Catholic nonprofit denounces 'horrific attack' against crisis pregnancy center near DNC

A Catholic pro-life nonprofit that has been tracking violent incidents against pregnancy centers in the United States since 2022 denounced the recent vandalism attack against the Aid for Women clinic in Chicago, Illinois.

During the early morning hours last Friday after the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention, the Aid for Women clinic near United Center was splattered with red paint and graffiti, according to spokesperson Mary FioRito.

The organization, which is "founded on the faith and teachings of the Catholic Church," has two maternity homes and five crisis pregnancy centers in the Chicago area.

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For the past 25 years, it’s been my privilege to be a volunteer and board member at Aid for Women, a nonprofit that runs maternity homes and pregnancy services throughout Illinois.

Last night, after the closing of the DNC, vandals attacked one of AFW’s Chicago locations. pic.twitter.com/yieCfi3XqE

— Mary H. FioRito (@maryfiorito) August 23, 2024

FioRito told Catholic News Agency that the clinic's security cameras caught four vandals painting "fake clinic" and "the dead babies are in Gaza" on its entrance and cementing its doors shut.

According CatholicVote.org's tracker, the vandalism marked the 93rd attack against a crisis pregnancy center since the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and returned abortion to the states.

In a statement provided to The Christian Post, CatholicVote.org president Brian Burch denounced the vandalism in Chicago as a "horrific attack" and accused the Democratic Party of enabling such violence by effectively worshiping abortion.

"The aggressive actions and rhetoric of pro-abortion politicians maligning pregnancy resource centers as they serve the vulnerable has no doubt fueled this senseless violence," Burch said.

"It’s no surprise then that an attack like this would occur so close to and immediately following the DNC where the party spent the week worshiping at the altar of abortion, complete with free abortion vans and officially nominating the extreme Harris-Walz ticket," he continued.

Burch also accused Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of politically going after charities that exist to help struggling women who want to have their babies.

"Going beyond these nominees' abortion at any stage agenda, and even their opposition to providing babies born alive after a failed abortion basic medical care, Harris and Walz have a record of politically attacking the charitable organizations which provide resources and support to any pregnant woman who wants to keep her child but needs help," he said.

"Just a few miles away from the Democrats' death cult celebration, Aid for Women was targeted for quietly continuing its daily work of supporting women and children in need. Americans hopefully will see through Democrats message of death at the polls this November," he added.

A memo released last week by the nonprofit Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America laid out what it described as the "fringe" pro-abortion platform of the Democratic Party, noting that its willingness to loosen all restrictions on abortion up to birth is out of line with mainstream opinions on the issue.

"They still can’t find a protection for the unborn or a limit on abortion that they can accept," the organization said of the party. "The old party line that abortion should be 'safe, legal and rare' has been replaced with brazen support for taking unborn human life at any stage for any reason."

The nonprofit went on to list "outrageous" examples of the party's abortion views on display at the DNC.

At the top of the list, SBA listed a parade at the DNC with women dressed up as abortifacient drugs mifepristone and misoprostol, as well as the Planned Parenthood bus that was parked on DNC grounds to offer free vasectomies and drug-induced abortions.

Planned Parenthood told The Washington Times that it performed nine vasectomies and provided abortifacient drugs to eight women during the two days it was stationed outside the DNC.