Chicago pregnancy center vandalized as Democratic National Convention closes

A Catholic pregnancy center called "Aid for Women" in north Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood was vandalized with red paint and the words "fake clinic" and "the dead babies are in Gaza" at 3 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 23, just hours after the closing of the Democratic National Convention. Mary FioRito, a spokesperson for the center, said that vandals also cemented the doors shut, forcing the nonprofit to cancel appointments for around 12 women. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Aid for Women.

A Catholic pregnancy center in Chicago called “Aid for Women” was vandalized in the early morning hours after the closing of the Democratic National Convention.

No one was present at the center at the time of the incident. Police have been contacted and are investigating the incident as a violation of the Freedom of Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, according to Mary FioRito, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a spokesperson for Aid for Women.

Aid for Women is a non-profit which according to its website was “founded on the faith and teachings of the Catholic Church.”

The nonprofit operates five pregnancy centers and two maternity homes in the Chicago area. The group partners with the Archdiocese of Chicago and offers a range of services including ultrasounds, abortion pill reversal medications, counseling, and material aid.

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A Catholic pro-life nonprofit that has been tracking violent incidents against pregnancy centers in the United States since 2022 denounced the recent vandalism attack against the Aid for Women clinic in Chicago, Illinois.

During the early morning hours last Friday after the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention, the Aid for Womenclinic near United Center was splatteredwith red paint and graffiti, according to spokesperson Mary FioRito.

The organization, which is "founded on the faith and teachings of the Catholic Church," has two maternity homes and five crisis pregnancy centers in the Chicago area.

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