Purdue staffer quits after alleged 'rape' comment

In my column last week, I wrote about the passion abortion advocates seem to have about the death of unborn babies. Jamie Newman, a staff member at Purdue University, made his feelings about campus pro-lifers known. He called them “vile, racist idiots” who deserved to be shamed for reminding people that the lives of unborn black babies matter too.

According to some abortion advocates, pro-lifers are like the KKK and Islamic terrorists (who behead and blow up people) and “human garbage.” Since I wrote about the incident, Newman continued ranting against pro-lifers. He allegedly wrote something worse in response to a commenter on the Live Action News site:

“My hypothesis is that if your wife, daughter, sister, or mother were raped, you’d see to it that any resulting fetus was aborted pronto. Shall we attempt to arrange an experiment that might test my hypothesis?” He added: “Oh, I’m sorry. So, let me make my intentions quite explicit: I did in fact offer to rape Tom’s wife/daughter/great grandmother. Free of charge, even. I’m generous that way.”

The commenter identified as Newman then listed the telephone numbers of the local police department and the FBI office in case people wanted to report him. Did he really threaten to rape people? Giving Newman the benefit of the doubt, he was being sarcastic. Regardless, his alleged comments were especially inappropriate for a staff member at a university. The internet is forever. In his anger and frustration, Newman likely didn’t care that he’d have to account for his words, sarcastic or not.

“The disruption we’ve endured as a community is entirely due to Mr. Newman’s online posts,” Purdue lawyer Steve Schultz said. “Anything other than a full apology and explanation from him about the intent of his statement will be insufficient to cure the harm he’s done.”

Were Newman’s views about abortion strong enough to overcome concern for his job? It appears so. He probably won’t apologize to the school or to pro-lifers now. He quit.

“The university has accepted the resignation and believes this is the appropriate outcome,” Purdue spokeswoman Julie Rosa said.

How is that for passion—making nasty comments and quitting in a huff? Liberals tend not to like pro-lifers pointing out that black women are overrepresented among women who kill their own unborn children, which I believe is an appropriate discussion for Black History Month. Newman might be feeling good about his behavior right now, or regretful. Either way, pro-lifers won’t stop speaking for the unborn, who can’t speak for themselves.

Despite what the U.S. Supreme Court said, there is no right of privacy in the U.S. Constitution for a woman to end her pregnancy because she doesn’t want the baby. That the killing of defenseless human beings for the sake of convenience is legal and a right in this country is astounding. But pro-lifers are on a mission to encourage women to protect their precious babies and raise awareness about their miraculous development in the womb. Let the Newmans of the world rant.