Pro-Life College Student Allegedly Received Death Threats for Abortion Bill

Anti-abortion activists participate in the "March for Life," an annual event to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the US, outside the US Supreme Court in Washington on Jan. 18, 2019. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

As nine states across the country passed anti-abortion legislation this year, a college student from the University of Chicago said he received death threats for proposing a student government bill aimed at reducing fees potentially going towards funding abortions.

The student, Brett Barbin, who is also a correspondent for conservative news site Campus Reform, told Fox News in an interview that students began approaching him after they were concerned with the fact that their fees could be funding abortion.

“We are trying to go to school to get an education. We shouldn’t have to be violating our conscience in this way,” Barbin told the network on May 30.

Barbin, who is a graduating senior, told Fox News that when he proposed the bill, many students protested, including one telling him that wished Barbin had been aborted. The bill that he put forward, as the College Republicans’ president, was voted down 15-1.

“Absolutely I got protested. Certainly, within the room, there was a relatively civil discussion about my legislation...” he told the network. “But online I received death threats, people were calling for people to track me down and beat me up.”

“There was a student who was egged outside of the room,” he added. “It really was unfortunate to see on [a] campus like the University of Chicago.”

The College Council, which can access student fees, voted to give a grant to Emergency Fund, which prioritizes supporting abortion. Barbin said no money has been used for abortions so far.

Jahne Brown, an Emergency Fund representative and also the student government president-elect, voiced her support for abortions in a Facebook post that was captured by Campus Reform. Campus Reform, according to their website, are a watchdog to the nation’s higher education system.

“Abortions are a good thing!” Brown wrote in the post. “The Emergency Fund supports and funds abortions proudly! If you need help paying for an abortion, we are here for you!”

Barbin said his bill would have given students the choice to either fund or not fund abortions, saying that it was a compromise.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson, a Republican, recently signed a bill banning abortion beginning in the eighth week of pregnancy, making Missouri one of nine states to pass anti-abortion legislation this year.

Pro-life supporters say they aim to prompt the newly installed conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade by enacting laws that are virtually assured of facing court challenges all the way to the Supreme Court.

Missouri could also become the first state without a legal abortion provider, as its only abortion clinic could lose its license to perform the procedure unless a St. Louis judge intervenes.

In the meantime, President Donald Trump clarified his stance on abortion in a series of posts on Twitter weeks ago.

“As most people know, and for those who would like to know, I am strongly Pro-Life, with the three exceptions - Rape, Incest and protecting the Life of the mother - the same position taken by Ronald Reagan,” he said, in part, in one post.

“The Radical Left, with late-term abortion (and worse), is imploding on this issue,” he said in another.

Reuters contributed to this report