Among the reported 500,000 women marching on Washington, D.C., to protest Trump on Saturday, there was a remnant, a minority who stood for life in a sea of anger. Not everyone was protesting the new president; many were showing up to fight a more direct threat to women’s very existence — abortion.
But these pro-life feminists weren’t welcome, indeed they were attacked.
“Today at the Women’s march where it was all about women and unity and uplifting each other and love trumps hate, I was told that they hoped I was raped and needed an abortion,” Katie Joy Ussery, a pro-life attendee, posted on Facebook. Yes, these women who preach against sexual assault and condemn President Trump on those grounds wished rape on someone — just so she could experience the “good” of abortion.
But that’s not all. Ussery also recalled other slights. “I was spit on. I was physically blocked. I was shouted at in my face. I was told I was betraying other women. I was tripped. Why? Because I was advocating for pre-born women’s rights too.”
But this pro-life activist let the world know how she was treated. Her Facebook post has over 500 responses and nearly 500 shares.
https://www.facebook.com/these.hazel.eyes/posts/10211760550399334
“It was a brutal day,” Kristina Hernandez, director of communications for the group Students for Life (SFL), told USA Today. “I did not feel safe at all,” she added, saying that the humongous crowds made the protest “so overwhelming.”
“One of our girls was spit at, someone tore my sign in multiple pieces, we had people just yell at us but the main response was people just said ‘my body my choice’ when they walked past us,” explained Reagan Barklage, SFL’s Western regional director.
Before the march, SFL President Kristan Hawkins declared that they had a counter-protest, “showing them that pre-born women’s rights are also human rights.” This pro-life message directly contrasts with the narrative that abortion is a “right,” rather than the taking of an innocent life. It also gets to the root of a horrific practice — sex-selective abortion — which targets women in the womb for death, while preferring boys.
According to SFL’s Facebook event, 75 people marked themselves as “going,” and 300 said they were “interested.” While the crowd was small compared to those protesting Trump, it was far from silent.
The Women's March flexed its pro-choice position, but that didn't stop pro-life groups from attending. https://t.co/uJGK63z3My pic.twitter.com/iiq2RI3yqm
— America Magazine (@americamag) January 22, 2017
Look at all these #prolife young WOMEN who do not support #HillaryClinton2016 because she betrays women on abortion. pic.twitter.com/BrLhSreoah
— Charmaine (@CharmaineYoest) June 10, 2016
According to a tweet from the SFL Twitter account, the group had no less than three pro-life banners leading the Women’s March. The most prominent declared “Abortion Betrays Women.” (You can even see a “Pussy Grabs Back” sign right behind it…)
We had 3 #prolife banners at THE FRONT of the #WomensMarch in Washington DC! See the LIVE video here: https://t.co/FQ07BQq62q #prolife pic.twitter.com/ugzFPTY8jm
— Students for Life (@StudentsforLife) January 21, 2017
(By the way, you can see Katie Ussery on the left, in the black jacket.)
The Women’s March infamously declined to accept the official participation of pro-life groups like SFL. The march organizers officially disinvited the pro-life feminist organization New Wave Feminists, and then the group And Then There Were None.
Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic worker who became a pro-life activist and serves as president of And Then There Were None, originally proclaimed her organization’s membership in the march.
Proud to be a partner of the Women's March on D.C. Diverse voices are needed! #prolifewomen pic.twitter.com/xafe7fH1Wo
— Abby Johnson (@AbbyJohnson) January 18, 2017
The very morning after Johnson posted that tweet of solidarity, her organization had been removed from the list.
And now we have been removed as a partner from the Women's March. This is almost comical. pic.twitter.com/XyTw3arXL7
— Abby Johnson (@AbbyJohnson) January 18, 2017
The group went anyway, and marchers reportedly slammed into Johnson, who is pregnant with twins, during the event. She later thanked a group of marchers who actually formed a “security line” to protect her and her fellow protesters after she “got pushed into the road.”
It's always great to represent life. pic.twitter.com/8lbGH2cTrb
— Abby Johnson (@AbbyJohnson) January 22, 2017
Events like this reveal just how tolerant and diverse the Left really is — they can’t allow pro-life women to march with them, and when these “enemies of women” show up anyway, they can’t co-exist with them either. Go figure.
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