Pro-Abortion Students Vandalize Pro-Life Chalk Display

State   |   Kristan Hawkins   |   Feb 15, 2011   |   6:22PM   |   Washington, DC

On February 3rd, Students for Life of America co-sponsored the first National Pro-Life Chalk Day and one participating campus, The University of Mary Washington, had their chalk display vandalized by pro-abortion students on their campus.  
The pro-abortion opposition vandalized the Mary Washington Students for Life group’s pro-life sayings with threatening statements such as, “Death to Facists” and “Pro-Life=Anti-Choice.”

The fact that students at Mary Washington University have been threatened by their peers for their pro-life beliefs is outrageous. All universities should be places for education and open discussion not hostile and threatening environments for students with a pro-life view. Students, such as those at the University Mary Washington, deserve to have their first amendment rights protected on campus. I call on the University of Mary Washington to condem these attacks and hold the pepetrators accountable for their actions.

Today, the University of Mary Washington Students for Life group responded to the vandalized with this published op-ed in their campus newspaper. You can read the op-ed here:

Why do pro-choice members of our Mary Washington community feel the need to vandalize pro-life messages on campus walk? Why do they feel the need to pull down pro-life flyers or flyers for crisis pregnancy centers that offer women alternatives to abortion, an activity that has been going on for several years?

Doesn’t pro-choice mean being open to all choices, not just the ones you believe in? Some “pro-choice” students here on our campus have decided that ignorance is better than information.

Calm and rational debate is possible, even when it comes to a heated issue such as abortion. I’m sure that most pro-choice students on campus are against this pro-silence policy.

Women and men should have all the information available to them. If the pro-choice movement is so confident that they are right, then why do they continuously fight laws that oblige women to become informed about the fetus (unborn child) inside of them?

Some states are pro-women enough to require that women view ultrasounds or read information packets that allow them to make an informed decision. What is so bad about that?

Even President Obama, a proponent of abortion on demand, says that a decrease in abortions is desirable and that open and civil dialogue is important.

Though results are conflicting, some studies show that up to 80 percent of women who view an ultrasound keep their baby. If what we are striving for is a decrease in abortions, why not fully inform women?

I look forward to the day when all members on both sides of the debate can be civil, and information can be shared fully.