of Old St. Patrick in New York came after days of frenzied rhetoric that emerged after a leaked draft copy of a Supreme Court opinion suggested that five of the nine justices appear to be on board with reshaping the laws surrounding abortion.
The leaked opinion indicated that justices were willing to allow states to set abortion rules.
As a result, Saturday was a day of protest at the church, during which a performer known as Crackhead Barney shared her vision of performance art with a crowd that came to block church members from their monthly trip to a nearby Planned Parenthood clinic.
“They’re terrorizing my f***ing uterus,” she said, before later saying, “I’m killing them, I’m killing the babies.”
WARNING: Following video contains strong and graphic language that some viewers will find offensive.
NYC performer Crackhead Barney made an appearance as Pro-choice protesters faced off Pro-life group outside NYC Church
Video by Karla Cote (FNTV https://t.co/MKhP0Go9IL) pic.twitter.com/7m85hH3KYU
— Scootercaster (@ScooterCasterNY) May 7, 2022
Later, she pretended she was having an abortion as the crowd chanted “Thank God for abortion.” Amid the antics, the pro-life advocates continued to pray.
This is pro-abortion NYC this morning — blocking the doors of a church screaming about how God loves abortion. One dances with dolls she tells us are her aborted babies. “God killed his kid, why can’t I kill mine?” pic.twitter.com/qA85kluRS5
— Kathryn Jean Lopez (@kathrynlopez) May 7, 2022
The Rev. Brian Grabe, pastor of the church, said the monthly pro-life procession is peaceful, according to the Gothamist.
“The killing of any innocent human being is always wrong. And so we’re here to pray that we may be a country that respects and upholds the dignity of human life,” he said.
Kathryn Jean Lopez, who was among the members of the procession who could not make their way through the crowd, wrote about the incident for National Review.
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Lopez noted that the performer was willing to speak of Jesus in a mocking way that amounted to blasphemy. “God killed his kid, why can’t I kill mine?” she called out.
She wrote that the performer “certainly seemed to be looking for a fight, imploring the priest, Fr. Fidelis Moscinski, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal — who she repeatedly referred to as ‘b—ch’ — to come out and face her.
Although the crowd cheered that the procession to the Planned Parenthoood clinic was stopped, Lopez noted that “[w]hat they didn’t appreciate is that the prayer was just as intense inside the church.”
Lopez recounted her experience seeing hate up close and personal in the mob that blocked the procession.
The blockaders declare NYC a “pro-choice town” outside @oldcathedral this morning pic.twitter.com/AQRqGxUq6N
— Kathryn Jean Lopez (@kathrynlopez) May 7, 2022
“As always during these incidents, I’m overwhelmed by how angry and obviously hurt so many of the people who showed up this morning are,” she wrote, adding, “Pray for people who wake up in the morning want to protest people who pray for women and babies to not be pressured into abortion.”
She said the incident was a small measure of the damage abortion has done.
“[T]he kind of demonic scenes I’ve witnessed again and again near and outside Planned Parenthood on Bleecker Street only serve as confirmation of the wreckage abortion is responsible for,” she wrote.
