Peaceful Pro-Lifers arrested in front of NYC abortion mill while looters go free

Two Pro-Lifers in New York City are speaking out after being arrested for peacefully counseling mothers in front of a Manhattan Planned Parenthood.  The incident occurred on May 30.  According to Live Action News, the women, Bevelyn Beatty and Edmee Chavannes, arrived at the Margaret Sanger Center Planned Parenthood early in the morning to counsel mothers entering the facility, which they had done on many occasions before.

On May 30, Beatty and Chavannes were asked to leave by a Planned Parenthood security guard for “social distancing” reasons.  After the women continued to peacefully stand on the sidewalk, Planned Parenthood employees called the police alleging that the Pro-Lifers were violating COVID-19 restrictions in place in New York City. 

In an interview with Live Action, Beatty said, “[Planned Parenthood is] not following social distancing, mind you — the person I’m standing with I actually live with so we don’t need to follow social distancing.  But the police were saying we were violating social distancing and the only ones that are supposed to be there are the ones that work there.”  She added, “And we told them we’re not moving because it’s a public sidewalk and we have a right to be there.  They could be there because they work for Planned Parenthood, but we work for Jesus so as long as this is a public sidewalk, we can be here.”

Officers arrested and handcuffed Beatty and Chavannes for “failure to disperse,” which was captured on video.  A September 25, 2020, court date is scheduled.  Beatty cited the anti-Life leadership in New York for the unjust arrest, noting the inconsistency of keeping abortion businesses open while shutting down churches during the pandemic.  She said, “We feel like it’s just another reason Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo can just push this agenda because the reality is this: How is abortion essential?  How are stores closing and we can’t have Red Lobster and we can’t go to church or fellowship but you can still go and kill a baby?”

While Beatty and Chavannes faced harsh treatment and handcuffs simply for peacefully praying and offering to counsel mothers seeking abortion, protests, riots, and looting have escalated in recent weeks in the wake of the death of George Floyd.  Many of these violent and criminal protesters have gone free.  In an interview with Fox News, Beatty said, “This is a clear statement of their bias now.  It’s blatant now.  It’s really truly biased against Christians, against pro-life abolitionists.”

Beatty explained, “We’re black women but we do not support Black Lives Matter because they’re hand-in-hand with Planned Parenthood that kills African-American babies.”  She added, “They’re fraudulent hypocrites… and I believe all lives matter because God created them.  There are thousands of George Floyds that die every day in their mother’s womb and it’s just as injust [sic] as when he died at the hands of that police officer.”

“How is abortion essential?  How are stores closing and we can’t have Red Lobster and we can’t go to church or fellowship but you can still go and kill a baby?”

Especially in New York City, the irony of arresting Pro-Lifers while letting violent looters off the hook in the name of racial justice is immense.  Even anti-Life sources have admitted that statistics show more black babies are killed through abortion in New York City than are born alive.  This violence in the womb and injustice in society will not be addressed by ignoring the abortion industry’s targeting of minority communities.  A movement founded on eugenics, legal abortion continues to prey on vulnerable populations and wreak havoc on minority families.

Instead of addressing the disparity and helping mothers choose Life for their babies, New York state expanded elective abortion, passing some of the most extreme anti-Life laws in the nation.  Additionally, New York City became the first city to use taxpayer dollars to directly pay for elective abortions.  While public officials endorse Black Lives Matter protests and turn a blind eye to rioting and looting, they have fundamentally failed to address the greatest injustice affecting the black community: the killing of the preborn.

In April, another Pro-Life advocate, David Benham, was arrested in North Carolina for allegedly violating social distancing requirements to counsel mothers outside an abortion mill.  The bias in the case of Beatty and Chavannes is even more blatant and inexcusable.  In Benham’s case and in the New York City case, the Pro-Life sidewalk counselors broke no laws but were treated like criminals and arrested.  However, when two black women defending the most vulnerable are singled out and arrested while looters go free, there is no denying the bias at work in some local governments against Pro-Life activists.