Pro-life activist Jill Stanek is speaking out after her home appeared to be vandalized by political opponents, saying violence is a hallmark of the abortion movement and a sign of a major momentum shift in the debate over unborn lives.
“We were on vacation last week and got home Sunday night. Our front window was broken in our living room. Then we found a package that had been caught up in our curtains,” said Stanek, who serves as national campaign chair for the Susan B. Anthony List, which works to elect pro-life women to office.
“We opened the package. Inside was a big piece of cinder block and a note that included an expletive I won’t mention,” said Stanek.
The message read, “Quit the Pro-Life Bulls–t.”
Stanek has been very active in pro-life circles for many years. She famously confronted then-State Senator Barack Obama over his opposition to to legislation that would require life-saving treatment for babies who survive abortions. She was also among the leaders of a Capitol Hill sit-in last year demanding congressional action on the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which bans the vast majority of abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Although she is quick to put the act in perspective, Stanek admits this was a new experience for her.
“In the scheme of things, it’s not a big deal, especially when you compare it to what pre-born babies go through, but it’s the first time I’ve been the subject of vandalism since I’ve been in the pro-life movement,” said Stanek.
Hers may not be an isolated case.
“I was asked not to speak publicly about this but there is another activist in the Chicago area who had a cinder block thrown through his window Wednesday or Thursday but there was no note, so they’re not sure if it was related or not,” said Stanek.
In the bigger picture, Stanek also says pro-life students around the country are frequently attacked.
“On college campuses, a pro-life group cannot erect a display these days without it being vandalized. That’s just the way it is. We’re seeing attacks like this as the other side realizes it’s losing and resorting to what it knows best – violence,” said Stanek.
On one hand, Stanek says the timing is odd because she has been keeping an unusually low profile in recent months as she goes about her work for the Susan B. Anthony List. But on another level, she is not surprised at all.
“We know that the foundation of the pro-abortion movement is violence. Their modus operandi is to kill pre-born innocent babies, defenseless babies. So that’s their starting point,” said Stanek.
But she also sees specific reasons why the pro-choice movement feels threatened right now. In addition to a litany of pro-life laws being passed in states with Republican governors and legislatures, she says there is one flashpoint of the national abortion debate that has abortion advocates very nervous.
“There is a big front that we are very close to a breakthrough on and that’s defunding Planned Parenthood,” said Stanek.
Earlier this year, Congress approved a defunding bill. It was vetoed by President Obama, but Stanek says opponents are alarmed at how close this is to happening.
“We are talking about defunding Planned Parenthood to the tune of almost $500 million, half a billion dollars a year. The only thing standing in the way is a pro-abortion president. If we elect a pro-life president, (by) this time in 2017 Planned Parenthood will be defunded,” said Stanek.
She says the impact of that would be huge.
“The Democrat Party knows that if Planned Parenthood goes down, which it would if it lost half of its funding, it would be almost a fatal blow to the Democrat Party and the pro-abortion agenda. They consider Planned Parenthood an organization that’s too big to fail,” said Stanek.
She says that fear may be leading to more extreme tactics like she endured.
“We’re not just talking about greed. We’re talking about ideology and we’re also talking about politics. Those three together are definitely fodder for an uptick in violence,” she said.
“We are definitely on the offense right now and they feel it,” said Stanek.
