. . . because action speaks louder than words.
. . . because action speaks louder than words.
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January 27, 1996—League Director Joe Scheidler speaks at the Human Life International convention in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. In his speech titled, “Inside the Abortion Industry,” Joe shares grisly details from a recent conference hosted by the League, featuring testimony from former abortion providers. That testimony would later be made available to the public in the League’s Meet the Abortion Providers DVD.
More League history here.
More media coverage today of the oversight of abortion clinics—or lack of it—in Illinois: the Peoria Journal Star reports on the violations found at National Health Care Services.
Before last year’s inspection sweep of Illinois’ nine pregnancy termination special centers (PTSCs), the abortuary hadn’t been inspected in 15 years. State investigators found serious problems there, including shoddy record keeping.
The Journal Star reports that all the violations were corrected by October, at a cost of nearly $10,000.
But what remains to be seen—and is not discussed in today’s story—is whether the state will continue to monitor conditions at the PTSCs, or simply revert to the status quo of decades past when inspections were not done.
A recent Associated Press article by writer Carla Johnson reported that some abortion clinics in Illinois have gone up to 15 years without an inspection, and that several other abortion clinics in the state—including all of those run by Planned Parenthood—aren’t licensed or inspected by the state at all.
In response to inquiries from Johnson, Pro-Life Action League Executive Director Eric Scheidler provided numerous documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding abortion clinic inspections. He was also quoted in the article:
Anti-abortion activist Eric Scheidler, executive director of the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League, said Illinois is “one of the most pro-abortion states in the nation” and he believes it gave the clinics “a pass.” The state has shown “a systematic unwillingness to step away from the ideology and look at these facilities objectively,” he said, calling for more stringent inspections.
March for Life 2012 outside the US Supreme Court building [Photo by John Jansen]
I’ve attended the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. a good number of times, but this year’s was by far the most upbeat, energetic and encouraging march I’ve been to, and the Pro-Life Action League was thrilled to be a part of it.
The crowd was enormous and excited about the coming year, as well they should be. 2011 was a banner year for the pro-life movement, and the momentum only keeps going our way.
As the march wound through the streets of the nation’s capital one could see groups from all religious traditions, all ages and races, school groups, church groups, colleges with huge banners—it was quite a show.
But there was one thing that I don’t think anyone missed—the Crusaders for Life pro-life youth group from our own St. John Cantius church here in Chicago. The giant group came equipped with chants, huge yellow “LIFE” balloons, and portable platforms where they could carry some of their cohorts above the crowd to lead chants.[Continue reading ... ]
March for Life, Washington DC—Three little words from President Obama’s statement yesterday on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade reveal how radical his support for abortion really is. He says we must strive to “reduce the need for abortion.”
Obama dare not hint—by professing a desire to reduce abortion itself—that there’s anything whatsoever wrong with abortion. What’s bad, what we want to reduce, is “the need for” abortion.
Some will say I’m reading too much into these words, that what Obama means to say—what they may even think he is saying—is that he wants to reduce abortion. But he never does say that. Look at his statements on abortion—always careful to add those three little words.
Obama is happy to mislead people on this score, to appear to share a goal most Americans would embrace: to bring the number of abortions down from the staggering current rate of over 1 million a year.
But hidden in those the little words is a clear message to the abortion industry: “I got your back.” They can rest assured he will fight any effort to actually bring down the number of abortions, keepig the focus on that nebulous “need” for it. And he’s proven that commitment again and again over the past 3 years.
Well, here at the 39th Annual March for Life, we’ve got three little words of our own—three little words that inspire our action today and carry us to victory on November 6: “Stop abortion NOW!”
Today the Illinois Supreme Court handed down a ruling [PDF] in Sandholm v. Kuecker, a libel case involving many of the same issues involved with my own libel suit against Planned Parenthood, Scheidler v. Trombley.
Both cases involve the Citizens Participation Act (CPA), enacted in 2007 to protect citizens from so-called “SLAPP” cases—”strategic lawsuits against political participation.” A SLAPP is a meritless lawsuit filed only to discourage free speech or protest activity. The plaintiff bringing the suit does not intend to win it in court, only to punish or intimidate the defendant by imposing the heavy costs of mounting a defense.
In the Sandholm case, a former high school coach and athletic director, Steve Sandholm, sued a group of parents and a media company for libel and slander for statements they made during an ultimately successful effort to get him fired.
Sandholm’s case was dismissed by the trial court under the CPA, citing an earlier ruling by the judge in my case, Judith Brawka.[Continue reading ... ]
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards had a laugher of a letter to the editor in the New York Times this week in which she wrote:
In “He’s a Quarterback, He’s a Winner, He’s a TV Draw, He’s a Verb” (This Land column, front page, Jan. 14), Dan Barry writes about a 2010 Super Bowl commercial telling how Tim Tebow’s mother decided not to end a life-threatening pregnancy and he adds, “There was no tebowing that week in the halls of Planned Parenthood.”
That suggests that Planned Parenthood does not celebrate birth or a remarkable story like Mr. Tebow’s. In fact, the Tebow story exemplifies the health care environment that Planned Parenthood promotes — a world in which women and families are supported in the medical decisions they make for themselves and their families without government interference. [emphasis added]
Seriously? Cecile Richards actually wants you to believe that Planned Parenthood celebrates “a remarkable story like Mr. Tebow’s”? And that “the Tebow story exemplifies the health care environment that Planned Parenthood promotes”?
Maybe in Bizarro World that’s true, but not in the real world.[Continue reading ... ]
Yesterday, Pro-Life Action League Executive Director Eric Scheidler, Generations for Life’s John Jansen, myself and 150 other Chicagoans attended a meeting of the Chicago Committee on Special Events to defend free speech and public protest.
With the G8 and Nato summits coming concurrently to Chicago this spring, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel has taken the opportunity to ratchet up the city’s laws governing public protest.
The legislation, which was originally proposed as a temporary measure for the summits but has since become permanent, drastically increased fines and required a permit for any gathering of people in public space. The ordinance defines a “Public Assembly”, which requires a permit, as:[Continue reading ... ]
Do we pro-lifers believe a woman should have a choice of where she wants to go to college?
Or which doctor to go to?
Or what kind of car to drive?
Or what foods to eat?
Or … well, you get the idea.
Quite obviously, we believe women should have the right to choose any number of things (just as we believe men should have the right to choose any number of things).
And yet, those in favor of keeping abortion legal frequently refer to us not as pro-life, but rather, “anti-choice” — as if we were somehow opposed to women choosing anything. [Continue reading ... ]
Joe and Ann Scheidler at the nativity scene at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
For the past week, my parents—League directors Joe and Ann Scheidler—have been making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. They are pictured here at the creche at the Church of the Nativity, appropriately enough, since they put up two elaborate creches in their home every Christmas.
During their trip, they’re visiting all the principal sites of the Gospel story—the Sea of Galilee, Nazareth, the site of the Ascension, the Mount of Olives, and so forth. But they say the most moving of all was their visit to the site of the Annunciation at the Basilica in Nazareth.
It was in that very spot that Mary said “yes” to God’s plan for her to become the Mother of the Redeemer—a yes that has been echoed down through the ages every time a woman embraces motherhood.
No wonder my parents would find that spot so moving. Their life’s work has been to encourage all mothers, like Mary, not to be afraid of motherhood—to have the faith and hope to say “yes” even in trying circumstances like those Mary faced: poverty, oppression and scandal.
Look for a full report on their Holy Land pilgrimage after they return Wednesday. And then it’s off to the March for Life in Washington, D.C. for the tireless “Godparents” of pro-life activism!
Sign posted at Rockford’s NIWC abortion mill before its license was suspended on Sept. 30, 2011. NIWC is now closed for good. [Photo via Pro-Life Corner]
The notorious Northern Illinois Women’s Center in Rockford just became the first abortion clinic in the U.S. to shut down in 2012.
A Rockford Register Star article posted just this afternoon confirmed that NIWC’s management has decided not to reopen after having its license suspended by the State of Illinois for over three months due to serious health violations.
Why did NIWC decide not to reopen? The article explains:
The clinic’s decision is based on a lack of support from the community, the political climate surrounding the abortion issue both locally and nationally and the challenge the clinic would face in rebuilding staff, the director said.
Take a look at these reasons again:
(1) A lack of support from the community. It’s not hard to see why the good people of Rockford want nothing to do with NIWC. A creepy looking place that doesn’t sterilize their instruments and has bizarre window displays featuring signs of Jesus giving the middle finger and saying, “Even Jesus hates you” isn’t the sort of place anyone would want in their backyard.[Continue reading ... ]