We met the pro-life group protesting Planned Parenthood at Georgetown

Demonstrators are protesting against Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards today, who is on campus to deliver a speech on women’s rights.

We met the head of the protest group, Jon Ritchie, who said he was the director of student outrage for Tradition, Family and Property, and asked him what he was doing outside the Main Gates.

So why are you here today?

The President of Planned Parenthood was invited to give a lecture on campus and she has overseen the killing of over 2.8 million unborn babies. The right to life is the first human right that gives us the ability to enjoy all other rights. Once you deny the right to life, then you’re implicitly denying all other rights. And as the oldest Catholic university in America, Georgetown, we have the obligation to stand up for the teachings of the church, which are very clear on the issue of abortion, so we feel that it’s a scandal that they would let Cecile Richards come to campus, to openly promote her agenda, which favours the taking of innocent life.

Also, I wanna say something about the fact that they [pro-choice activists] are using the argument of free speech. So under free speech, they should allow those who promote abortion to come to campus. And they also use the term “dialogue”. Well, what about the unborn children that have been aborted? What about their free speech? What about their ability to dialogue? Once their lives are taken then they’ll never be able to dialogue. So I don’t think it’s fair to use an argument in favour of abortion that they deny the unborn children in order to support the killing of those children. And I don’t think that’s right.

So do you think a university, which has a duty to share diverse opinions, should not be allowing this?

I think the only circumstances in which Cecile Richards should be allowed to come to campus if she was repentant for all the abortions she has facilitated as President of Planned Parenthood. If she came and repented and was sorry for the sins that were committed and the lives that were taken, then it would be appropriate.

What do you hope to achieve today?

First we’re supporting the prolife students on campus, who are upset about her coming. We also wanna send a message to the president of Georgetown, and to the officials to ask them to restore Georgetown’s Catholic identity.