Expert: ‘The Pro-Abortion Industry Is Centered on Violence Against the Defenseless’

“We live in a world that minimizes crime against the law-abiding and pro-life,” said pro-life advocate Suzanne Guy in response to the attack committed on two elderly men — 80-year-old Mark Crosby and 73-year-old Dick Schaeffer — who were assaulted, beaten, and bloodied outside a Planned Parenthood in Baltimore, Maryland. “Christians and pro-lifers are targets, and the institutions meant to hold people accountable sit by quietly and do nothing.”

Schaeffer was approached first by an unidentified male who began discussing pro-life and pro-choice opinions. Without warning, the assailant attacked Schaeffer, forcefully shoving him into a large flowerpot. Crosby attempted to defend Schaeffer, which resulted in a beating of his own. After knocking Crosby down to the ground, the attacker continued kicking his head.

“This should be treated as a hate crime,” said Jay Walton, the head of Baltimore County Right to Life. “The two victims were not robbed. This was a vicious attack on two men because they are pro-life.” John Roswell, another pro-lifer, spoke to LifeSite News about Crosby’s injuries. His “plate bone in his upper right cheek is completely fractured. There is bleeding from some unidentified area behind his eye. The bone eye orbit is completely shattered and will have to be replaced with metal.”

“This definitely qualifies as a hate crime,” Suzanne Guy told The Washington Stand. She continued that the elderly men were well within their rights to pray peacefully — they did nothing to attract such belligerence. “What is so disturbing to me is the hypocrisy in this,” Guy added. “If a pro-lifer were to act in such a manner, we would hold them accountable — this would be expected. But the pro-abortion side minimizes anything they do to the pro-lifers. … That’s the double standard.”

After providing no immediate comment, Planned Parenthood of Maryland President and CEO Karen Nelson eventually stated, “Planned Parenthood does not condone violence. … It’s a darn shame that folks who are trying to receive health care have to put up with remarks and comments when they are just trying to receive health care.”

Nelson’s comment on the event was “an absolute misrepresentation of what happened,” as Guy put it. “Also, what part of abortion is health care?” she asked. “Health care is supposed to be healing lives. … They should not call it health care when the goal is killing one of the patients.”

Guy concluded that, as Christians, we should pray for the assailant of this attack. “To do something so outrageous you must have a lot of rage and ugliness in your heart. This individual needs prayer.” Considering the temptation to recoil in fear after such an incident, Guy urged Christians and pro-lifers to continue the good fight. “I hope this inspires others to have a loving presence. We just love these women too much to easily allow them to make a permanent decision they will regret.”

Mary Szoch, the director of the Center for Human Dignity at FRC, commented to TWS, “The pro-abortion industry is centered on violence against the defenseless, and Planned Parenthood is the largest perpetrator of this violence. This time, the brutality was enacted upon two men outside the womb. The gruesomeness of their injuries reminds each of us of the horrors that take place daily inside Planned Parenthood.”

“God bless these two men who took Proverbs 24 seriously, putting their own lives in danger in an attempt to rescue those being led away to death,” she concluded.