BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (LifeSiteNews) — Federal prosecutors have charged a 20-year-old Ohio college student with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for allegedly vandalizing a pro-life pregnancy center with pro-abortion slogans.
Whitney M. Durant, a Bowling Green State University (BGSU) student who goes by the name Soren Monroe and describes herself on Facebook as a “communist trying to spread the gay agenda,” was charged July 5 with a misdemeanor for allegedly intentionally damaging HerChoice Pregnancy Center in Bowling Green on April 15.
As LifeSiteNews reported shortly after the incident, security footage appeared to show a female perpetrator wearing a hat and surgical mask at about 3:26 a.m. The vandalism consisted of pro-abortion messages spray-painted on the side of the building. Catholic News Agency pointed out that HerChoice is located just minutes from the BGSU campus.
READ: ‘Abort God’: Ohio pro-life pregnancy center vandalized in weekend attack
According to a Department of Justice press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio on July 5, Durant allegedly “defac[ed] the clinic’s building with spray paint because the clinic provides reproductive health services,” a violation of the FACE Act.
The FACE Act (18 U.S.C. § 248(a)(3)) prohibits “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain, or provide reproductive health services.” While the law is frequently used to prosecute pro-life advocates who protest inside or outside abortion facilities, it can also be used to bring federal charges against pro-abortion activists who vandalize churches or pregnancy centers.
Messages scrawled in blue spray paint on the outside the HerChoice building read: “Liars,” “Fake clinic,” “Jane’s Revenge,” “Fund abortion,” and “Abort God.”
The slogans are not unique to the Ohio attack.
Pro-abortion advocates frequently make the inaccurate claim that pro-life resource centers are “fake” and “dangerous” because they don’t promote abortion. Meanwhile, Jane’s Revenge is a radical, loosely organized pro-abortion group that has taken credit for vandalism and fire bombings of pregnancy centers and churches across the country.
Durant, who last year asked Facebook followers to donate to pro-abortion lobby group NARAL Pro-Choice America for her birthday, pleaded not guilty to the federal charge on Friday. If convicted, the 20-year-old could face up to a year behind bars.
Students for Life of America (SFLA) has alleged that Durant had previously bullied members of the SFLA-affiliated local college pro-life group Falcons for Life.
RELATED: Two more alleged pro-abortion vandals charged for attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers
In a statement to 13 Action News, HerChoice Pregnancy Center expressed gratitude to law enforcement for their work and reaffirmed the center’s commitment to serving pregnant mothers in need.
“We are grateful to local and federal law enforcement for diligently working our vandalism case which has led to federal charges being filed,” the pro-life center said. “Our desire is for Bowling Green to be a peaceful community where diverse ideas can be communicated in respectful, non-violent ways. HerChoice has been and will continue to be a place where women can turn to know their options and to know that they are not alone when facing a pregnancy decision.”
Ohio Right to Life president Michael Gonidakis also expressed his appreciation in a July 6 tweet.
“The U.S. Attorney’s office has filed charges!” Gonidakis wrote. “FINALLY – radical pro-abortion activists are being held accountable for breaking the law!”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Angelita Cruz Bridges and Wood County Prosecutor Paul Dobson, who is also a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, are prosecuting the case against Durant after a joint investigation by the Bowling Green Police Department and the FBI, according to the DOJ press release.
Durant’s indictment puts her in a small but growing list of pro-abortion activists facing federal charges for vandalism since the fall of Roe v. Wade.
Over 60 pro-abortion attacks have been carried out against pro-life pregnancy centers since May 2022. At least 338 Catholic churches have been attacked and vandalized since spring 2020, according to tracking of the incidents conducted by conservative nonprofit group CatholicVote.