What pro-lifers can learn from the Democratic Socialists of America

Should abortion opponents publicly ruin some dinners?

DSA activists.
(Image credit: Illustrated | REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)

In January 1970, a crowd of 300 gathered outside the George Washington University Clinic in Washington, D.C., to protest abortion. Some of the young men in attendance wore uniforms with red berets, rosaries, and patches emblazoned with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Their leader, L. Brent Bozell, gave a speech before he and other members of the group marched across the street and entered the building, where they demanded the bodies of children aborted there, whom they intended to have baptized and buried. The rest remained outdoors, reciting the rosary. After a few minutes the protesters were removed from the clinic by police officers and arrested.

But their point had been made: What was going on inside that building was an outrage to God, a hideous crime that invited judgment upon America and her people. It was not something that could be tolerated by passersby or fretted about in private or made the subject of debates in public forums reserved for polite discussion. What they intended to convey was the moral urgency of their opposition to what was taking place. In that, if in nothing else, they succeeded.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Matthew Walther

Matthew Walther is a national correspondent at The Week. His work has also appeared in First Things, The Spectator of London, The Catholic Herald, National Review, and other publications. He is currently writing a biography of the Rev. Montague Summers. He is also a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow.