Reports of violence and hatred toward pro-lifers have been occurring more frequently in the past few months.
Last week, an arsonist set fire to a pregnancy center in New Mexico in a possible “hate crime,” and now a Colorado pro-lifer is accusing an abortion activist of harassing him and taking his walker.
The Colorado Springs Gazette reports Joseph Martone Jr., 55, was using a walker to stand on the sidewalk near the Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs on Friday when the incident occurred.
According to the report:
[A]n unfamiliar man walked up to him and grabbed his walker, marked with a “Trust god, end abortion” sticker, and told him to “get the (expletive) out of here.”
“Not today,” Martone said the man told him.
After Martone took his walker back, the man snatched a sign that said “Defund Planned Parenthood” and ran off.
Martone said he reported the theft to Colorado Springs police.
Pro-life protesters, sidewalk counselors and organizations increasingly have become targets of harassment and violence.
The FBI is investigating another possible “hate crime” against pro-lifers that occurred last week in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The unknown arsonist(s) set several fires inside Project Defending Life’s office, which offers pregnancy and parenting resources to moms and babies. The extent of the damage is not yet known, but the office is closed until further notice.
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In another incident, a pro-life sidewalk counselor in Michigan is suing an abortion facility after she says its security guard made a false report to police claiming that she had a bomb.
In January, LifeNews reported pro-life sidewalk counselors in Phoenix, Arizona also were targeted in a drive-by incident and sprayed with an unknown substance, later determined to be tomato juice. Police later filed charges against a man and his teenage children, including assault and disorderly conduct.
A pro-life club at the University of California Davis was targeted in March when its members set up a poll table asking about late-term abortions. One abortion activist allegedly harassed the pro-life students and threw their materials on the ground.
In May, another abortion activist was caught on film allegedly assaulting a pro-lifer outside of a Columbus, Ohio abortion facility. Police cited the man for a fourth degree misdemeanor of disorderly conduct.
