The staff, volunteers and board for the Lennon Pregnancy Center remain undeterred in their mission to serve women and families despite being targeted by extremist abortion supporters.
The Dearborn, Mich., pregnancy help medical clinic was attacked in the early morning hours of June 20 by pro-abortion vandals, and along with having many windows smashed the center was defaced with the now common, “If abortion isn’t safe neither are you,” verbiage threatening the safety of the pregnancy center as an answer to Roe v. Wade being at risk.
The radical Jane’s Revenge group reportedly took credit for the attack along with another in the Detroit area, with a photo of the vandalism posted online via another group’s website.
Lennon Pregnancy Center Director Mariann Bolton reached out to supporters in an email after the attack.
“Upon assessment of the situation, it was clear that the perpetrators oppose our mission to provide counseling and support to women who are pregnant and parenting,” Bolton said.
“The damage is extensive, but we remain steadfast and committed to our mission and our work,” she said.
“As director of the LPC, I would like to speak on behalf of the staff, volunteers, donors and supporters of our daily work,” said Bolton. “Senseless incidents such as these do not frighten nor dissuade us. Quite the contrary, they embolden us to do more and stay the course!”
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Center personnel estimated that it all started early Monday morning around 1 a.m.
Someone came onto the property and smashed windows and glass doors all the way across the front of the building. They left two or three windows alone that were right below a security camera, Lennon Center Board Chair Gary Hillebrand told Pregnancy Help News.
The vandals also spray painted the Jane’s Revenge messaging, “If abortion isn’t safe neither are you,” on the front of the building.
The Dearborn Heights police responded to the incident after someone in the area had called to alert them. The police department also had a disaster recovery company that it has retained come to the scene. The company boarded up the broken windows and painted over the Jane’s Revenge threat on the front of the building, such that the damage had been markedly altered within a few hours of the police answering the call.
The police and their disaster recovery company were wrapping up by the time Hillebrand was on the scene. He and two other board members then began to work on cleaning up the destruction. They were not going to have clients or staff in the center with the broken glass from the windows.
“It was just a mess,” Hillebrand said. “There was glass all over the place.”
The center is normally closed on Mondays, so the timing for the clean-up worked out well.
On Tuesday center personnel answered phones, continued to conduct virtual classes that have been in place since the coronavirus lockdowns, and remained available for regular curbside pick-up of material items by clients as well.
Staff and board members contacted clients by phone or text where there were appointments for pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, or material pick-up, so the clients would be prepared for what they would see when they came in. Ultrasound appointments for later in the week remained on the books.
While they do not expect another attack would take place during operating hours Hillebrand said they planned to have extra male presence on site for clients to feel more secure when arriving for appointments.
Along with pregnancy tests, ultrasound services, and material assistance the center offers parenting classes.
The Lennon Center works with its mission to “enable parents to choose life for their unborn children,” and to “raise their children in loving families.”
“We accomplish this mission by offering enrichment, advice, education, material assistance and other non-judgmental support,” the center’s info states.
The center serves nearly 100 mothers a month on average.
“This past month alone we have assisted over 100 women and families through free ultrasounds and pregnancy tests, free counseling, parenting education, and material assistance,” Bolton said in her message. “Our families are supported with this continued dedication.”
“We not only say, “Life is precious.” We say, “Let us walk with you in this journey of parenthood for years to come,” said Bolton. “We work closely with community resources in order to expand this support as well.”
The Lennon Center is one of dozens across the U.S. to be attacked by pro-abortion vandals since the May 2 leak of the draft majority Supreme Court opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case. The forthcoming Dobbs decision is expected to upend the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion in the U.S. throughout pregnancy, and abortion proponents are enraged.
Pregnancy help centers and medical clinics, of which there are roughly 3,000 in the United States, provide hundreds of millions of dollars each year in medical, education, and support services to women and families in need - typically doing so at no charge.
The targeting of pregnancy centers for providing life-affirming services and support to women indicates an effort to eliminate any choice other than abortion.
The pro-abortion attacks have included violence, with a few centers getting firebombed. In addition to the threat issued to the Lennon Center, another group has threatened pregnancy help centers that do not cease operations.
According to a recent survey by Heartbeat International, the world’s largest network of pregnancy help, showed that since the Dobbs leak one in six pregnancy help organizations reported that they have experienced targeted harassment ranging from fake online reviews to vandalism, including the destruction of property.
“This vandalism is an ugly example of unprovoked violence, ignorance, and hatred,” Bolton wrote in her communication to supporters.
The vandalism, violence, and threats prompted Heartbeat International to release a safety advisory to affiliates for the first time in it’s half-century-plus history.
Different extremist groups are reportedly involved, and the FBI has begun an investigation. Pro-life advocates continue to await arrests in the many incidents. Pregnancy help organizations can report incidents at tips.fbi.gov.
Hillebrand said the mood among the Lennon Pregnancy Center’s staff and volunteers since the attack occurred at their center is really positive.
“I mean, we have great staff and volunteers,” he said. “They're all working on how to get things back to normal as fast as we can get them there.”
When the question arose at one point whether to start back with ultrasound appointments with the building’s exterior still in repair, the answer was yes, continue serving clients.
“Our nurse manager and sonographer both said, “We want to start, let's figure out a way to make it safe enough to start,”” said Hillebrand.
“They said, “We have people with appointments, we want to keep them,”” Hillebrand said. “You just have to figure out a way to make it safe, and let's do it.”
“It's a good statement to the people doing this,” he said, “that, “Hey, you know, you're trying to shut us down. You're not gonna shut us down. We'll find a way to keep going no matter what you do.”
Bolton echoed this thought.
Given the current tough economic times she said more people are turning to the center for help and assistance.
“The Lennon Center will always be there for those who need us,” Bolton said. “We remain undaunted and devoted to continue helping others by being a positive influence of life and love to the community.”
