By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

During her early school age years, my daughter loved to talk about all the things she could do with glitter and glue. By adding in construction paper, she could make magic. I still treasure one of the glitter-filled ornaments she handcrafted one Christmas.

“Glitter bomb” letter sent to a Pennsylvania pregnancy center in Fayette County

I find it particularly ironic then, that the pro-abortion community would choose to use one of the staples of childhood, glitter, to spread their anti-child message.

You may have seen reports about individuals receiving “glitter bombs” in the mail. These are nondescript envelopes which are filled with mounds of glitter. The unlucky recipient does not learn of the prank until after he or she has opened the envelope and the glitter spills out onto hands, clothes, and desks. In short, it creates quite a mess—much more of a mess than the typical elementary school student doing a craft project.

In March, the Washington Times reported that Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (R-Nebraska) received a glitter bomb “apparently in retaliation for the Congressman’s pro-life stance.”

A note which came with the glitter bomb read, “Congrats, you’ve earned this for denying women their right to choice. Mind your own uterus.”

The Congressman’s staff notified the police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the postal inspector.

Now, a pro-abortion glitter bomber has struck in Pennsylvania, targeting pregnancy help centers. This time, the assailant is trying to disguise his or her whereabouts by fraudulently using the address of a local chapter of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation as the return address.

The Luzerne County-based chapter, known as the Wyoming Valley Pennsylvanians for Human Life in Wilkes-Barre, learned of the prank when long-time chapter president Betty Caffrey received one of the letters that had been sent to the chapter because of a bad address.

Fellow chapter leader Chris Calore said, “An angered pro-abortion soul or group has acted against our Wyoming Valley Chapter, Pennsylvanian’s for Human Life, (Wilkes-Barre) by anonymous mailings this May. Illegally using our return address, they are mailing glitter in envelope to dozens of crisis pregnancy center’s statewide to mess up their desks. Such letters, with glitter, read: “glitter bombs for choice — you have earned this glitter bomb for your deplorable work in fetus fetishism. Congratulations! Love, gB4C.”

Calore said they received at least nine calls from different pregnancy centers. The chapter is planning on filing a complaint with the U.S. Postal Service.

Andrea Pritts, executive director of Alternatives Yes Pregnancy Support Center in Fayette County, says they were among those receiving the latest round of glitter bombs. “There was really not even much glitter in the envelope, and the glitter was actually pretty, though their message was not. I will never understand how someone can hate what we do.”

It is mystifying that someone who claims to be supportive of women’s rights would hate the work of those who provide compassionate counseling and material support to women facing challenging pregnancies. The harassing letters are meant to intimidate. But the truth of the matter is that love is always stronger than hate, and the love that pregnancy care centers and other pro-life organizations offer to women in need is limitless. It cannot be overcome by a few glitter bombs and nasty notes.

The glitter bomb campaign also clearly demonstrates the irrationality of the pro-abortion movement. Pro-abortion activists would rather throw glitter bombs than have a serious discussion about what exactly takes place during an abortion, along with the long-term implications of abortion for both women and men. To say that life begins at conception and should be protected at every stage is the rational position. To say to the contrary that life cannot be defined, that it is subject to another person’s “choice,” is completely irrational. Far easier to send hate mail than engage in an intelligent debate about what Roe v. Wade has actually brought us: more than 57 million deceased children, countless numbers of women maimed and scarred, untold numbers of men suffering in silence.

All that glitter cannot hide the inherent ugliness of abortion.