Harassment has become a common occurrence for pro-life advocates.
Just before Christmas, a Catholic priest was targeted while he was visiting the University of Virginia with several vocational candidates, according to the Church Militant.
Father Benedict Croell said when he returned to his car later in the day, he saw a note on his windshield. The handwritten note, which he shared on Facebook, said: “The only good baby is a dead baby. Your mother should have aborted you!”
Croell said the note likely was prompted by the pro-life bumper sticker on his car, which quoted Mother Teresa, “Abortion — It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”
The priest responded to the harassment with love and compassion:
He went on to call for prayers for the conversion of the person who left the letter: “Let’s storm heaven with prayers for this person! Please pray one Our Father and one Hail Mary for the conversion of the person who wrote the note, for an end to abortion and for women who suffer the effects of an abortion.” …
Father Croell emphasized the importance of prayer in the face of intimidation and harassment, saying, “So many are suffering, and it is important that we have mercy upon them with our prayers.”
College campuses have become a hotbed of hostility toward pro-life advocates. But sidewalk counselors also have become victims of violence, threats and harassment.
Earlier this month, a 15-year-old girl was punched in the face and knocked to the ground by an abortion activist outside a Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Roanoke, Virginia.
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In two separate incidents this year, men also allegedly threatened to kill pro-life advocates outside abortion facilities in California and Florida. In early February, violent threats against a California pro-life leader prompted him to cancel a pro-life rally, LifeNews reported.
Students for Life documented at least 40 incidents of vandalism alone in the past five years against its pro-life students groups. A new interactive map displays the places where its clubs have been victims of vandalism.
This fall, vandals destroyed pro-life student displays at both Northern Kentucky University and St. Louis University. Campus Reform reported two other instances of vandalism in November: one at the University of Florida and another at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.
In October, a professor at San Jose University also allegedly threatened to “beat the s— out of” pro-life students who were protesting on campus. A university spokeswoman said they are investigating.
In March, a pro-life student display at the University of Colorado at Boulder was vandalized, and another one was vandalized in April at Texas State University. Yet another was vandalized at Fresno State University in California in May, allegedly by a professor.
“Other incidences of violence against our group include: Administrators destroying chalkings at Kutztown University, vandals throwing paint on a display at Portland State University, and a display of graduation cords (to highlight ‘missing students’ who were killed by abortion) at University of Miami,” according to Students for Life.
