The FACE Act Weaponized (part 3 of 3): One of the reproductive activists speaks out
Reproductive rights activist Soren Monroe tells their story about being charged under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act — legislation meant to protect abortion clinics, staff, and patients from anti-abortion violence.
The Call to Activism Begins
Growing up, Soren Monroe did not always hold “pro-choice” views. It was during their high school years that their perspective began to evolve. Embracing their role as an activist amidst the pandemic, Monroe championed a spectrum of causes.
“Last year, I went vegan in the summer and started feeling a drive to doing real activism and outreach for animal rights and community issues,” Monroe explained. It was an incident following that intensified her activism around reproductive rights and abortion.
Monroe described an inflammatory anti-abortion display by Bowling Green State University (BGSU) Falcons for Life, a campus chapter of national anti-abortion organization Students for Life of America (SFLA): “Each little pink flag was meant to represent over 800 aborted ‘babies’. The sign in the center declared, ‘this is their cemetery.’”
Understandably, this brazen attack on reproductive rights — which, as always, dehumanizes pregnant people and erases them from the equation — stirred strong emotions among students and led to several acts of vandalism among the student body. These incidents led to a series of events that would define Monroe’s role as a reproductive rights activist.
The BGSU Falcons for Life group had reported to campus police “suspicious activity” around the display. So, when a member of the campus socialist club that Monroe also belongs to picked up one of the pink flags, several BGSU Falcons for Life members started chasing the student and called the police, who subsequently tackled the student violently and arrested them, according to Monroe. BGSU Falcons for Life posted a video of the event to the Students for Life website for their usual maximum “we are victims” PR exposure.
“Originally, they were charged with criminal mischief and obstruction of justice but thankfully the latter charge was dismissed,” said Monroe.
Regardless, the episode rightly angered Monroe and galvanized them to begin a silent counterprotest against the BSGU Falcons for Life and its incendiary display.
“Every time they promoted their violent anti choice beliefs or harassed students on campus,” Monroe explained. “Everyone always insisted on just trying to ignore them, and I was so tired of that because ignoring them didn’t make them go away.”
They continued, “Because I knew how uncomfortable and unsafe this kind of violent rhetoric was making students feel especially — amidst legislative attacks on reproductive healthcare — I wanted to take a stand and show solidarity with other students affected by anti choice laws and the violence these people were promoting.”
Monroe sat with a sign that read, “forced birth is violence, abortions are healthcare, defend bodily autonomy, abortions should be safe & free.”
“Over the next several days, I sat directly outside their display with my sign, and many of my friends and strangers gathered with me in counter-protest.”
Monroe said that at one point, two men they’d never met came up and started playing guitar with them. “We were all just dancing and cheering and gleefully watching the forced birthers get more and more pissed,” said Monroe.
After the initial incident, Monroe and fellow activists were all driven to take action on campus, leading to several pro-choice events and counter-protests against anti-choice groups. “Since then, I’ve felt an incredible calling to dedicate my life to this cause,” said Monroe.
Ongoing Scuffles with BGSU Falcons for Life on Campus
Monroe’s run-ins with Morgan Reece, a fellow student and president of BGSU Falcons for Life, continued to be particularly contentious.
Recounting their encounters, Monroe said, “She reported me to the school for harassment for an [Instagram] post I made… I was originally found not guilty, but she reported me again for ‘causing a disturbance’ for yelling at a table of the Falcon’s for Life students.”
Instead of using the block button on Instagram, Reece decided she could get more attention for SFLA fundraising by crying victim — a common tactic of this group. There are many SFLA blog posts on their national website claiming some sort of slight, and then they exaggerate the incidents and make sure to fundraise off of their fake aggrievement. For example, in her guest blog on the SFLA website about Monroe’s Instagram post, Reece complained:
I submitted another report showing the BGSRU Instagram page’s post of me with edited devil horns and a caption with paragraphs about how I “spread misinfo [sic] and lies” and work with organizations that are “anti women and anti healthcare” and “lying deceptive.”
This is not only cyberbullying but defamation. And while my faculty advisor and I did meet with a BGSU administrator about this, the administrator said there is nothing the university can do now or to prevent this type of behavior from happening in the future since he believes Soren and BGSRU are acting within their First Amendment rights.
As you can see, nothing Monroe posted in that Instagram story was defamation, which is a serious charge that you’re not allowed to throw around, and Monroe’s Instagram story content only displayed public information that Reece herself had posted on her Instagram. Cyberbullying? Devil’s horns? Maybe. But the school administrator was absolutely correct about this being protected speech. Nevertheless, SFLA is consistently “free speech for me, but not for thee.”
It would be around the next day that the FBI raided Monroe’s dorm room.
Following is a screen shot of Reece admitting in an Instagram story that she worked with the FBI on this case. It’s unclear whether she received one of the $25K rewards the FBI offered for information on alleged attacks on fake clinics.
The FACE Arrest
Today, Monroe faces federal misdemeanor charges in connection with an April 15 spray painting of the Bowling Green Pregnancy Center, also known as HerChoice under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. (See Part 1 and Part 2 for background on the FACE Act and how it is being misused today.)
Monroe can’t speak to particulars of her case, because it’s ongoing, but when I asked them if they thought the charges would hold up, they responded, “It’s a tough question.”
Monroe continues, “On the one hand, the law states that the motive should be ‘because the facility offers reproductive healthcare’ and it’s pretty clear from the words included in the graffiti and the fact that it was on a fake clinic that this was not the movie behind the protest. Additionally, the FACE act was designed to protect reproductive healthcare clinics, something that fake clinics are definitely not.”
“On the other hand,” they continued, “Unfortunately, I don’t have faith in the justice system to take into consideration the motive or what should qualify as a reproductive healthcare facility.”
Monroe added, “The law is so vague that someone simply giving pregnancy tests out of their home could theoretically qualify.”
“Fake clinics” refers to so-called crisis pregnancy centers, or CPCs, like HerChoice in Bowling Green. They are Christian-run clinics that exist solely to prevent women from accessing abortion, dressed up to dupe vulnerable pregnant people into believing they are going to an abortion clinic. The patient is then lied to and shamed about abortion. Sometimes these organizations will lie during multiple appointments to delay until the person is legally unable to obtain an abortion in certain states. (You can learn more about them at Expose Fake Clinics.)
Monroe believes the charges are blown out of proportion. “It’s absurd that they would go after me like this for alleged graffiti. The paint was removed from the building within less than 6 hours of being found, with a tiny stain left over.”
These facts are corroborated by Reece herself, who wrote in another SFLA blog:
Before 11:00 a.m., my Students for Life of America (SFLA) chapter at Bowling Green State University — called the Falcons for Life — were on the scene, along with representatives of the Knights of Columbus and parishioners from St. Thomas More University Parish. Armed with sponges, cleaning brushes, a pressure washer, and a plethora of other cleaning supplies, around 30 of us (with many others driving by to show their support of our efforts) worked hard to clean up the mess. After around an hour and a half, almost all the spray paint was gone, although HerChoice still needed to order yellow paint to cover up the remaining residue.
Monroe added, “To be fair, I think it would also be equally absurd if the feds targeted anti-choicers who engaged in graffiti, as well — I mean, it’s graffiti.
The FBI raid on Monroe resulted in them losing access to their study materials during exam week, and they found themselves in a whirlwind of legal consultations, trying to recuperate mentally, and with a disrupted academic year.
Discussing the personal toll this ordeal has taken, Monroe shares, “I really, really struggled with my mental health and still am. I was supposed to go to Spain in the fall for my Spanish program but had to cancel that.”
I asked if Monroe had any threats following this incident and Reece publishing multiple blogs that Monroe was “bullying” her, and they said, “This is hard to answer. I’ve definitely gotten some rape and death threats online, but I can’t say it’s a direct result of her. She wrote those SFLA articles about me and has proudly posted about being involved with the FBI, and SFLA has called the alleged graffiti ‘terrorism.’”
Monroe added, “I don’t think she specifically sent individuals after me like at her explicit direction; though, I’m sure she knew she would be indirectly sending them my way.”
Picking Up the Pieces and Inching Forward
In the haunting aftermath of an unexpected FBI raid, our young activist has opted for a gap year and is contemplating a potential school transfer. Despite facing fears and concerns about their personal safety, Monroe has turned their attention to championing the causes they hold dear.
Monroe shared, “I’m doing a bit better now mentally, but for a long time —and still sometimes — I was just constantly looking over my shoulder in fear the FBI would just turn up like they did at my dorm.” This experience, while harrowing, hasn’t doused their spirit.
“On the bright side, I’ve been dedicating my gap year to the causes I’m passionate about.” In a significant positive turn, they added, “I actually just got a job working for a local organization on these issues, and I’m very excited about it.”
While the future may remain uncertain for Monroe, their resolve to champion their beliefs and make a difference remains stronger than ever. Indeed, I left Monroe with what I hoped were encouraging words to take forward: they will join the ranks of all the most prominent and well-respected leftist activists of our time who have been targeted by an overreaching state. I’m thinking Fred Hampton, I’m thinking Assata Shakur, I’m thinking Alice Paul. The list is endless.
We have truth and human rights on our side. And that will always win in the end. The fight continues….
