Editorial | Lydia Taylor Davis is not worth our attention

On Wednesday, April 15, anti-abortion activist Lydia Taylor Davis will visit the University of Pittsburgh. She will table at 10 a.m. on Bigelow Lawn, giving students the chance to debate her or talk to her, according to @chooselifeatpitt on Instagram, the group promoting her visit. Then, at 6 p.m. she will deliver a speech at O’Hara Student Center. 

Davis follows in the footsteps of Charlie Kirk, with her style of debate content aimed to garner social media attention. In fact, The Students for Life Campus Tours are specifically continuing in honor of Charlie Kirk, according to @studentsforlife on Instagram. For someone claiming to champion women, Davis is certainly concerned with emulating men. 

Last time Charlie Kirk visited Pitt’s campus, a controversial video posted to his account that took a student’s behavior out of context led to the disbanding of Pitt’s Turning Point USA chapter. Attempts to engage with him or prove him wrong resulted in public humiliation — not because Kirk’s rhetoric was so sound, but because his tactics were predatory. These political commentators don’t actually aim to encourage discussion. They aim to make the other side look stupid and encourage further polarization. 

Davis has written for Fox News and the Daily Wire, describing the intense vitriol she has received for her beliefs, including threats that, to her, further prove her point that pro-choice activists are hypocritical and violence-minded. Getting big reactions from creators online or people in her comment section only gives her further ammunition, with much of her content focused on ridiculing a hyperbolic caricature of people with pro-choice beliefs.

A year ago, Davis visited a USC campus, and reportedly few people paid her any mind. She said this was very different from her prior experiences on college campuses. Without crowds of angry protestors or eager participants in debates, Davis has less and less to post online and present out of context to further her own agenda. 

A 2025 Gallup poll indicates that 54% of men are pro-life, while only 32% of women are pro-life.​​ This makes Davis a woman in a male-dominated field, and perhaps we should treat her as such. Ignore her, discredit her and generally resist reacting to any action she attempts, rather than offering responses that give her more ammo for her social media. 

The Pitt News editorial is a weekly article written by the opinion editors in collaboration with other desk editors. It reflects the collective opinion of the current Pitt News editorial staff.