Vandals tag Pennsylvania church with abortion rights graffiti

A church in Pennsylvania was spray-painted with abortion rights graffiti over the weekend after a series of restrictions on the procedure were passed by conservative lawmakers in other states.

The words “you do not have the right to decide how others live” were written in black spray paint on the doors of the Notre Dame de Lourdes parish in Swarthmore, Pa., CBS Philadelphia reported.

The hashtag “ProChoice” was also written on the windows and on a side brick wall.

{mosads}Parishoner Jessica Prince told CBS Philadelphia that it was “shocking” to see the message on the doors before Sunday’s service.

“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,” Prince said.

The message was discovered shortly before 9 a.m. on Sunday and was removed by parishioners in the afternoon.

A spokesperson for the Philadelphia archdiocese told the local news station that security cameras from the adjacent parish school appeared to record the vandalism in progress. 

#RidleyTwp. Police was called to Notre Dame de Lourdes Church yesterday for a report on vandalism. Spray painted on the front doors was, “You do not have the right to decide how people live #prochoice” https://t.co/hQ18tmRVG0 pic.twitter.com/w2TxPxcMg7

— Matt Petrillo (@MattPetrillo) May 20, 2019

The vandalism came days after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed a bill into law that prohibits nearly all abortions in the state, igniting a nationwide debate about access to the procedure.

Several states, including Mississippi and Georgia, have passed abortion measures in recent months to outlaw the procedure after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

Critics say that the six-week mark when a heartbeat is detected is often before many women even know they are pregnant.