Wisconsin Pro-Life Nonprofit Hit by Arson, Vandalism: ‘If Abortions Aren’t Safe Then You Aren’t Either’

Tags: Currents Abortion, Crux, Faith, Family, Pro-Life, Roe Vs. Wade

Currents News Staff

Police in Wisconsin’s capital are investigating what they are calling a “targeted arson” at a pro-life organization Sunday.

Madison police say someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the Wisconsin Family Action office, a pro-life nonprofit.

For Julaine Appling, president of Wisconsin Family Action, it meant an unexpected trip to her office on Mother’s Day.

“The smoke damage, the water damage, all of the glass damage, all of that is just terrible. The building management got a hold of me about a quarter to 8:00 and told me that there had been a breach in our office,” Appling said.

Appling believes the attack was motivated by a possible overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Inside were clear signs of fire damage and outside, vandalism. The words “if abortions aren’t safe then you aren’t either” were spray painted on the building’s walls.

“I’m standing here in front of a sign that’s threatening my life. I respect the right for people to disagree with us but we’ve never had anything that materialized like this,” said Appling.

“They have every right to be angry. But the anger cannot. It cannot translate into what you’re looking at behind me, or what you saw in my office,” she continued.

But not knowing by who is behind the attack has Appling now worried for the safety of her staff.

“We truly are trusting people? I never even thought about security cameras. They may not have been killed because it wasn’t that strong but you certainly would’ve been harmed by just the flying glass,” she added.

She is standing firm in her beliefs.

“I’m not going to back down on our opinion, we’re not going to take a different position, and change what we believe at our core,” Appling said.

Bishop Donald Hying of the Diocese of Madison issued a statement about the attack, saying: “The destruction of Wisconsin Family Action headquarters in Madison over the weekend is a brazen act of violence which all citizens should condemn, as an attack on the respect and concern we owe to each other in seeking the common good.  The graffitied message, ‘If abortions aren’t safe, you aren’t either’ shows this attack to be explicitly against pro-life Americans who seek to protect the precious gift of life in the womb.”

Bishop Hying’s statement continued, “Abortion is violence, not only against the unborn child, but also women, men, and families.  We pray for a conversion of hearts in our country, that we may truly build a culture of life and compassion, where every human person is welcomed, nurtured and loved from the moment of conception to natural death.”

Wisconsin Family Action released a full statement about the attack on their website. They are back on the job this week, but the office staff will be working remotely.