League's Message at Notre Dame: "OBAMA = ABORTION", Cont.

by Eric Scheidler

Pro-Life Road Trip from Chicagoland

The Notre Dame protest day began in the early morning hours of Sunday, May 17, in three locations throughout Chicagoland—the League office on the northwest side of Chicago, St. Thomas More Church on the south side, and Aurora Central Catholic High School in the western suburbs—where our hired buses picked up staff and volunteers for the ride to South Bend.

During the trip, League bus captains briefed volunteers on the plans for the day, how to deal with passersby, police and the press, and other key details. The highlight of the trip was passing the League's billboard at mile 57 on the Indiana Toll Road.

I traveled to South Bend ahead of the buses with a cargo van packed full of "Face the Truth" and picket signs, along with my sons, Nate and Sam and my friend, Jason Klaske, who was later interviewed by a Fort Wayne, Indiana TV station. We arrived shortly after 9:00 a.m. and staked out the protest area, looking for anything that might require a last-minute change to the "battle plan."

Powerful League Presence at Notre Dame

League protest along Angela Boulevard, across the street from Notre Dame

League protest along Angela Boulevard [Photo by Sam Scheidler]

At 10:00 a.m., volunteers began arriving at the protest headquarters at St. Joseph H.S. Soon the protest buses arrived, and I began putting wave upon wave of eager pro-lifers to work, assisted by Matt Yonke, John Jansen, Nate Scheidler, Sam Scheidler, JT Eschbach, Steve Klaske, Annie Casselman, Corrina Gura and Ann Scheidler. The League team—wearing bright, safety-green t-shirts and red "Choose Life" caps—quickly deployed hundreds of pro-life signs.

By the official protest start time of 10:30, a powerful display of more than 130 large, graphic abortion signs was in place, spanning nearly a mile north of the intersection and three-quarters of a mile east, right up to the main entrance of the university. Hundreds of our handheld Stop Abortion Now, Shame on Notre Dame and Obama = Abortion signs were interspersed throughout the protest, especially at the intersection of Angela and Michigan and at the university entrance.

Once the protest was up and running, I circled the area by bicycle, ensuring that all was in order and none of our volunteers was in any need. The League protest dominated the main route into campus from the Indiana Toll Road, reaching thousands of passersby, including those streaming in for the commencement ceremonies. We were far and away the largest pro-life group present that day.

Those arrayed along Angela Boulevard faced some resistance from local homeowners, some of whom counter-protested in favor of Obama from the comfort of lawn chairs in their yards. Several turned sprinklers on, and one even went so far as to stack a pile of filthy garbage bags on the edge of her lawn. The pro-lifers prayerfully ignored all these distractions.

Between the four full buses of League volunteers, others who drove down on their own and three buses of volunteers from Citizens for a Pro-Life Society in Michigan, the League protest comprised some 600 pro-lifers. We sent a clear message to both the University of Notre Dame and President Obama that abortion is an abominable betrayal of both the Catholic principle that life is sacred and the American principle that life is an inalienable right.

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League Group Joins Vigil at Grotto

League volunteers with Stop Abortion Now signs pray at the Vigil for Life on campus at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes [Photo by Sam Scheidler]

By 12:45 p.m., anyone coming for the commencement was already on campus, so we began escorting volunteers from the farther ends of the protest back to headquarters for lunch. Hundreds of sandwiches were distributed to the group while the League staff stowed the large signs and prepared for the brief ride onto campus to join the prayer vigil at 2:00 p.m.

The vigil was held at the beautiful Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, and was led by Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life. My father, who had already gone on campus to visit the Rally for Life taking place on the South Quad, greeted the League arrivals as they walked from the buses to the Grotto.

As the group of 600 pro-lifers prayed the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary at the Grotto, together with hundreds more joining in by video from the South Quad, I scoped out the activity elsewhere on campus, again by bicycle. I saw and heard snippets of the speeches by Fr. John Jenkins and President Obama, which were being broadcast throughout campus, visited the protest continuing at the university entrance, and rode by the Joyce Center as Obama was speaking. I paused to offer a prayer for the president's conversion.

The vigil concluded at 3:30 p.m. and the League protest team led the group back to our waiting buses for the return trip to Chicago. The mood on the journey home was extremely upbeat. All felt grateful to have been a part of such a significant and effective pro-life witness—a true turning point for the pro-life movement. Passengers on the Aurora bus sang the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and other hymns, accompanied by a concertina.

Obama Values Tone over Truth

It wasn't until returning home that we could find out what President Obama had said during his commencement address. I was surprised to learn that Obama brought up the abortion issue at all—clearly a sign that he feels vulnerable on the issue. Obama praised those with "open hearts" and "open minds" who use "fair-minded words" when talking about the controversial abortion issue—as if suggesting that those opposing his speech are hard-hearted, close-minded and shrill.

Considering how radically out of step Obama's abortion stance is with the views of most Americans, I wasn't surprised to see him emphasize tone and style over substance.

I also found several troubling ironies in Obama's speech. He cited the golden rule, but failed to see how it would teach each of us, nurtured in our own mothers' wombs, to respect the life of every unborn child. He lamented that "the strong too often dominate the weak" without realizing that the unborn child is the weakest of us all.

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N.D. "Opposition" to Obama Policies Rings False

University president Fr. Jenkins' introduction to President Obama was in some ways more troubling than Obama's speech itself. Fr. Jenkins noted that "President Obama is not someone who stops talking to those who differ with him" and then declared, "Mr. President: This is a principle we share." Yet Fr. Jenkins steadfastly refused to meet with pro-life leaders like my father who respectfully requested meetings with him after the Obama invitation was announced. He wouldn't even meet with his own university's pro-life student group.

Fr. Jenkins also praised Obama for being willing to accept his invitation, despite knowing that "we oppose his policies on abortion and embryonic stem cell research." But when Obama referred to parents who think embryonic stem cells might help their ailing children, the audience erupted in applause. Clearly the problem at Notre Dame goes far deeper than this semester's controversy over Barack Obama.

Mission Accomplished: Obama Linked to Abortion

Despite the efforts of Fr. Jenkins and President Obama to demonize their pro-life opponents as uncivil and closed-minded—even while calling for open-mindedness and a respect for others' views—the League's protest was an overwhelming success.

Throughout last year's presidential campaign, Barack Obama's radical pro-abortion agenda was covered up. Thanks to the Notre Dame controversy, Americans are learning that Barack Obama is the abortion president. Mission accomplished.

Moreover, the Notre Dame controversy has galvanized the pro-life movement like no other issue in years. If Fr. Jenkins and Barack Obama had set out to wake up the sleeping giant of pro-life Americans, they couldn't have done a better job. A turning point for the pro-life movement was reached in South Bend, Indiana on Graduation Day 2009.

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