Keystone Oaks parents upset about anti-abortion protest near middle school

Parents of some Keystone Oaks middle school students are upset after a group of anti-abortion protestors handed out pamphlets to children and held signs near the school entrance.

Parents told Channel 11 that their children were harassed as they left school by members of the Abolitionist Society of Pittsburgh, a group that seeks to abolish abortion.

“The thing that bothers me most is that in this instance they targeted children to spread their message,”

said parent Marie Garrity.

At least one of the pamphlets prompted outrage among parents because it was so graphic, but parents said some of the posters that the protesters held were much worse.

The group responded to parents’ complaints by posting the following statement on social media: “Kids are seeing Holocaust images in their textbooks at this age. Don’t be afraid to engage them on the topic of abortion.”

Monday’s protest outside Keystone Oaks Middle School was at the end of the school day. Parents said members of the group were trying to engage students in conversations about abortion by handing out pamphlets directing them to the group's website and trying to advance their agenda.

District officials called police, but the group was gone when officers arrived.

Dormont police said the protesters were not on school property and, although they upset some parents, they didn’t break the law.

“They specifically tried to undermine whatever ethical and moral boundaries we set for our kids by spreading this information with our kid unsupervised,” Garrity said. “As a mom, I’m furious. I think something needs to be done.”

Cox Media Group