Topless Activists Detained for Protesting Anti-Abortion Rally in San Francisco

By Joanna Rothkopf  |  January 25, 2016 | 3:10pm
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I bet pro-lifers were pretty P.O.ed this weekend when their events kept getting derailed by unwelcome intruders. First, D.C.’s March for Life was hampered by an inconvenient blizzard, then, San Francisco’s Walk for Life had to contend with a bunch of topless feminists.

Tens of thousands of marchers made their way to the Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco on Saturday, just one day after the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, for one of the largest anti-abortion events in the country. Marchers were met by protesters from a number of pro-choice groups, including Stop Patriarchy and Femen, a group of feminist activists known for topless protest.

The latter group interrupted David Daleiden’s speech by taking off their shirts, breaking through the rally’s barriers and chanting “Fraud, Fake, Liar!”

Daleiden, founder of the Center for Medical Progress, became a folk hero in the anti-abortion movement after he released heavily-edited “investigations” into Planned Parenthood’s fetal donation practices that ended up contributing to the demonization and threatening the safety of women’s healthcare providers. (Investigations into state PPFA providers later found no evidence of wrongdoing.)

“We, and we think most Americans, are proud of David for exposing these practices, and we are proud to have him as a speaker at the Walk for Life West Coast,” said the rally’s co-chair and organizer Eva Muntean in an interview with a local NBC affiliate.

According to a press release from the organization, six rally attendees attempted to physically restrain the women when they attempted to rush the stage. Activists Chelsea Ducote and Rebecca Marston were charged for violating a park code that prohibits women from exposing their breasts, as well as for disorderly contact.

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