A pro-life pregnancy center in Virginia is rebounding after vandals inflicted thousands of dollars worth of damage there in reaction to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Director of Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center Susan Campbell believes the suspects belong to an anarchist group and that they specifically targeted the center because it’s in Lynchburg—traditionally known for being conservative and Christian.
The attack, Campbell says, hasn’t dampened their spirit—just the reverse.
“We reopened less than 24 hours later, began seeing patients again with boarded up windows,” she told The Epoch Times. ”We’re continuing the mission, we will not stop, and we will just pray more and put more practical things in place that protect us.”
She added, “It just spurs us on to do it even more.”
The overturning of Roe v. Wade was what pro-lifers like Campbell had prayed for; the day it actually happened in June, she recalled, the center’s security camera showed “something didn’t seem right.”
Deciding to check the property the next morning, she didn’t get half way there when police called to say the center had been hit.
Arriving, she saw shattered glass and graffiti. The foyer’s outside, the building’s brick side, and the front sign all were spray-painted. The words “If abortion aint safe, you aint safe!” accompanied depictions of coat hangers, anarchist symbols, and the name of the group, “Jane’s Revenge,” claiming responsibility.
Security footage shows four hooded, masked individuals, believed to be young adults, potentially two males and two females, wielding crowbars and paint. “They took crowbars to 13 glass windows and doors and they did a matter of tens of thousands of dollars in six minutes,” said Campbell, adding, “Feeling violated and harmed is not helping healing.”
It still “was numbing,” “very sad,” and “hard to believe” that it could happen in this conservatively minded community, she said. “But that’s the very reason they said they attacked us.”
The suspects likely weren’t from Lynchburg.
The anarchist group’s website boasts similar attacks on pregnancy centers and pro-life businesses in Nashville, Tennessee; Asheville, North Carolina; and elsewhere nationwide.
“They have complete descriptions of each location they’ve done this to,” Campbell said. “They actually encourage people to get crowbars and: ‘All you need is a little passion, go get ’em!’”
The hit was tantamount to a “vandalism tantrum,” she added, “because their beliefs they didn’t feel were heard.” They followed this up with an “online tantrum.”
The center’s social media was flooded with vicious comments from identities claiming to be former patients, spewing what Campbells calls “lies,” “hate,” and “fake” information after the vandalism. Neither Facebook nor Google curtailed the abusive comments, she said.
Blue Ridge provides support for pregnant women—including to abortion advocates—seeking life-saving alternatives. The center educates, throws baby showers, celebrates motherhood, and offers a year’s worth of financial support for needy new moms.
They moved to their current location in January.
Now, security at Blue Ridge is being beefed up. More cameras will be added. Going forward, a heavier police presence will patrol the area.
A federal investigation is also being conducted by the FBI, said Campbell. She is confident the suspects will be caught.
Meanwhile, there’s been no shortage of support streaming in from the community—from life-affirming businesses, local construction companies, and pro-life supporters nationwide—lending the center a hand. They received gifts, help cleaning up, and repairs contributions.
“I lost count of the hundreds of people who came within a matter of me sending an email,” she said. “It really just restored faith and made me stronger.”
The striking down of Roe v. Wade means individual states now determine the legality of abortion. Although Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has supported its ban, current state laws permit it up to the second trimester—that is, up to 22 weeks’ gestation.
Pro-life Virginians still have “more praying to do,” Campbell said. “We’re still not out of the woods.”
Regardless, life-affirming pregnancy centers outnumber abortion clinics more than 3 to 1 in the United States. This she attributes to grander designs.
“The reason we’re seeing so many life-affirming pregnancy centers is because God is in control,” added Campbell. “He is going to put people in people’s path that are in crisis that are there to help and share hope.”
