Abortion Activists Vandalize Pro-Life Display, Then Brag About it on Social Media

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Feb 1, 2018   |   4:48PM   |   Frankfort, KY

Vandals at Bellarmine University destroyed a pro-life student group’s display Monday in Kentucky, the second act of vandalism against pro-lifers in less than two weeks.

Students for Life of America told LifeNews the Catholic Students Association at Bellarmine set up a Cemetery of the Innocents display with several signs and 50 pink and blue crosses to represent babies lost to abortion.

Later, pro-abortion students were observed bragging about the vandalism on social media.

Lauren Kasdan, a student at the school, wrote on Facebook, “Christians can have their crosses back when they learn what it stands for.” However, the pro-life group said it is not clear if Kasdan participated in the vandalism.

Another student, Ainsley Marion Mingis, posted a photo of the vandalism on her Facebook page with this message: “My school is stupid for allowing people to put up crosses for aborted fetuses. Quit demonizing women for wanting to put themselves first.” It is not clear if she helped vandalize the display either., though she used the same verbiage as the vandal.

The photo that Mingis shared showed a hand-written sign taped to the pro-life display that said, “Stop demonizing women who put themselves first.” The sign that it was connected to said, “Each cross represents more than 1 million unborn lives lost since 1973.”

Vandals also wrote pro-abortion messages on other signs, including “Support Planned Parenthood” and “Abortion is legal and an unalienable right in all 50 states.”

Student pro-life leaders said the vandals also flattened part of the display and stole several items.

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America condemned the act, saying: “The attack is another example of the hostility on college campuses to free-speech, especially those of pro-lifers. The situation has gotten so bad that Students for Life has started tracking vandalizations against pro-life displays on high school and college campuses.”

She praised pro-life students for being resilient and urged the university to investigate the vandalism.

Students for Life tracks vandalism against pro-life advocates on college campuses and posts them on a map on its website. The map includes more than 40 incidents of vandalism in the past five years.

Last week, the pro-life club at the College of William & Mary in Virginia also had its display vandalized. Police later found the student who allegedly destroyed the display and charged him with destruction of property.

In the past year, LifeNews reported numerous of acts of vandalism, harassment, threats and violence against pro-life advocates. One of the most shocking occurred in December when 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. The assault was captured on video.

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In two separate incidents last year, men also allegedly threatened to kill pro-life advocates outside abortion facilities in California and Florida. In February 2017, violent threats against a California pro-life leader prompted him to cancel a pro-life rally, LifeNews reported.

In the fall, vandals also destroyed pro-life student displays at Northern Kentucky University and St. Louis University. Campus Reform reported two other instances of vandalism in one week: 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 the California campus. A university spokeswoman said they are investigating.

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.

Also in the fall of 2017, someone spray-painted profanities on a South Carolina Citizens for Life sign, pro-life leader Holly Gatling told LifeNews. And in late October, pro-life advocates in Dallas, Texas called a bomb squad after they found a suspicious package near their 40 Days for Life site. WFAA News 8 reports the Dallas Police Department later determined that the suspicious package was a hoax, quite possibly meant to scare pro-life advocates who peacefully pray outside a nearby abortion clinic.