. . . 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 three parts.
Eric Scheidler shortly after being splashed with black vegetable dye at UIC April 7 [Public domain photo]
At UIC, the counter-protest turned ugly. The counter-demonstrators, many of them dressed in black masks holding signs with slogans like "I'm Pro-Choice and I RIOT!" grew increasingly hateful and violent, kicking signs, blocking the sidewalk, screaming, swearing and issuing threats. League staffer Carmeline DeVito and volunteer Alberta Rael were battered by one pro-abort man, who pushed them in the chest. After repeated requests the police finally took a report, and a case is now being pursued against the man by a Chicago district attorney.
The most shocking violence that day was an attack on my father and me. My father had walked away from the protest area hoping to shake a couple of pro-aborts at his heels, concerned they would block his car if he tried to drive off for an appointment. I followed and caught up with him beyond the view of police, bringing my own pro-abort shadow along.
Realizing the three pro-aborts were not going to leave us, we turned back and began to pray the Rosary. Suddenly we were splashed from behind with a black liquid (we later learned it was vegetable dye). My father turned to look, and a second splash struck him in the face. The masked woman who splashed us took off running and could not be caught. My father left the demonstration to seek medical attention for his left eye, which took a direct hit. The eye was sore for weeks after the incident, but has finally healed fully, thanks to great medical care and many prayers from supporters.
The UIC and Chicago Police were out in force, but for the most part gave the pro-abort radicals free rein. One of them even laughed when he saw Joe Scheidler's blackened face shortly after the dye incident, though a more sympathetic officer did fill out a police report on the incident.
With signs and chants the pro-aborts called us "racists," "sexists" and "bigots," yet our group represented a greater cross-section of American society. While the majority of the pro-aborts were men, our group was more than half women. They said we were "spreading hate," but it was they who treated us with hatred.
They called us "anti-woman," but expressed no concern for the suffering that women undergo from abortion. They treated the women in our group with contempt, screaming and yelling in their faces, even pushing and threatening them. Not even the children in our group were spared their attacks; a ten-year-old homeschooled girl was reduced to tears by their taunts and mistreatment of her mother.
[Back to Top]League staff held a strategy meeting after our experience at UIC to consider how to deal with the situation. Not only were our enemies disrupting the Campus Tour, driving away the normal students we hoped to reach, but they had shown their willingness to resort to violence. As Joe Scheidler commented, "Our mission isn't to have a pitched battle with these radicals, it's to reach the general public with the truth about abortion."
Radical group awaits pro-lifers at Columbia College in downtown Chicago May 5 [Photo by Julie Wheeland]
We decided to deal with the problem in two ways. First, we would shift the sites of our next Campus Truth Day, May 5, to two different colleges. We would leave the original itinerary on our website, where the pro-aborts were getting their information. and inform volunteers of the new sites by phone and mail. Second, we would transform the final Campus Truth Day, June 2, into a leafleting campaign at campuses throughout downtown Chicago.
Our ruse de guerre proved effective. In the morning of May 5, forty pro-lifers gathered at Triton College in River Grove, minus Joe and Ann Scheidler who were speaking in Seattle. This was an unprecedented number for a one-day Tour. Meanwhile a throng of frustrated pro-aborts stood scratching their heads downtown at Columbia College, thirteen miles away, as reported by several pro-life spies dispatched to take pictures and report on the situation there.
We had a different kind trouble back at Triton. Right as we were beginning to set up, my mother called my cellphone to wish us luck and let me know that she and my father were on their way into Mass, which they were offering for the Tour. When I hung up, campus police showed up and demanded that we leave the public sidewalk along Fifth Avenue. They insisted we needed a permit from River Grove, and one officer told us we'd all be arrested if we didn't move off in five minutes.
To buy time I asked the officers for clarification, moved some of the protesters to portions of Fifth Ave. not adjacent to Triton and called the League's attorney, Tom Brejcha. Meanwhile, college Vice-President Sean Sullivan arrived and defused the situation, affirming our right to protest on the public sidewalk. I credit this good result to the Mass my parents were offering for us right at that time.
[Back to Part 1]
[Go to Part 3]
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