by Maggie Ferrara

Two years ago today, when I was 6 weeks pregnant, I was assaulted for speaking out against abortion.

My colleague Jackie and I were displaying pictures of aborted babies on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) when a girl walked up to us and started pouring orange juice over the sign I was holding. Before I even realized what was happening, she raised her arm and poured the remainder of the bottle over my head and face. Then she quickly turned and walked away. Shocked, we called out after her, “Hey, what are you doing?” But she remained silent. As my eyes stung and my face dripped, Jackie dropped her sign and flagged down the nearby policeman. The girl was arrested immediately.

Thankfully, we were each wearing a GoPro video camera, which captured the entire incident and made it all extremely easy for the Commonwealth’s Attorney assigned to my case. (See above.) The arresting officer, who was a VCU Policeman, mentioned later that the school was considering expelling her for her actions. That seemed harsh to me, but I didn’t know what an appropriate punishment should be.

Several weeks later, in a Richmond City court room, the judge gave her sentence: 100 hours of community service and a verbal apology to me (which she completed immediately). But that wasn’t all. My orange juice assailant, Rachel, had to write a three-page paper about the importance of The First Amendment and return to court to read it into the record. I couldn’t have come up with any better punishment!

Sometimes I think back to this incident and wonder about Rachel. I don’t really know anything about her except her name. But I wonder. What motivated her to pour orange juice on me? Why was she silent during her attack? Did she regret her actions immediately, or when she was arrested, or maybe not until much later? I assume she does now. These and many other questions come to mind. I also wonder if she still thinks about it. Does she think about me? She didn’t know any more about me than I did about her. She didn’t know I was pregnant when she attacked me. If she had known, would that have mattered to her?

I will probably never know the answers to these questions. But I can pray for Rachel, and so I will.

Maggie Ferrara is the Communications Director for The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform. She has been a pro-life missionary for almost 9 years. She lives in Virginia with her husband and daughter.