Following the leaked draft of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on May 2 that foreshadowed the overturning of Roe v. Wade, more than 80 pregnancy resource centers (PRCs), churches and other pro-life organizations have been vandalized. The centers windows have been broken, their buildings have been graffitied, and in some cases, vandals have committed arson.
Militant pro-abortion activist groups such as Jane’s Revenge have claimed credit for much of the violence and have promised more.
Responding to the wave of violence and dangerous climate for pro-life facilities and churches, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has introduced a bill, the Pregnancy Resource Center Defense Act, which amends existing federal law by increasing penalties for damaging or destroying clinics or places of worship.
Hawley’s bill would protect PRCs and churches by:
- Increasing criminal penalties from a misdemeanor to a felony for first-time offenses, and increasing the criminal fine from $10,000 to $25,000
- Guaranteeing that pregnancy resource centers and religious facilities that successfully sue will receive no less than $20,000 (a $10,000 increase)
- Imposing a 7-year mandatory minimum when attacks involve arson (up from a 5-year mandatory minimum)
The senator explained his motivation for introducing the bill in a press release.
“The Biden Administration has turned a blind eye while radical leftists attack pregnancy care centers and houses of worship,” Hawley said. “And now left-wing politicians are trying to shut them down. It’s time to put an end to the attacks and get tough on thugs who engage in violence, arson, and other means of destruction.”
The dangerous climate for pro-life organizations has only been exacerbated by recent statements from pro-abortion politicians such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who described the work of PRCs in counseling women about alternatives to abortion as “torture.” Warren also declared she wants to see all PRCs in her state and across the nation shut down. She has even co-sponsored a bill in Congress to punish them for what she calls “false advertising.”
In one sense, it’s odd that abortion activists have chosen to target PRCs and churches to vent their wrath in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs. PRCs and churches aren’t politicians or judges. They simply minister to women who are seeking alternatives to abortion, both in the form of counseling and meeting their physical needs. And they’ve been ministering relatively unscathed for decades until now.
But Dobbs effectively tore the veil away from leftists’ reliance on courts to protect their unholy sacrament of abortion and punctured their sanctimonious rhetoric about “choice.” Pro-aborts have revealed themselves as approving of only one option – abortion.
And they’re mad, and lashing out at any and all easy targets. PRCs and churches are sitting ducks for the type of cowards who operate best under a cloak of darkness.
And Christians understand that there is a spiritual component to the left’s anger. Churches and PRCs, many of which are staffed by Christian volunteers wanting to serve women in need, represent Christ to a hurting world. The Bible promises conflict with the world whenever and wherever the Kingdom of God advances.
Ephesians 6:12 (ESV) reminds us: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
Please continue to lift up in prayer our nation’s churches, PRCs and believers everywhere who serve on the frontlines helping women with unplanned pregnancies choose life.
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