Culture and Social Issues

‘The Dead Babies Are In Gaza:’ Chicago Pregnancy Resource Center Reportedly Vandalized

Flickr/Elvert Barnes Protest Photography

A pregnancy resource center in Chicago was vandalized Thursday night, according to a post on X.

The Aid for Women pregnancy resource center’s exterior appeared to be spray-painted with the words “fake clinic” and “the dead babies are in Gaza,” according to photos posted by Mary H. FioRito, who is on the Board of Directors for the organization. Several establishments in Chicago took precautionary measures before the start of the Democratic National Convention in anticipation of expected protests, using plywood to board up doors and windows.

The center also had splotches of red paint on its windows and the door handle was filled with a white substance, according to the photo.

“This horrific attack on a local Chicago pregnancy resource center serving women and children in need marks the 93rd such attack on these organizations since the Supreme Court returned the matter of abortion policy to the people,” CatholicVote President Brian Burch said in a statement obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. “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.”

CatholicVote has kept a tally of the number of pregnancy centers that have been vandalized since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

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

Planned Parenthood of Great Rivers operated a mobile clinic during the first two days of the DNC, offering free medical abortions and vasectomies to attendees, whether they were delegates or not.

“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 worshipping at the altar of abortion, complete with free abortion vans and officially nominating the extreme Harris/Walz ticket,” Burch said. “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.”

Mary H. FioRito and the Chicago Police Department did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment. The Aid for Women Pregnancy Resource Center did not provide comment.