From the SFLA Blog

VIDEO: Pro-Life Students at George Mason University Called Nazis and Face Harassment as Materials Stolen at Back-to-School Event

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Caroline Wharton - 02 Sep 2022

Only days into the new semester and already pro-life students at Virginia’s George Mason University (GMU) are facing hostility from pro-abortion classmates who attempted to silence any voice on campus that doesn’t promote the violence of abortion.  

Ken Meekins, a junior and pro-life activist at GMU, detailed the harassment his club faced while tabling during the Get Connected Club Fair. An event at the start of the new school year to showcase the university’s many clubs and opportunities for students to engage in turned into slurs, harassment, and stolen pro-life literature.  

Meekins’ reported:  

Yesterday, while my club was tabling, we had an individual approach us who said he was going to block our table because, “Our club is stupid, and no one should be able to see our display.” 

Naturally, I let him know that we have a right to be on campus just as much as any other club. He then began accusing us and falsely stated, “You took rights away from women, so I don’t care about your right to freedom of speech.” 

GMU Pro-Life Students

Clearly upset about the Dobbs ruling that rightfully restored the issue of abortion to the states, the student began to badger me about recent abortion news until we told him he would have to leave if he didn’t want to have respectful dialogue. 

Hard conversations come with being a pro-life activist, we have them all the time, but when individuals become hostile and disrespectful, we don’t engage. After being asked to leave, the student proceeded to take all our informational cards on the table and walk away with them. 

These cards let people know about life-affirming resources and are oftentimes the very piece of information that gets into the hands of a pregnant woman who didn’t know about all the choices the pro-life movement offers that she won’t find at an abortion vendor. 

GMU Pro-Life Students

Some of my club members and I began filming and caught him throwing all our cards in a garbage can, but luckily, we were able to retrieve them undamaged. To protect ourselves on campus, we wear body cameras to record incidents such as this.  

Students for Life of America (SFLA) Regional Coordinator, Gavin Oxley, followed the man to retrieve the cards and engaged in a conversation with him about what had just happened while a police officer stood nearby. 

The officer assured the pro-abortion man that our rights were considered protected free speech, despite the pro-abortion student’s behavior. The pro-abortion vandal came back to our table not even 10 minutes later and began to harass our club more. 

He insulted several members of my organization, calling us Nazis and white supremacists, while attempting to grab and block our body cameras. While the student eventually left, we will be taking extra measures to protect our club members throughout the rest of the school year. 

GMU Pro-Life Students

(CLICK HERE to read about a recent attack against a pro-life doorknocker.)  

The pro-life movement is about peace and civil discourse. While it’s clear those in favor of abortion also support harassment, silencing protected speech, and other first amendment violations, we will continue to speak up about the abortion lobby’s attempt to destroy our culture by harming women and children. 

Our work is clearly cut out for us this semester, but we won’t be silenced – too many preborn babies count on us. 

READ NEXT: The Bill for Free Speech? $25,000…And Counting 

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