A Colorado educator is accused of comparing an underage pro-life student to a blow-up sex doll and other “predatory” behavior online through an anonymous Instagram account.
The Instagram account @theabortionfluencer has posted screenshots of many pro-life college and high school students with captions that sexualize or ridicule them for their pro-life position.
Student pro-life leaders and a student newspaper have both linked the account to Colleen Luckett, a freelance English as a second language teacher in Colorado.
This week, a Medium page appeared to claim ownership of the Instagram account, as it was updated to include Luckett’s name and photo with a bio “Caller-out of the Forced Birth Lobby.”
Felipe Avila, a student at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and president of TeenProLifers, told The College Fix he has been a target of Luckett’s accounts since 2021. Avila, a student spokesperson for Students for Life of America and director of digital media for the National Association of Pro-Life Nurses, said via email some of the posts are sexual in nature.
According to Instagram posts reviewed by The College Fix, one shows a screenshot of Avila and several other pro-life young adults with the caption, “Forced birthers always look SO unf*–able.” Another post mocks Avila for holding a pro-life sign at the Women’s March, claiming he “really thinks his 20 seconds of pumping deserves full-term birth.”
One female peer of Avila’s is “a frequent target of Luckett,” and “has received dozens of rape threats, even finding her tires slashed on campus,” he told The Fix, adding he believes the aim is to “harass, bully, and intimidate the opposition into silence, no matter the cost.”
The Collegiate Commons, a conservative student newspaper with reporters primarily enrolled at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, recently reported that at least one underage teenager also was a target of sexual content.
The Commons describes itself as “Central Indiana’s newest independent, student-led media outlet.”
Avie Sark, 16, the president of Democrats for Life of Indiana and organizer with the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, told the Commons the account exhibits “blatant predatory behavior.”
One “abortionfluencer” post shows a screenshot of Sark’s face next to the photo of a blow-up sex doll and calls her a “silly blow-up Sue” and a “clown.”
When informed that Sark is a minor, the “abortionfluencer” responds: “Still have no idea how old this twat… is, and I don’t give a shite. Play adult games (like removing human rights), be prepared for adult consequences,” according to the student newspaper report.
In another Instagram post reviewed by The Fix, the account admits to targeting “children,” including a boy named Colton who appears to be a ninth-grade high school student.
“It’s almost as if teen boys should be more worried about sports and their grades than sticking their grubby, prepubescent noses in womens’ grown-ass business,” the post states, alongside a photo of the boy. It also says “unf—ing believable.”
Another post includes a laughing image over the photo of a vandalized pro-life billboard, as well as the song “F— dem kids” playing in the background.
The College Fix contacted Luckett on Monday via Facebook to ask for her response to the accusations, including if she operates “theabortionfluencer” account on Instagram, but she did not answer.
Avila told The Fix that TeenProLifers first discovered Luckett in 2021 after their social media team noticed the account “strawberrychaos11222” was targeting underage pro-life students on their Instagram posts.
After investigating the matter extensively, Avila said he linked the account to the Colorado educator. A screenshot of the account shared with The Fix shows a profile photo of a woman that appears to match those on Luckett’s Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
“She subsequently deleted her account after I exposed her identity, leaving the impression that she was no longer targeting students,” he told The Fix.
Earlier this year, however, Avila said Luckett began using the new “abortionfluencer” account. He told The Fix he reported both accounts to Instagram, but the social media platform did not remove either.
The Collegiate Commons also linked the “abortionfluencer” account to Luckett through her followers on Instagram, Linktree, Medium and a comment on Facebook. The comment came from a Facebook page that appears to be Luckett’s: “Shared on my @abortionfluencer account, and pointed them toward my linktree site.”
On the Medium account, the creator professes to “hate bullies and lying, and when they come together in the anti-abortion movement, I feel compelled to shine a bright-a– light on it. Abortion rights are human rights, and we need to get LOUDER about this fundamental right to our bodies.”
The account owner describes herself as a married, childless 50-year-old woman who lives in a blue state. She says she had an abortion 20 years ago after enduring “anti-abortion harassment outside the clinic.”
On Instagram, the “abortionfluencer” posts target pro-life leaders as well as students. Photos of pro-life leaders are edited to make them look like clowns or Pinocchio, and one compares Herb Geraghty, executive director of Rehumanize International, to serial murderer Jeffrey Dahmer.
Avila said pro-life students have seen an increase in hostility in recent years, but he urged them not to be discouraged.
“Students should recognize that their work is making an impact, even in the face of adversity,” he told The Fix. “Those who seek to bully us into silence will never succeed, no matter the opposition.”
MORE: Some California Catholic universities cover abortion in health plan
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