Republican AGs urge Google not to censor pro-life pregnancy centers
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, who is leading the effort, argues crisis pregnancy centers are "under siege"
The Buffalo, New York, pregnancy center that was "firebombed" by suspected pro-abortion radicals earlier this summer officially reopened this week. CompassCare celebrated the reconstruction with a ribbon-cutting ceremony as well as stern remarks from conservative New York politicians aimed at Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Attorney General Letitia James for their responses to the attack.
"What happened here was an act of terror," New York state Sen. George Borrello said at the news conference held outside CompassCare in Buffalo on Monday morning. "Terrorists attacked this facility."
"And what happened after that? Did we hear from our governor? Do we have a representative from the governor's office here today? How about our attorney general, the chief law enforcement officer of New York State? What was her response to this? I wish it was just silence, but it was worse than silence. They actually turned around and said, ‘You deserve this,'" he continued.
CompassCare’s facility in Buffalo was attacked on June 7 in an incident for which the radical abortion group Jane’s Revenge appeared to take credit just days later. The attack on CompassCare left thousands of dollars in damages, the group’s CEO Jim Harden told Fox News Digital in June, and photos showed broken windows, office spaces covered in soot, and graffiti reading, "Jane was here."
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"This is the pro-abortion ‘Kristallnacht.’ Because of this act of violence, the needs of women facing unplanned pregnancy will go unmet and babies will die," Harden said at the time of the attack.
Fifty-two days later, the center has reopened and Harden doubled-down on saying that the recent attacks on pro-life centers across the country since the leaking of the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling overruling Roe v. Wade represent a "pro-abortion Kristallnacht."
"There's two things that caused Kristallnacht to become that watershed moment … in the Jewish community in 1938 Germany: a lack of public outcry and a refusal on the part of the political elite to criminalize and go after those criminals," he said at the news conference.
"And that's, unfortunately, I think what we're seeing here in America today," Harden continued.
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Harden said he invited Hochul and James to the press conference on Monday so they could see the pregnancy center firsthand. Harden’s invites come after James called on Google to "correct search results that direct individuals seeking abortions to dangerous and misleading anti-abortion clinics in New York," according to a June press release from her office.
Hochul signed a legislative package regarding abortion access earlier this summer, including a bill that grants permission to conduct a study examining "unmet health and resource needs and impact" at "limited service pregnancy centers." Harden slammed Hochul for signing the bill, which he says will "investigate the victims" of abortion. He also condemned Hochul's comments this summer, in which she called pro-lifers "neanderthals" for opposing the argument that women are "entitled" to abortion access.
"They want to investigate us. Well here we are. We're open to the world," Harden said on Monday. "Come and see what the church is doing through places like CompassCare, reaching and serving women in their hour of need. When a woman faces an unplanned pregnancy, she says, 'I'm stuck. I'm trapped. I've got no other choice. I need to have an abortion.' That doesn't sound like empowerment. To me that sounds like coercion."
Borrello argued that Jane's Revenge has become emboldened "by the inaction of our governor, of our attorney general," saying New York leaders have "failed miserably" at protecting New Yorkers.
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"Their inaction sends a message that violence is OK if it supports their political agenda. That's what the governor, that's what the attorney general, and that's what the majority of Democrats in Albany have said: Violence is OK if it supports their political agenda. That's what you see here,'" he said.
New York Rep. Claudia Tenney also joined Harden and state Sen. Borrello at the news conference. Tenney spoke about her newly introduced bill, the Pregnancy Resource Center Defense Act, which would increase criminal penalties against people who attack pro-life centers.
She, too, took aim at Hochul and James for their recent remarks and actions regarding the pro-life movement.
"I was appalled by the comments from Kathy Hochul, our governor, how appalling everything just continues to come out. And especially Letitia James, the attorney general, who's supposed to be helping all of us up here in upstate New York, not just in New York City, not just doing targeted prosecutions with a political nature to them," Tenney said.
James’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the remarks.
"Governor Hochul condemns violence of any kind, and the State Police stand ready to assist local authorities with the investigation," a spokesperson for Hochul's office told Fox when approached for comment.
Though no arrests have been made, Harden read a statement from Amherst police at the press conference saying the department is working with federal law enforcement agencies to track down the perpetrators and is currently working on leads in the case.
CompassCare continued working following the attack, according to Harden, using alternate facilities while their Buffalo office underwent repairs.
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"We will not retaliate evil for evil. Let this day show we will retaliate evil with love and fire with endurance," Harden said.
