EXCLUSIVE: Pro-life students rallied against abortion during VP Kamala Harris’ speech

Pro-life students at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) rallied against abortion during Vice President Kamala Harris’ pro-abortion campus speech Wednesday afternoon.

Marcelina Halas, a CCSU student, told Campus Reform the protest was staged against abortion, not the Vice President’s appearance.

“The issue is larger than [Harris],” Halas said. “It’s about the fundamental right to life, which should never be something that’s controversial.”

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Harris’ New Brittain speech reiterated the administration’s commitment to protecting abortion access in the wake of Roe v. Wade’s demise. The June Supreme Court decision in favor of Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women Health Center permitted each state to establish its own laws regulating abortion.

Harris touted two executive orders signed by President Joe Biden that protect women seeking out-of-state abortions in her speech and stressed the need for “litigation” and “legislation” to restore abortion access.

“On the issue of abortion, [the administration] have just made it very clear that they are not going to protect the most vulnerable American citizens,” Halas said. 

But, while Harris touted the administration’s pro-abortion plan, students and community members affirmed their belief in the right to life outside by waving various pro-life signs.

Signs included “Let God Plan Parenthood,” “Black Lives Matter From The Womb To The Tomb,” and “CCSU for Life,” photos obtained by Campus Reform shows.

Other signs invited drivers to “Honk for Life.”

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“CCSU is a pro-life campus,” Halas said. “Connecticut may be a blue state and may be predominantly liberal people who do… support abortion, but that does not mean that the minority… like to be quiet.”

The Vice President’s speech marked 100 days since the Dobbs decision.

“[W]hen the highest court in our land, the United States Supreme Court, took a constitutional right, that had been recognized, from the people of America, from the women of America, there was no choice,” Harris said, “and we all know this; that we all had to stand and fight for these fundamental rights of freedom and liberty and dignity and choice.” 

Connecticut boasts some of the most lax abortion restrictions in the country. Currently, for example, an abortion can be performed at viability to save the life of the mother.

The State of Connecticut website defines its abortion accessibility as “legal and available.”

Halas told Campus Reform that the pro-life protest was well received.

“[There’s] actually a lot more people who are pro-life who just may not have the courage to speak up, or just feel like they don’t have that support system,” she said.

Campus Reform contacted the White House and CCSU for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.