University of Maine students gathered on April 15 at the Martin Luther King (MLK) Plaza on campus to begin a demonstration against an event hosted by the UMaine chapter of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and Students for Life of America. The event began at 6 p.m. and was titled ‘Unplanned & Unfiltered: An Evening with Abby Johnson,’ who is a former Planned Parenthood worker turned pro-life activist. The protest of around 45 students moved from MLK plaza to outside Donald P. Corbett (DPC) Business Hall where the event was being held.
The protest was organized by three student organizations: College Progressives, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Triota. The protest also included a speech from Congressional candidate Paige Loud, who spoke to the crowd about why abortions need to remain accessible. Loud is originally from Oklahoma and said that if Roe v. Wade had been overturned earlier she would have been stuck in an abusive relationship without abortion access.
“There are right-wing grifters coming to college campuses to take away the rights of our students,” said Loud.
Several students expressed outrage that an out-of-state organization coordinated with UMaine TPUSA to bring these speakers to campus, given the Leadership Institute is a Virginia-based non-profit organization that also helped facilitate an on campus event with Maine House Rep. (R) Laurel Libby last year.
SDS member Gabriel Veilleux, a third-year French and history student, said he is appalled that this would happen in a state that was largely pro-choice, mentioning a recent Pew Research Center poll that indicates Mainers are 72% in favor of abortions in all cases.
“We’re a state that is pro-choice, strongly pro-choice, [and it has] always been that way, you know. To see someone from another state come here and preach that sort of restrictive sh*t to our people, quite frankly, [was] disgusting and uncalled for,” said Veilleux.
Other students found trouble with Johnson’s past comments about her biracial son, after she posted a 15-minute long YouTube video that implies the police will be “more careful” around her son. In the video, she said that police officers know “statistically my brown son is more likely to commit a violent offense over my white sons.”
Olivia Hanley, a second-year new media design student, commented on the perceived hypocrisy of Johnson being pro-life while supporting controversial policing standards.
“It really shows her hypocrisy on the topic she speaks on. If she can’t follow the things she preaches on this campus, she shouldn’t be talking on this campus,” said Hanley.
The protesters and pro-life attendees did not clash at this protest. The event remained civil, as TPUSA members and protesters respected each other’s right to voice their opinion. Roman Cassidy, a first-year finance student and member of TPUSA, appreciated the first amendment rights that the protesters were exercising and showed support for their right to protest.
“Both sides get the opportunity to exercise their first amendment right, so I think that’s good,” said Cassidy.
Inside the event, which had about 30 attendees, Johnson held a Q&A after her speech. Alongside comments about her experience working at Planned Parenthood, Johnson made claims about a push to make money off of gender-affirming and cosmetic surgeries.
“We were trained not to discuss the risks of abortion with patients coming in. You have to let your patient know about every potential risk that could take place and that does not happen inside these abortion clinics,” said Johnson in an interview.
During the Q&A, Johnson took one final question from Amber Booton, a third-year history student who attended the rally with a sign reading ‘Women are not incubators.’ She asked Johnson the legitimacy of her story as Booton said many investigative reporters have found her background to be unreliable and changing. Johnson defended herself by saying that if her story was false she would have not been able to release her 2019 film “Unplanned.”
“You have not experienced the trauma I’ve experienced from working in the abortion industry and thank god,” said Johnson.
The Maine Campus spoke with Booton after the event and her thoughts on the interaction.
“I had a lot more I wanted to ask her, but she grabbed onto that one thing that I said and kind of spoke over me and wouldn’t let me continue,” said Booton. “I wrote down things that she said that I wanted to argue against. I wanted specific statistics for things she said. I wanted to poke holes in what she was saying and I came there because I wanted to say something that would change people’s minds.”
The protest and event ended around 8 p.m. without incident. Those interested in learning more can watch Maine Campus videographer Katie Fletcher’s coverage of the event here.
