Marie-Claire Bissonnette says attacks against pro-lifers are common.
Which side is attacking women?
This is the moment where a man roundhouse kicked a young woman who was taking part in a peaceful pro-life vigil.
The footage of the attack on Marie-Claire Bissonnette at last Sunday's Life Chain in Toronto was first published on LifeSiteNews on Tuesday. Canadian outlets at first seemed disinterested in the story, but since the video went viral (LifeSite's Youtube video alone has over a million views) it has been reported widely, including most major UK outlets.
"I only meant to kick your phone".
Miss Bissonnette, the Youth Coordinator for Campaign Life Coalition, was helping to co-ordinate the annual Life Chain, a silent, peaceful demonstration, when a man started defacing their signs and clothes with permanent markers.
She told LifeSiteNews:
"At this point I took out my cell phone and began to record him, telling him that what he did was destruction of private property and it was against the law. He asked me whether a sixteen-year-old girl who gets pregnant after being raped should keep her baby. I attempted to explain that her baby should be treated no differently than a three-year-old child who may have been conceived by rape.
He then forcefully roundhouse-kicked me in the shoulder, which sent my phone flying and I yelled for someone to call the police. In defence of his violence he claimed he’d meant to kick my phone, and then, as a fellow Life Chain participant dialed 9-1-1, he yanked off the ribbon I’d been wearing on my chest and ran away."
Miss Bissonnette sustained minor injuries to her shoulder. The police initially seemed reluctant to pursue the matter, though a different set of officers later offered her a trauma support group. Since the global attention, Toronto police have said they are investigating the incident.
The attacker, who has been named locally as hairdresser Jordan Hunt, has reportedly been fired from his job.
Only violence is from pro-abortion activists
This incident may have made global news, but violence against pro-lifers is common and little reported on. For example, the 40 Days for Life vigil in Nottingham experienced persistent intimidation and harassment.
"I’ve participated in many public pro-life activities throughout my life. This isn’t the first time I’ve been attacked," Miss Bissonnette said. "Rocks have been thrown at me, I’ve been spat upon multiple times and pushed. Men have aggressively asked how I would like it if they raped me and forced me to have an abortion.
"There is a media-driven narrative that pro-life activists are violent and a danger to women. This is a bald-faced lie. The only violence or aggression I’ve witnessed in my many years in the pro-life movement comes entirely from pro-abortion activists, and yet it’s rarely, if ever, reported."
News in brief: