Faith leaders decry vandalism at Lake View church supporting abortion rights: ‘We need to be louder’

As two women slinked away last month after chucking rocks at a Lake View church touting a pro-choice sign, one of them was caught on video saying the move “sends a message.”

“The only message I’m hearing is that we need to be louder,” said Rev. Jason Lydon, the minister of the Second Unitarian Church of Chicago, where faith leaders and dozens of protesters gathered Sunday to condemn the Aug. 23 incident.

“We’re doing this to say that we will not be silenced by people who try to intimidate us,” Lydon told the Sun-Times.

Tom Schuba/Chicago Sun-Times

A stained glass window was broken, along with the glass case displaying the message that apparently drew the vandals’ ire, Lydon said. The case has since been fixed, and the sign has been restored to say, “We support abortion on demand without apology.”

Rabbi Brant Rosen, of Tzedek Chicago in Lincoln Square, said he was left “angered and mortified” when he learned of the “attack” at Lydon’s church.

“This was clearly, obviously an act of violence,” Rosen said. “But it’s important to remember that acts of violence do not occur in a vacuum. This is part of an overall culture of incitement and violence that is going on in our country with impunity, and with the incitement of our so-called leaders.”

The landmark Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade “was itself an act of violence,” added Rosen, who noted the country is in the midst of “a war” over the rights of women and those in the LGBTQ community.

Rev. Elizabeth Harding, minister of religious education at the Second Unitarian Church, referred to abortion as “a blessing of science” and insisted that the Supreme Court decision and “the resulting vandalism” don’t “promote life” — taking an apparent shot at the “pro-life” rhetoric used by anti-abortion activists.

“We believe that those women who caused the vandalism are people with worth and dignity,” she said. “But how you choose to act — destroying a part of our building and our sign — is also not a life-giving choice.”

Asked whether anyone has been questioned, arrested or charged in connection to the vandalism, a Chicago police spokesperson couldn’t provide any updates but said the investigation is ongoing.

Tom Schuba/Chicago Sun-Times

Lydon said police investigators obtained video of the incident “through the media,” adding that the vandals weren’t familiar to him and other members of the congregation. If they’re caught, he hopes to resolve the case outside of a courtroom.

“I’ve spent many years of my adult life supporting people going through court systems, and I’ve never really seen justice happen in court,” he said after the rally. “And so I’d really be interested in some kind of restorative justice, or transformative justice practice, where the women would have to repay for the damages that they did.

“But more importantly, that they would engage in conversation and take part in kind of our peace circle process, where we could really hear them.”