Pregnancy resource center vandalized in DC

Washington D.C., Jun 3, 2022 / 14:21 pm (CNA).

A pregnancy resource center in Washington, D.C., was vandalized with red paint and graffiti this week. The incident is the latest in a string of attacks on pro-life organizations and Catholic church buildings.

Photos of the June 3 vandalism show a splash of red paint covering the Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center’s white door. On the brick outer building, the words “Jane says revenge” are written in black spray paint.

Janet Durig, the executive director of the center, told The Daily Signal she discovered it was vandalized when a neighbor called and notified her. The Daily Signal reported that the vandalism occurred between late Thursday night and Friday morning.

Durig told The Daily Signal that “It’s sad that somebody feels they have to do this when we help so many people.”

Durig was not available for comment to CNA’s request by publication time.

Attacks on pro-life centers and Catholic churches increased after the May 2 leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion in the abortion case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which suggests that justices are preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide in 1973.

In the early hours of May 25, Next Step Pregnancy Center in Lynnwood, Washington was tagged with grafitti saying, “Jane’s revenge” and “If abortions aren’t safe, you aren’t either.” At least five of its windows were smashed in.

The Archdiocese of Seattle confirmed to CNA that St. Michael Parish in Olympia was vandalized with the words “Abort the church” spray-painted on a wall on May 22. On a post at Puget Sound Anarchists, the Bo Brown Memorial Cell of Jane’s Revenge claimed responsibility for the attack, along with attacks on three non-Catholic churches.

In Maryland, the ​​Alpha Pregnancy Center in Reisterstown, northwest of Baltimore, suffered spray-painted threats May 14 including “If abortions aren’t safe, neither are you,” “Not a clinic,” and “You’re anti-choice and not pro-life.” Those messages were signed as being from “Jane’s Revenge.”

The headquarters of Wisconsin Family Action in Madison were set on fire May 8. “A molotov cocktail, which did not ignite, was thrown inside the building. It also appears a separate fire was started in response,” a police report said. Graffiti left outside the building said, “If abortions aren’t safe than you aren’t either.”

Oregon Right to Life reported that Molotov cocktails were thrown at the organization’s offices in Keizer on May 8, igniting a small fire. The fire was quickly put out and no one was hurt.

In Denton, Texas, near Dallas, two women’s resource centers, Woman to Woman Resource Center and Loreto House, were vandalized over the May 7-8 weekend.