As the Supreme Court gets closer to releasing an abortion ruling that could overturn Roe v. Wade and return the issue to the states, pro-abortion forces are getting more brazen in intimidating pro-lifers — particularly in New York City and Washington, D.C.
In New York, peaceful pro-life protesters were mobbed by pro-abortion forces during a monthly “Witness for Life” procession on Saturday, with reports indicating several pro-life marchers were pushed to the ground. Meanwhile, just one day before, a crisis pregnancy center was hit with an attack that splattered paint on its doors; vandals also graffitied “Jane Says Revenge” on the walls.
The incidents come after weeks of intimidation visited upon pro-life figures — including protests outside or near the homes of Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices.
(With the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health just days or weeks away — and the end of Roe v. Wade potentially coming with it — The Western Journal will be here with all of the latest news and analysis, all from a Christian, conservative perspective you won’t find in the mainstream media. If you support our coverage, please consider subscribing.)
According to National Review, the “Witness for Life” march — a monthly event organized by the Catholic Archdiocese of New York — was attended by roughly 100 parish members of the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral.
After celebrating mass, they marched from the church to a Planned Parenthood clinic two blocks away, praying the rosary and singing hymns during the march.
“Awaiting them as they exited the Cathedral, however, was a group of over 100 pro-abortion protesters. Organized by ‘New York City for Abortion Rights’ and ‘Democratic Socialists of America,’ the protesters surrounded the entrance — bearing posters and flyers and chanting slogans — and tried to stop the procession from leaving the church,” National Review’s Arjun Singh reported.
“As the procession walked forward, it was pushed back by protesters — who also blocked any attempt to walk around them and jeered at the parishioners while they prayed. ‘Abortion is healthcare; healthcare is a right,’ they chanted, among other slogans telling the procession to leave. ‘Get Up, Get Out, New York Is a Pro-Choice Town,’ they said, with one man yelling that the parishioners should have ‘stayed in their churches.’ At one point, the crowd chanted ‘Zealots go home.’”
Should Roe v. Wade be overturned?
It’s amusing to note what the zealots think constitutes zealotry. It’s also worth noting only one of the assemblages was registered with municipal authorities, however, and you probably won’t be surprised to discover it wasn’t the pro-abortion contingent.
Police had advised the pro-abortion protesters to leave the area over loudspeakers: “If you do not disperse, you will be arrested and charged with disorderly conduct,” they warned.
This, of course, led to chants directed at the police: “Racist cops, rapist priests, no matter what we’ll take the streets,” the pro-abortion crowd chanted.
“Officers positioned themselves between both groups and walked with the rosary procession towards the clinic,” Singh wrote.
“At times, they had to physically force aside pro-abortion protesters to enable procession to the proceed, causing a number of them to fall to the ground. Several parishioners were pushed to the ground by pro-abortion demonstrators. One man, who tried to snatch the procession’s crucifix, was pulled away by police.”
No pro-abortion protesters were arrested at this month’s event — which is an improvement over last month, one supposes, where several were put in cuffs for blocking the door to the church as parishioners tried to leave.
Reverend Brian Graebe, one of the organizers, said in an interview that law enforcement had been investigating threats made against the cathedral, including a threat to burn it down.
“It’s the most high-profile pro-life event in the city,” he said. “This is the new normal.”
The new normal could also be seen several hundred miles to the south in the nation’s capital, where, just one day before, a minatory message was discovered on a crisis pregnancy center.
Clinic director Janet believes the vandalism was done by pro-abortion protestors concerned about the possible overturn of Roe v. Wade. Police on the scene pic.twitter.com/Mx31uBqxiP
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) June 3, 2022
The Daily Signal reported that the Capitol Hill Crisis Pregnancy Center had its door covered in “blood” along with the phrase “Jane Says Revenge” sometime between Thursday night and Friday morning. While unconfirmed, the graffiti could be the work of pro-abortion group Jane’s Revenge, which has claimed responsibility for attacks on pro-life centers in Seattle and Wisconsin.
“I got a phone call from a neighbor across the street from the pregnancy center about the graffiti and the paint falling on her front door,” said Janet Durig, executive director of the Capitol Hill Crisis Pregnancy Center.
She noted this kind of intimidatory vandalism had never happened to the center.
“At first, I was sad. And now I’m just saying that the times, I guess,” she said.
“It’s sad that somebody feels they have to do this when we help so many people.”
Of course, the only real help pro-abortion forces accept is killing the unborn. And, if the Supreme Court takes away the invented constitutional right to an abortion, the left is perfectly fine with intimidating the rest of the living to get its way.
Keep in mind that, since a draft opinion which would overturn Roe v. Wade was first leaked by Politico on May 2, it’s been leading up to this. One of the groups that got massive publicity in the aftermath of the leak was Ruth Sent Us, a shadowy pro-abortion group with a flagrantly anti-Catholic bias that published the addresses of the Supreme Court’s Republican-appointed justices.
Doocy: “Activists posted a map with the home addresses of the Supreme Court justices. Is that kind of thing this president wants?”
PSAKI: “I don’t have an official U.S. government position on where people protest.” pic.twitter.com/kpqF1FUGVF
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 5, 2022
But, it’s not like the White House was going to call off the dogs. When asked about this, then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration didn’t “have an official U.S. government position on where people protest.”
You can be assured the White House will say it had a position if and when these protests turn truly ugly, however, since no one wants to be associated with violence and intimidation on a large scale. Small-scale stuff like this is fine with the left, however, at least for the moment — and that should be a massive red flag for every American.
