Scottish Catholic Observer

James Bundy was met with a barrage of hate, including threats of violence, on Twitter after sharing an online petition against abortion on Saturday November 17, captioned: “abortion is not a human right.”

Mr Bundy, an economics and international relations student at the University of St Andrews, was called a ‘vile human being,’ and abused with a barrage of insults.

One tweet read, ‘You should have been aborted,’ while another asked him why he belongs ‘to a religion that protects paedophiles.’

After receiving the abusive tweets, Mr Bundy said: “I was taken aback when I read the replies that I had received for simply sharing a petition I believe in.

“No one should ever receive this type of abuse for expressing whatever views they have.”

Church reaction

Scotland’s Catholic Church has since condemned those who attacked Mr Bundy and the pro-life cause.

A spokesperson said: “Pro-life students like James Bundy should be commended for defending life at its most vulnerable.

“The fact that he has been subjected to vile and personal insults for doing so is a depressing reminder of the brutal and hateful intolerance of so many abortion supporters.”

Throughout November, Mr Bundy and several of his classmates have been raising money for Life—a charity that promotes the pro-life cause, but also help women in crisis pregnancies, and offer support for those who have lost a pregnancy or had an abortion.

A spokesperson for Life said: “Although no strangers to derisive comments because of our work, it is always saddening to see our wonderful supporters attacked because of their defence of life.

“We are proud at Life that we are able to offer positive alternatives to abortion through practical and emotional support and are incredibly grateful to James and his friends for helping us achieve this through their fundraising efforts.

“We know that not everyone agrees with our principles and we welcome debate but to resort to online abuse is unacceptable.”

Booster for pro-life

Despite the Twitter abuse, Mr Bundy said he hopes the attention given to his tweet will boost the pro-life cause.

He said: “When I first shared the petition it had around 6,500 signatures and now it has over 10,000.

“I hope that my sharing it on Twitter played a small role in contributing to this increase in figures.”

He added that he is ‘quite used’ to receiving abuse on Twitter and understands that it is generally directed at an ideology rather than at him personally.