VIDEO: Student blasts ‘pale faces’ in pro-life movement

A member of the pro-abortion club at the University of Minnesota-Duluth compared pro-life students to white supremacists during an open mic event last week. 

Throughout his performance at the “Speak Out for Justice” event on April 21, Student Advocates for Choice member Reilly Manzer condemned the “pale faces” of the pro-life movement for criticizing abortion and comparing it to other historical atrocities.

[RELATED: University scraps ‘trigger warnings’ for pro-life displays]

“I’m f---ing tired of the pale faces of the pro-life group that compare abortion to slavery and the holocaust, and then go and complain to the university that they’re being discriminated against because people call them the f--- out,” Manzer declared in video footage obtained by Campus Reform.

Manzer, who declined to speak to Campus Reform for this story, framed the pro-life movement as one that upholds white supremacy, and urged attendees to “rise up and rip white supremacy from its roots.” 

Though the open-mic Speak Out For Justice event was not livestreamed, members of Bulldog Students for Life began recording the performers after organizers allegedly denied pro-life students the opportunity to speak at the microphone. 

One of the students who wanted a chance to express her views was Ayah Abuserrieh, a Muslim pro-life student at UMD. In an interview with Campus Reform, Abuserrieh said that her Muslim faith drives her to support the pro-life movement, and that her attempts to address the attendees were repeatedly rejected. 

Abuserrieh—who is a prominent member of the school’s Muslim Students Association, College Republicans, and Bulldog Students for Life groups—told Campus Reform that the organizers “didn’t even know what I wanted to say” when they denied her request. 

“But when I came up to the open-mic, they told me ‘no’ twice,” she said. “Other students were allowed to speak about things that made them uncomfortable…and I wanted to speak about the harassment that cultural minority groups face on campus.” 

[RELATED: Pro-abortion group says pro-lifers ‘provoke pain and stigma’]

Following the event—which attracted a crowd of more than 200 people, according to some estimates—Abuserrieh said that Manzer’s claim about the pro-life students was “gross and ridiculous.” 

“The idea that the pro-life movement is related to white supremacy...it’s ridiculous that people actually believe that,” she argued. “Bulldogs for Life and College Republicans are some of the most inclusive groups on campus. There’s never been a time where [I]—as a Muslim person of color—[have] felt uncomfortable whatsoever.” 

Mika Colson, the Vice President of Bulldog Students for Life, expressed disappointment that the club did not have an opportunity to set the record straight, especially in light of the ongoing defamation the organization has faced over the past few months. 

[RELATED: Pro-life group defamed with fake anti-feminist flyers]

As previously reported by Campus Reform last month, the group was most recently targeted by fake flyers that framed the pro-life movement as a political trend that is incompatible with feminism, falsely claiming that “99%” of pro-lifers “will never be pregnant.” 

“It is very heartbreaking to see people portraying our club in a false light,” Colson said. “Our club is about respecting human dignity and life, and yet our club receives so much disrespect and that is just a testament to the fact that people don’t understand the dignity of all people.”

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @Toni_Airaksinen