Pro-Life Michigan State University Student Assaulted by Abortion Advocates

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Oct 9, 2004   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Pro-Life Michigan State University Student Assaulted by Abortion Advocates Email this article
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by Paul Nowak
LifeNews.com Staff Writer
October 9, 2004

Lansing, MI (LifeNews.com) — Pro-abortion students at Michigan State University assaulted a male student who was talking with members of Students for Life on Wednesday.

The pro-life group had set up a table with materials and information on prenatal development and the pro-life movement for Respect Life week. They distributed plastic models of unborn babies and literature, and collected contact information from students interested in joining the organization and supporting its educational efforts.

"We wanted to dedicate a whole week to educate the campus about the tragedy of abortion, raise funds and recruit members to our group," said Katie Wilcox, president of Students for Life.

However, as the pro-life students were packing up their materials later that afternoon, a group of Students for Choice members showed up with a large banner, and stood across from the Students for Life table, jeering.

A male student was then talking with members of Students for Life, and had taken some of the literature and expressed interest from the group.

According to Ken Curell, vice president of Students for Life, two female pro-abortion students came up from behind and began harassing the student, telling him he had no right to an opinion on a woman’s issue.

Curell told LifeNews.com that when the student turned around to ask who they were, they snatched the pro-life literature from his hands, and threw it at him. When he bent over to pick them up, they kicked his hands.

Then, one of the pro-abortion students tackled the student, knocking him onto the recruitment table and crushing it, "like on TV wrestling," said Curell.

The two female students walked off, laughing, while the student who had been assaulted hurried off to an exam. Students for Life did not get a chance to learn his name.

Police were called to the scene, but the Students for Choice representatives denied knowing the attacker or her accomplice, though Currell and Molly Pappas, who had been talking to the victim, said they had seen the attacker at the group’s events. Students for Life members were told that they could not recover damages for their table or their materials unless the student who was assaulted presses charges.

"We have the right to function just like any other student organization on campus and exercise our freedom of speech and we’re not going to let them take that away from us," Wilcox told the State News.

Wilcox told LifeNews.com that this was the first time they had encountered any violent opposition to their message.

But, it’s not the first time pro-life students have been assaulted this year.

Female students from George Washington University attended a pro-abortion rally sponsored by John Kerry’s presidential campaign to express their pro-life views, and were shoved and dragged from the crowd by pro-abortion protesters.

NARAL members gathered around the students, linked arms, and dragged them out of the rally. Some of the pro-life students sought medical treatment for injuries sustained during the attack.

"I have never been manhandled like that before — pushed around, shoved and tossed — it was ridiculous," Suanne Edmiston told LifeNews.com. "I really felt violated, they had no right to touch me like that. So much for ‘my body, my choice.’"

Related Sites:
MSU Students for Life – https://www.msu.edu/~msusfl