. . . because action speaks louder than words.
League history, NOW v. Scheidler, Action News, Joe Scheidler, League staff
League history, NOW v. Scheidler, Action News, Joe Scheidler, League staff
Q & A on abortion, the unborn child, where we stand on the issues and more
Helping abortion-bound women choose life for their babies
Unmasking the truth about abortion in the public square
Our youth outreach, raising up a new generation of pro-life leaders
Abortion industry converts tell the inside story
News and commentary from the Pro-Life Action League
NOTE: Due to its length, this article is split into two parts.
For the first two years of the Pro-Life Action League's Face the Truth Tour, a joint venture with Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, the tour was held in July and temperatures soared into the '90's. For 2002 we moved the tour to the last two weeks of June. But the hot weather followed us. After a cooler than normal spring and early summer, as soon as the starting date for Face the Truth rolled around, summer hit with a vengeance.
For several months before the scheduled Tour Monica Miller, director of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, Joe and Ann Scheidler, directors of the Pro-Life Action League and Tim Murphy, special events coordinator for the League, met and carefully planned the Tour that would reach Chicago and rural Illinois in June.
Miller initially selected the twenty-seven sites, working with pro-life leaders in some of the targeted areas to choose the most effective intersections. Taking a cue from the Tours in Maryland and Pittsburgh, the planning team recruited captains from the selected sites to help promote the Tour and develop media interest. Then each member of the planning team visited several of the sites to determine which intersections worked best and where the warning signs could be effectively posted.
The first stop on the 2002 Tour was Brookfield, IL. Fifty-one Tour participants donned our new red Face the Truth 2002 T-Shirts with the message on the back, "Abortion Stops a Beating Heart." There was no opposition and the first stop on the Tour was a breeze. At Bellwood, the second stop, Troy Newman and Ken Reed of Operation Rescue West joined us from Wichita, KS and Sacramento, CA respectively. The Bellwood police commander argued with Joe Scheidler about the use of graphic pictures, even though he admitted he had to uphold the pro-lifers' first amendment right to hold the signs on the public right-of-way.
At Norridge, the 3rd stop of the day, Joe Foreman joined the Tour. Foreman, a former Operation Rescue director, is now a full-time pastor in Virginia. As the signs were being set in place someone came along and threw eggs at the poster of Jesus mourning an aborted child and at one of the graphic aborted baby pictures. It was reported to the police, but the perpetrator had driven away too quickly.
[Back to Top]Day two took the Tour out to Frankfort, IL, a charming community about forty miles west of Chicago. Police commander Cal Pickup, who had contacted the League office prior to the Tour, was on hand and had no problem with the way we set up the display, nor with distributing literature. Another forty-mile drive brought us to Manteno, where police Chief Rory Keiger brought out a huge box of donuts and sweet rolls for the participants in the Tour. Response was very positive in Manteno. On the police chief's recommendation, several "tourists" went to Yanni's Cafe, for lunch, where they were treated royally by the mother and daughter owners of the restaurant.
Bourbonnais was the last stop of the second day. At the intersection we had chosen was Olivet-Nazarene University, with a large, mostly empty parking lot. Since it is a Christian college we expected no negative reaction to using the parking lot to unload the signs. We were sadly mistaken. Almost immediately a security guard informed Tim Murphy that we would have to move the cars. At that point, Troy Newman, Ken Reed, Joe Scheidler and Joe Foreman decided to have a chat with the University president and get his O.K. for the use of the parking lot.
[Back to Top]The University president was a cautious man, very concerned about "liability issues." In spite of the eloquent attempts of the protestant pro-life leaders and Joe Scheidler's complaint that the Catholics have to carry the brunt of the pro-life efforts, the president persisted in his refusal to be cooperative. Joe Foreman finally compared him to Caiphas, the high priest who thought it was best to have one man die rather than jeopardize the welfare of the rest of the community. Foreman told him that he was not being asked to hold a sign, or to endorse the display, or to give a speech or be arrested. He was only being asked to donate a piece of his parking lot for an hour and a half. "You have been tested," said Foreman, " and you have failed the test." Newman told him that he cared more about his "stuff" than about the thousands of unborn babies who are dying every day.
The group ended up parking in a Catholic Church parking lot around the corner from Olivet-Nazarene. There was no objection from the Catholic Church, the parish of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In fact, when Newman and Reed were leaving the site at the end of the demonstration, they noted a couple of University employees retrieving their cars from the Catholic Church parking lot.
The Bourbonnais captains did a good job of promoting the event and Fr. James Holup of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Ashkum brought several parishioners.
While Scheidler was holding a sign at Bourbonnais, a local resident approached him and said that she wanted to get a pro-life group going. The Tour was just the motivation she needed to get started. She will contact the League and start her group this fall.
[Back to Top]On Friday, June 21, Fr. Peter West, of Priests for Life, joined the tour. The first stop of the day, Plainfield, was relatively uneventful. Lots of literature was distributed. Reception was pretty positive. Andy and Kathy Puch from Channahon had served as captains and promoted the Plainfield site.
The next stop, however, Braidwood, IL stands out as the benchmark for hostility. One local business woman claimed to own the public sidewalk and demanded that the police put the pro-lifers in the street. The policeman informed her that they could not be standing in the street and that the public sidewalk is, in fact, public.
The owners of a bait shop on the corner of Hwy 53 and Main Street were particularly unfriendly, shouting obscenities during the entire hour-and-a-half that the Tour was in Braidwood. Many passing motorists shouted vulgarities, gave the finger and threatened the pro-lifers. One driver actually claimed to have a gun and threatened to shoot Troy Newman.
One woman, with a child in the back seat of her car, went from demonstrator to demonstrator complaining in the foulest terms that her child had to see the aborted baby pictures. But rather than get out of the area where her child was seeing the graphic pictures, she chose to keep driving around until she had complained to everyone she could find. I offered to talk to her child about the pictures and our purpose in being there, but she refused.
The police would not allow the distribution of literature, in spite of the fact that there was a stop sign at the intersection and everyone had to stop there anyway. Kathy Mieding and Julie McCreevy blitzed the grocery store parking lot instead.
Wilmington started out calmly, but turned out to be very much like Braidwood. One woman assaulted Fr. Peter, shoving his sign and yelling at him. A resident called the police because he didn't want his children seeing the signs or talking to the demonstrators. Tim Murphy was able to defuse the situation and keep order.
[Back to Top]The last day of week one started out in Hammond, IN. We parked the vans in an apparently abandoned gravel lot next to a liquor store. Unfortunately the liquor store owner also owned the gravel lot and was not sympathetic with our cause. We had to move to the space behind a Taco Bell next door.
The police in Hammond were cooperative. A McDonald's manager was angered that part of the demonstration was along the street in front of McDonald's. The police officer informed us that we would have to keep moving to satisfy the city ordinance which stated that if two or more people assemble and block a sidewalk they must keep moving. I pointed out that we were not blocking the sidewalk and that since the signs are large if we ask people to walk while holding them, they are likely to run into someone.
I suggested to the police officer that we could define "moving" as taking a step forward and a step backward without ever moving the sign. He said that was fine and he would inform the McDonald's manager that he had done what he could and that we were complying with the city regulations. He later said that we only had to move once in a while.
When I went into a BP station to replenish our ice supply for the ice water, the cashier said she liked my shirt. She agreed that killing children in abortion was terrible. I gave her a brochure on the Face the Truth Tour and invited her to join us any time.
Calumet City showed much support for the Tour and a local Catholic parish, Our Lady of Knock, provided a wonderful lunch buffet for the participants. The pastor, Fr. Donald Fenske, stood at the parking lot entrance and directed us as to where to park and how to get in to the parish hall for the lunch. He then went from table to table and introduced himself to the Face the Truth participants. Organizers of the lunch were Angela Kvasnica and her team from the respect life committee.
The South Holland stop went very well. Lots of literature was distributed at the busy intersection of Il Route 6 and Cottage Grove Ave. One motorist who was especially delighted to see us was the director of the area crisis pregnancy center.
[Back to Top]Sunday and Monday were days off for a little rest and family time. The Truth Tour resumed on Tuesday, June 25 with two stops in the City of Chicago. The first at Cermak and Ashland was a great place for the distribution of literature. The Benito Juarez Community Academy is located right at the intersection where the Tour was set up. Hundreds of students attending summer classes were given pro-life literature. Local vendors were very supportive and even took some of our literature to hand out on their own. Three pro-aborts showed up, but they were quite outnumbered by the pro-lifers.
The second Chicago site at 95th and Ashland was also great for the distribution of literature. A police officer on duty told us about a great place for lunch, The Top Notch Caf‚. Due to rain and lightening, we cut that stop slightly short and headed for the Top Notch.
Alsip, IL, the final stop of the day, was also our largest turnout to that point at least 55 participants. Police were on hand, but did not interfere with the distribution of literature. All four quadrants of the intersection were well covered by demonstrators in the red T-shirts.
Another hot and sunny day found us in Bloomingdale, IL. Mark Kennedy, the captain for Bloomingdale helped to bring out a turnout of about fifty participants to hold signs along Gary Ave and Army Trail Road. Carol Osburne mobilized parishioners from St. Isador's Catholic Church, and Mike and Mariann Evans helped promote the Tour in Bloomingdale. There were lots of police on hand, including plain clothes detectives, but no problems. The police were friendly and simply watched the demonstration from their various posts.
Elgin drew about forty demonstrators and was a peaceful and successful site.
Huntley, the last stop for Wednesday, June 26, was another great site for the distribution of literature. Sally Sullivan of Algonquin did a great job of turning people out in Huntley. The group was treated to a wonderful lunch in an old Victorian home in Huntley, hosted by Donna Britton.
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