While our team had an extremely successful “Choice” Chain outside a pro-choice rally on Friday night, it ended with a pro-choice man, Grzegorz Jurkiew, sexually harassing two of our female team members:
The most shocking part of the sexual harassment was that the pro-choice crowd cheered on him, so much so that he did it a second time. In fact, the rally’s stated objective was not just to support abortion, but to “address all gendered and racialized violence” – yet it ended with a white pro-choice man sexually harassing racialized female pro-lifers.
I guess it shouldn’t be surprising if the signs say anything about the conduct and character of those holding them – Jurkiew dropped his pants while being flanked by signs with slogans like “GET DAT FETUS KILL DAT FETUS” and “HAIL SATAN ABORT EVERYONE.”
His girlfriend, Abby Goldman, spent quite some time exposing her backside as well, which had “ABORT THIS” written on it – so clearly the couple had planned this out in advance. I’m not sure what’s worse, dropping your pants in the spur of the moment, or thinking beforehand, “you know what would be a great idea this evening?” Even after the fact they’re both quite proud of it, bragging about the sexual harassment on Facebook.
Pro-choice activists are getting increasingly desperate. When all you can do is take off your clothes in the face of the photos of human beings killed by abortion and a message that all human beings deserve human rights, that’s not a sign that you’re winning. In fact, one rally attendee who spent time talking to our team members even remarked that we are “so well trained” that her only suggestion was to try to disrupt dialogue.
Let me be clear: I do not enjoy writing blog posts like this. I hate having to waste my time describing the ridiculous antics and misconduct of pro-choice activists, rather than focusing on the important work that we’re doing the other 95% of the time, changing hearts and minds and having fruitful conversations.
The thing is, I dislike the fact that female members of our team were sexually harassed even more. It’s unacceptable that members of our team increasingly face assault, discrimination, theft, and now, sexual harassment. These are not acceptable ways to voice disagreement in a civil society. We continue on because we know that our presence makes a difference in changing and saving lives. There must be consequences for these actions, and the perpetrators won’t face consequences if we remain silent.
The part of this episode that bothers me the most is every time I hear the pro-choice crowd cheering on a pro-choice man dropping his pants to intimidate pro-life women. Does the pro-choice community support sexual harassment as long as it’s aimed at pro-lifers? Or will the rally organizers and other pro-choice leaders condemn sexual harassment unequivocally?