Feminist, LGBT orgs threaten to ‘take action’ when Christian group invites them to debate

A female student was threatened by feminist and LGBT organizations at the University of North Carolina - Wilmington after she invited them to attend a pro-life event.

Madison Marston sent personal email invitations to UNCW’s National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL), PRIDE, and the Women’s and Gender Studies Student Association (WSSA), to extend an invitation to Ratio Christi’s “Abortion and Human Equality: A Pro Life Defense of the Unborn” discussion. The three organizations collectively declined while threatening Marston for sending the invitation.

“Each of the leaders of PRIDE, NARAL and WSSA ask that you no longer contact us directly,” the email, obtained by Campus Reform said. “As a student organization, your events are on the CAIC calendar, part of Hawk e-News, and disseminated in a variety of other ways, which is sufficient for us to be aware of them. We do not need, nor want, these invitations. If you continue to attempt to contact any of us, we will take further action.”

In the email, the organizations said they already had a separate event scheduled for that same date but also said they will not participate in any debates with the Christian apologetics organization as they do not share the same beliefs when it comes to abortion and LGBT issues.

“As such, we have no desire to debate them with you or your organization,” the organizations said in the email. “We have no desire to hear from Mike Adams who has routinely mocked us and engaged in hostile and belittling behavior towards our organizations and beliefs. We have no desire to attend any event sponsored by your organization and its narrow beliefs steeped in religious bigotry and intolerance.”

As previously reported by Campus Reform, UNCW’s NARAL chapter celebrated those who provide illegal abortions—or “abortion heroes” as they called them—in the fall. The organization partnered with the school’s LGBTQIA Resource Office and the Women’s Studies and Resource Center (WSRC) to put on the event, which was promoted by school faculty.

Ratio Christi’s event, scheduled for Feb., 26, will host Adams, an outspoken conservative professor at UNCW, “to present a scientific and philosophical argument on the topic of abortion,” according to the event’s press release obtained by Campus Reform.

The free event has a Q&A portion concluding Adams’ talk, during which Marston, a biology and chemistry major, was hoping the other student organizations could participate.

“I had naively thought UNCW’s pro-choice student organizations would jump at any and every opportunity to participate in events on the topic of abortion,” Marston told Campus Reform in an interview. “Or at least, I thought they would be somewhat interested in having a platform to defend their views. If they believe so strongly that abortion is a woman’s right—why are they afraid to defend their belief?”

Marston said she was not surprised that the organizations declined to participate in the event as they have not extended invitations to any pro-life organizations while hosting pro-abortion events in the past.

“If Ratio Christi is the intolerant party, why will NARAL, PRIDE, and the WSSA not tolerate our personal invitations?” she said. “Why will they not tolerate our attempt to engage with them on a topic of mutual interest?”

UNCW’s College Democrats also declined the invitation to attend the event as “our party’s views do not align with the views of the speaker.”

“The unborn are viable at 21 weeks. Unfortunately many campus liberals are not viable even after 21 years,” Adams told Campus Reform. “They simply cannot survive in a free and open marketplace of ideas. That is why they demand to remain undisturbed inside protective wombs like the safe zone and the campus diversity center. That is also why they threaten to abort free speech by prosecuting those who seek to openly debate controversial ideas.”

“If this is not intolerance I don't know what is,” he said.

Marston told Campus Reform that she’s hopeful to eventually be able to plan an event with NARAL, PRIDE, and WSSA in order to discuss and debate topics such as abortion. Her response to the organizations’ email that clarified the event and encouraged them to attend, at least for the discussion portion, has gone unanswered.

NARAL, PRIDE, and WSSA did not respond to repeated requests for comment from Campus Reform.

A representative from UNCW also did not respond to a request for comment from Campus Reform.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @K_Schallhorn