Yesterday afternoon, police responded to a threat at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Although the man behind the attacks, Robert Lewis Dear, has yet to state his purpose for targeting the clinic, many see his aggression as a continuation of the incessant attacks women’s health has been subject to this year. Considering the scrutiny Planned Parenthood has been under, they don’t seem to be far off.

https://twitter.com/Anomaly100/status/670437759308455936

Many have taken to Twitter to point out the hypocritical logic of not only alleged anti-abortion activist Robert Lewis Dear, but the larger pro-life bloc. An overwhelming number of those who identify as pro-life also advocate for family values, opposing policies inconsistent with the cis-heteronormative order of Western capitalist societies. But the insistence of forcing people under specific systems while chastising those who dare to assert their humanity and reject oppressive systems is not pro-life, it is onerous.

Pro-Fetus Is Not Pro-Life

The definition of life does not just include birth and death, it includes the stuff that happens in between. Being pro-life should mean that one champions the livelihood of all. They should be on the front lines of the Black Lives Matter movement. But, considering their silence (and oftentimes hostility), it is appropriate to assume that the term has been co-opted in an effort to regulate women’s bodies and maintain the patriarchy. However, instead of advocating for the sustenance of human beings, Dear shot up a women’s health clinic.

American Terrorism Has Been Out Of Control Since 1776

https://twitter.com/____PantheR/status/670408245459050497

At least two people were killed (one was a police officer) and 11 people were injured by the hands of Dear, a 59-year-old white male with an arrest record. Dear was taken into custody by police ALIVE. The ability of the police to capture Dear alive has peaked the interest of many on the Internet who wonder why black people are killed by police for lesser “crimes” like walking and driving.

The headline after Dylann Roof executed 9 Black people vs. The headline after a cop executed #LaquanMcDonald pic.twitter.com/Twt5JLsNzw

— Abbas (@Abbas_Muntaqim) November 26, 2015

Not only are people shocked by Dear’s miraculous apprehension, but also by the characterization of Dear by the media. It seems that they don’t know how to properly label nor cover a white person who commits domestic terrorism against a marginalized group of people. When Muslims commit a crime against the West, the media is quick to label them as terrorists. When a black person commits a crime, they are quick to label that person as either a Jezebel or a thug. But when white people commit crimes against humanity, they don’t label them as a terrorists. They label them as troubled or mentally ill. The continuous reluctance of the media and American government to label the hate crimes committed by cis-white males points to a larger problem: a society entrenched in racism, anti-black racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, Islamaphobia and transphobia.

family values

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