A Catholic church in Swarthmore, Penn., was defaced with pro-choice messages spray-painted on its outside walls and doors over the weekend.
Vandals painted phrases including "You do not have the right to decide how others live" and "#ProChoice" on Notre Dame de Lourdes parish, CBS Philly reports.
"It was very shocking to come up to the church and see that. I’d have to say the first half of Mass was me crying the whole time because I was so upset somebody would do that to the church," parishioner Jessica Prince said about the incident.
"If people wanted to come and stand outside our church and protest our beliefs, go for it," Prince continued, "but vandalizing a property, I think, is taking it way too far."
A spokesperson for the Philadelphia Archdiocese told CBS Philly that security footage of the vandals would be turned over to police, and added that parishioners removed the graffiti.
A church in #DelawareCounty was vandalized with abortion rights graffiti. @joeholdencbs3 has the story: https://t.co/MTdrO6GehW
— CBS Philly (@CBSPhilly) May 20, 2019
Earlier this month, Democratic Pennsylvania state representative Brian Sims accosted an elderly woman praying in front of Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He attacked her Christian faith for "shaming people" and "telling people you know what's right for their bodies." After receiving pushback, he blasted "Bible bullies" in a tweet.
Across the country Democrats have been in an uproar over anti-abortion laws recently passed in Alabama and Georgia.
Hundreds protested outside the Alabama Capitol on Sunday, days after the governor signed a law making it a felony to perform abortions in almost all cases unless the mother's health is at risk. More than 400 rallies against laws restricting abortion access were held around the country Tuesday.
Democrats have moved further left on the abortion issue over the past year. In February, Senate Democrats blocked the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would have required doctors to provide medical care to babies who survive abortion. Democrats in the Virginia state legislature proposed expanding abortion access to up to 40 weeks, including to the moment right before birth, in January. The Vermont legislature passed a bill earlier this month to protect abortion at all stages of pregnancy for any reason and pushed forward a measure to make abortion a constitutional right.