On Tuesday, several Students for Life staff journeyed to the campus of Albion College, Michigan, where our plan was to set up a Cemetery of the Innocents display — a display commemorating the 1,102 babies killed by Planned Parenthood every day in the U.S.

We’re used to encountering resistance on college campuses. But at Albion, that resistance was so extreme that one professor even decided to cancel class so his students could protest. 

One young man attempted to steal a handful of our flags while the university’s head of security stood by without stopping him. It took Students for Life staff threatening to call the police for the man to drop the flags. Another student spit on our table and topic cards. Still other protesters brandished signs reading, “Abortion is a Rigt” and “Seperate church and state.” (Clearly, spelling was not their strong suit).

Attempting to engage in conversation, I asked a girl her thoughts on abortion — to which she pointed at her coat hanger tattoo on her arm, saying, “you can’t stop me from having them.“ This girl later made a sign depicting a coat hanger with the words “you can’t stop me.”

Meanwhile, the professor who had canceled class insisted laws protecting preborn children are unjust, justifying his claim with the yelled, “If I create a cadre of people saying we should cut your balls off, and we agree that we should cut your balls off, is that okay for us to cut your balls off?”

That’s just one of many absurd arguments we heard that day. One environmental science major who insisted if women all around the world gave birth to their children rather than aborting them, we wouldn’t have enough water for everyone to drink.

When the mob reached its peak of about 25-30 people, the professor grew more aggressive and disrespectful and the whole crowd grew angrier. But instead of doing something about the protesters, the head of security instead informed us that we had to leave because our discussion was “no longer productive.“

We stood our ground, pointing out that the protesters were the agitators, not us, and that the university had no authority to make us leave since we were on public property.

Eventually, university security called the police, who showed up and instantly complimented one of the pro-abortion protesters on his rhetoric. Without reprimanding or even cautioning the protesters, the officers informed our staff we had to leave. Obviously, having the audacity to withstand spitting, attempted theft, and mob-swarming is an offense worthy of being removed from public property.