Fall 2004 ACTION NEWS | VOL. XXIII NO. 4
NOTE: Due to its length, this article is split into two parts.
Monthly Truth Days Educate the Public
by Eric Scheidler
The 2004 Face the Truth campaign shifted into its fall phase with monthly Truth Days in downtown Chicago, starting with an "Early Bird" Tour on Wednesday, August 25. We began at 7:30 a.m. at Wacker Drive and Madison Street, a favorite Tour site, reaching throngs of morning commuters walking from the nearby Metra stations to workplaces in the Loop.
Early Birds Flock to August Tour
The League provided donuts and coffee to the volunteers to encourage participation at such an early hour. Fifty activists turned out, the largest number ever for a one-day Tour, far above our expectations. I had only brought thirty signs, and thought they would be more than enough.
Soon all the signs were out on the street, and half a dozen volunteers were distributing flyers up and down Madison Street by the hundreds. I organized the additional volunteers into a prayer circle beside one of the flowerbeds on Wacker Drive. They prayed several Rosaries for all those passing by the display.
Though the supply of signs was short, the coffee and donuts held out until our end time of 9:00. Volunteers appreciated the "early bird" breakfast, and donations from generous passers-by covered the entire cost.
Our second stop on this half-day Tour was along Lake Shore Drive near Buckingham Fountain from 10:00 to 11:30. Our committed volunteers stood fast through a light summer rain during the middle part of the stop. We again set out all thirty signs, while additional volunteers did "umbrella duty." Hundreds of drivers saw our abortion signs, and much of the reaction was positive. The Chicago Police were particularly cooperative at this site. The rain stopped long enough for our group to enjoy a picnic lunch in the park after the Tour.
[Back to Top]September Counter-Protest Fizzles
Shortly before the September 22 Truth Day, we received word that the same group of pro-abort thugs that disrupted our Campus Tour in the Spring were calling for a counter-protest. We contacted the police, powered up our video cameras and arranged for our lawyer to be available during the two-site Tour.
A single pro-abort showed up at our first site at Daley Plaza during lunchtime. She came late, held a crude little fluorescent pink sign across the street on Washington for a while, and left early. There were no counter-protesters at the next site at Adams Street and Wacker Drive.
Meanwhile, with the help of forty volunteers our powerful display at Daley Plaza reached hundreds of lunchtime pedestrians and drivers. Their response was mostly positive, with the unfortunate exception of a man who threw a cup of iced tea at the back of nine-year-old Kyle Cramblit, who was holding an Eighth Week of Life sign with his mother, Nancy.
Tour Brings Out Abortion Regrets
A man approached Joan McCarthy, who was holding a Life sign outside the County Building on Clark Street, and said, "I wish you'd been here before I made the mistake." He told her that he and his girlfriend decided to abort their baby and he had regretted the decision every day since.
At Adams and Wacker in the aftenoon, a young woman approached Luann Bloom in tears after standing and watching the Tour for a while. She told Luann that her parents had forced her to have an abortion when she was sixteen, and she regretted it deeply.
When a man passing by barked at Luann, "How dare you?" the young woman began to defend Luann. She held Luann's sign for a while to be part of the Tour, and took information on Project Rachel, a program for post-abortion healing.
Julie McCreevy gave Project Rachel information to another young woman who had decided against abortion herself, but whose friend was suffering terribly from three abortions in the course of one year. But Julie also spoke to a man who boasted about his grandmother, a registered nurse who had performed illegal abortions during the Great Depression, including several on herself, killing his aunts and uncles.
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