Pro-abortion advocates have long touted the “violent” nature of the pro-life movement.
Indeed, the mission statement of the national organization Medical Students for Choice claims that it “stands up in the face of violent opposition” and that it was founded because “medical students across the country began to realize that, as future physicians, they were targets of anti-choice extremists.” Book titles like Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism are not uncommon. Listed first under strategies used by “anti-choice people” on NARAL Pro Choice America’s website is “violent tactics that intimidate doctors and patients.” Combined with the media’s pro-abortion slant, these have crafted an image for the pro-life movement that hardly represents reality.
It may come as a surprise, then, that the pro-abortion movement claims hundreds more documented cases of violence against pro-life activists and pregnant women than the reverse.
With the tagline, “setting the story straight about violence in the fight for life,” Human Life International has embarked on a project to compile all incidents of pro-abortion violence. Its website, ProChoiceViolence.com, cites cases of murder, sexual assault, abortion client fatalities, and other crimes in an effort to put the incidents of violence in the pro-life movement in perspective.
It takes only a handful of statistics to illustrate their point. There have been over 300 murders and 152 attempted murders in the name of the pro-abortion cause since Roe v. Wade. 551 women have died from botched abortions, and over 1,000 have been the victims of various sex crimes.
In contrast, the pro-life movement has seen 8 murders since Roe v. Wade. Though these cannot be condoned by any means, they do not reflect the rest of the pro-life movement. In fact, most pro-life organizations have spoken out against them.
Dr. Brian Clowes, director of the project, speaks to the importance of the project: “If people truly understood how backwards the media narrative is regarding the supposed intolerance and violence of pro-lifers, compared to that of ‘pro-choicers,’ we would be having a very different conversation about abortion in our nation today.”
