Every year, pro-life activity on college campuses gets targeted. These targeting incidents may include violence, harassment, intimidation, vandalism, threats, administrative action, discrimination, protests, and more.
The College Fix covers news on college campuses and keeps a database of “cancel culture” incidents:
“The Fix’s exclusive database monitors and chronicles suppression efforts in higher education. It defines cancel culture as any effort by people or groups to identify someone or something as offensive or unacceptable and seek in some way to censor or punish the transgressor or item.”
The 2024-2025 school year was a busy one. The database holds a record of five incidents targeting pro-life groups, displays, or other activity on campus. Their news coverage contains more stories that have not made it into the database, but still fit the definition of “cancel culture.”
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Below, I outline the cancel culture incidents against pro-life activity on college campuses for the 2024-2025 school year. For clarity, I consider August 2024-May 2025 as the school year; I am unsure what date parameters The Fix used in its yearly reports of all cancel culture incidents.
2024-2025 school year (specifically in their database):
- September 2024: SFLA visited and made a pro-life display at North Carolina State University. They had a sign stolen (then returned). Additionally, a woman came to pick up and throw signs, and then flip off the display.
- September 2024: SLFA had another pro-life display one day later at University of North Carolina Charlotte, and a student stole pieces of the display (which were recovered).
- November 2024: Pro-life students holding a peaceful protest on John Hopkins University campus got their signs and clothes damaged by a woman using black spray paint.
- February 2025: at the University of Florida, YAF students put up handmade flyers around campus advertising a pro-life project. A student followed after them and tore down their flyers en masse.
- April 2025: a woman vandalized an SFLA display on the VCU campus.
The following incidents, while not in their database, were reported on by The Fix and I believe falls into their definition of “cancel culture”:
- May 2025: The group Justice for All was at UCLA with a pro-life display, which was spray painted over with black paint by an angry student.
- March 2025: At UNC Asheville, a student trashed a pro-life group’s display table.
- October 2024: At Kennesaw State University, a pro-life chalking was intentionally destroyed by another student pouring water over it.
- October 2024: At Gonzaga University, a pro-life chalking was intentionally destroyed by another student pouring water over it.
This brings the 2024-2025 school years to a total of nine incidents.
Eight of the incidents involved vandalism of materials and/or display items. Three incidents involved materials and/or display items being stolen. One incident involved direct physical harassment or assault.
This is a slight increase compared to the 23-24 school year.
The previous year (August 2023-May 2024), there were NO cancel culture incidents against pro-life activities on college campuses recorded in their database.
However, The Fix did report on several incidents against pro-life activity that I believe fall into their definition of “cancel culture” and should be in their database.
I give an outline of those below, again, for the 2023-2024 school year:
- September 2023: At North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, pro-life students had a table and display set up. Other students came up to them, heckling them, stealing their belongings, cursing, and vandalizing the display. The pro-life students had to be escorted off campus by police for their safety.
- September 2023: SLFA tabled at Binghamton University. Angry students stole and chewed or ate some of the fetal models.
- October 2023: At Onondaga Community College, a student chewed on a fetal model being displayed by a pro-life group. The group was also spat at, the display materials were vandalized, and police had to be called for safety.
- October 2023: A speaking event at Tufts University was protested by pro-choice students, who audibly disrupted the event and had to be quieted by campus police presence.
- October 2023: Amy Coney Barrett’s speech at U. of Michigan was protested against by pro-choice students. They disrupted the event audibly and had to be escorted out by police because they would not stop.
- November 2023: A pro-life student faced viewpoint discrimination when her comment on one of the college’s official Instagram accounts was deleted. “An arm of” McLennan Community College posted on Instagram an event that involved Planned Parenthood. When a pro-life student voiced her displeasure, her comment was deleted.
- April 2024: A pro-life student tabling event with an SFLA speaker present was protested. Pro-choice students at University of North Carolina at Greensboro threw tiny baby dolls made to look bloody, threatened public suicide, threatened to light the display table on fire, and threatened to throw stink bombs at the display.
This brings the 2023-2024 school year to a total of seven incidents.
Three of the incidents involved vandalism of materials and/or display items. Two incidents involved materials and/or display items being stolen. One incident involved direct physical harassment or assault. Two incidents were verbal and physical protests. One incident involved just social media.
While seven or nine incidents across the country for an entire school year may not seem like much, these are only what is reported on by The Fix.
I am confident that if one were to spend the time and energy to look at other news sources for cancel culture incidents and violent acts against pro-life activities on college campuses, one would find many, many more examples reported on — not to mention events that went unreported.
Jennifer Kabbany, editor of The College Fix told Pregnancy Help News:
"While pro-life groups are no strangers to pushback on college campuses, I am always amazed by the level of anger, hate, and vitriol these efforts must face. The examples we chronicled of screaming, spitting, theft, destruction, and vandalism at these pro-life tabling displays show that many leftist students do not want the debate to occur or their peers reminded that abortion stops a beating heart. But I think it goes deeper than that. It’s a spiritual battle, too. As Jesus told us, 'God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed' (John 3:19-20, NLT)."
Tweet This: To reach even one person with a life-saving resource or to change even one mind about abortion is worth the cost of pushback.
Pushback and conflict happen all the time, but pro-life students are not backing down.
They understand that backlash from pro-choice students and teachers is a very real possibility, and they continue to table, hold events, and invite pro-life speakers to campus.
To reach even one person with a life-saving resource or to change even one mind about abortion is worth the cost.
