Fall 2006 ACTION NEWS | VOL. XXV No. 3
Due to its length, this story is divided into three parts.
Pro-Life Action Fights Back, 1998-2005
by Joe Scheidler
Appeals Process Begins
In September 2000 we had oral hearings at the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. Our three-judge panel included Diane Wood (who had clerked for Justice Harry Blackmun), Ilana Rovner (known to be pro-abortion) and Tim Evans. We were not optimistic. Judge Evans deferred to the women on the panel, and did not ask one question, while Wood and Rovner were clearly in Fay Clayton's camp. Two weeks later the Seventh Circuit affirmed the District Court's ruling; I remained a federal racketeer.
We tried appealing to the full Seventh Circuit, to no avail. Yet it took them a year to make up their minds. Not one judge voted in our favor. The next step was an appeal to the U. S. Supreme Court.
In the meantime, NOW's former president, Patricia Ireland, made inflammatory statements against me in the media. She claimed that I taught "violent" tactics to Priests for Life. "They're now trying to sell the Chicago method to start attacking the clinics again," she said. She described the Chicago Method as "physical violence at the clinics. It's the attacks. It's the terrorism."
I had to sue her for libel. I invited Fr. Pavone to join me in the suit since it was his Priests for Life who were allegedly learning my violent tactics. His attorneys said no, and settled for sending her a stern letter. Tom Brejcha deposed Ireland with Fay Clayton as her attorney. Clayton was obstructive and belligerent, and instructed Ireland to refuse to answer questions. A judge ordered that the questions be answered in a second deposition.
Supreme Court Appeal
On the NOW v. Scheidler front, Tom Brejcha felt that we needed appellate expertise in order to be successful at the Supreme Court. He had heard good things about Alan Untereiner of Washington, D.C. and contacted him to see if he would take our case. Our past experience with most lawyers was that they realized it would be too much work and they lost interest rapidly. But Alan was excited about the prospect and was well acquainted with the legal issues involved. On January 28, 2002 we filed our Petition for Certiorari and it was granted on April 22. The oral hearing was scheduled for December 4 before the U. S. Supreme Court.
We weren't idle while waiting for the Supreme Court hearing. I joined activists Troy Newman, Ken Reed, Colette Wilson, Cheryl Sullenger and Rev. Al Howard to celebrate the closing of two abortion mills in San Diego. Sullenger was instrumental in closing fifteen abortion clinics in San Diego County.
I spoke at two venues in Baltimore in May. Mary Ann McCafferty invited me to give the address for a dinner sponsored by ABBA Ministries to benefit the Gabriel Project, an initiative to mentor young pregnant women and mothers. Steve Peroutka, a great fan of the Truth Tours and pro-life activism, invited me to address a Pro-Life Appreciation Dinner in Severna Park. At the dinner I was presented with a large canvas featuring a photograph of me taken in front of the Supreme Court. The poster now hangs in Ann's office.
Rescue Veterans Join Truth Tour
The 2002 Truth Tour was moved to June to avoid the July heat. But the heat followed us anyway. We hired Tom Morrison, a teacher at Christian Liberty Academy, to coordinate the Tour. Troy Newman, Ken Reed and Joe Foreman, all veterans of Operation Rescue, joined us for two of the toughest days in hostile towns. We added Tour shirts, a tactic borrowed from Jack Ames' Truth Tour in Baltimore, to further enhance our message. The back said, "Abortion Stops a Beating Heart." That T-shirt message saved a baby when a young woman saw Ann in the shirt as she stopped to fill our coolers with ice.
In October I headed for Northern Ireland where I joined other pro-life activists from the U.S. and Ireland for a conference hosted by Precious Life. In spite of Northern Ireland's ties to Great Britain, abortion remains illegal there, thanks to the efforts of Bernadette Smyth and Precious Life. I warned the Ulster activists that they must keep abortion out of Northern Ireland. The United States is proof that once abortion becomes law it is an uphill battle to get rid of it.
Generations for Life Launched
The Pro-Life Action League expanded its outreach to young people by launching Generations for Life, with my daughter Annie Scheidler as director. After four years as a youth minister, she wanted to concentrate on developing a deep respect for life among teens and on empowering them to educate their peers and communities on life issues. Annie's first task was to develop a curriculum for pro-life clubs and youth groups.
In November my son Eric joined the League staff as Communications Director. Eric had spent five years with the GIFT Foundation, concentrating on promoting the Catholic Church's teachings on marriage and sexuality. He had grown up with the pro-life activist movement and had a real heart for the League's work. Eric took over editorship of the Action News and began a thorough overhaul of our website, which is now one of the premier online pro-life resources.
Victory in the High Court
The Supreme Court hearing on Dec. 4 was heartening. Justices against us on the abortion issue were concerned about the real possibility that RICO could be used against political protesters in liberal causes. They were aghast at the suggestion that famous leaders like Carry Nation and Martin Luther King might be considered racketeers under NOW's interpretation of the RICO statute.
When Fay Clayton was caught by Justice Antonin Scalia in a blatant lie about her statements during the trial, we knew there was a good chance for victory. But the 8-1 ruling in our favor on February 26, 2003 was much more than we had hoped for.
Newspapers across the country applauded the Supreme Court's 8-1 decision as a victory for the right to protest. The Chicago Sun-Times stated, "Relying on RICO . . . to prosecute nonviolent protesters like Chicagoan Joseph Scheidler, head of the Pro-Life Action League, is neither appropriate nor conscionable. Contrary to NOW's position, it would result in the silencing or chilling of people's First Amendment rights—not only those demonstrating against abortion."
League Efforts Expand
Generations for Life was growing by leaps and bounds. Annie needed more space and an assistant. We cleared out a room that housed all our huge picket signs, rented storage space for them, and turned the space into the Generations for Life office. We hired Mary Shine to assist Annie in meeting the needs of high school students. They both spoke at high schools and helped set up pro-life clubs. Annie and Mary worked with Eric to produce a GFL brochure and web page and edit the GFL curriculum.
Eric was also on the speaking circuit with a special focus on faith, family and the legacy of abortion. With his background at the GIFT Foundation he has a passion for helping young and old understand the true meaning of marriage. He shows how devastating the contraception culture has been to marriage.
Fr. Pavone of Priests for Life set April 1-10 for a New York Face the Truth Tour, expecting moderate spring weather for his first Tour. But starting on April Fool's Day should have been a clue to be on guard. Ann and I joined him for two days in Manhattan and Brooklyn. It was chilly at the Central Park site in Manhattan, but by the time we hit Brooklyn, we were practically in blizzard conditions. Huge, wet snow fell fast and furiously. We had to wipe off the signs every two minutes to see them at all. Finally we threw in the towel. Motorists could not see our signs and conditions were so slippery that drivers had to keep their eyes glued to the road. Fr. Pavone said he might as well have chosen December.
Reaction from New York pedestrians and motorists was subdued. We get more vocal response in Chicago. Does that mean New Yorkers are all pro-life? Or just apathetic?
Embarrassing the Abortionists
Back in Chicago, NARAL Pro-Choice America, the newest name for what was once the National Abortion Rights Action League, celebrated abortion at a luncheon at the Fairmont Hotel. We volunteered as the welcoming committee with our graphic signs. We knew these staunch supporters of abortion would want to see what they stood for. Luncheon guests tried to ignroe us, but other passers-by were interested and one cab driver stopped and took literature because his daughter was considering an abortion. He called the League office later to get more information for her.
League pickets Fay Clayton talk at Glencoe, IL synagogue, May 21, 2003 [Photo by Eric Scheidler]
We also felt compelled to provide a welcoming committee for Fay Clayton who spoke at Am Shalom synagogue in Glencoe, IL on May 21. In addition to a large contingent of picketers with signs featuring Clayton's picture and the World Magazine "Perjury?" article, four "spies" went in to monitor what Fay had to say. She railed against the "physical attacks" at the abortion clinics and called me "violent." She called Congressman Henry Hyde a "liar." But she admitted that the pro-abortion side is losing ground and she was worried about the balance on the Supreme Court.
League Celebrates Victory
We scheduled a Victory Celebration for June 6 in the Federal Plaza across from the court where we had spent seven weeks in trial. We thought that by June the Appellate Court would have followed the Supreme Court's directions and reversed its prior decision. The injunction would be lifted and the bond released. We misjudged the chicanery of the pro-aborts. None of the directives from the Supreme Court had been acted on. But we had 8-1 in hand, so we went ahead with our Rally in Federal Plaza featuring leaders of the pro-life movement—Nellie Gray, Fr. Tom Euteneuer, Troy Newman, Chris Slattery, Bernie Smyth, Eoghan de Faiote, Fr. Frank Pavone, Fr. Paul Marx, Mark Crutcher, Jack Ames, Jerry Horn, Ed Martin—and a Dixieland band to accent the celebration.
From the Rally we proceeded to the Congress Hotel for workshops in pro-life activism and a Victory Banquet for over five hundred guests. At the banquet we presented Tom Brejcha with a plaque honoring him for his dedication to life and justice. The plaque was inscribed with the dates of the NOW v. Scheidler case, 1986-2003. We would be proved wrong about the end of the case and have promised to cross out "2003" and have the final date engraved when the case is really over (see NOW v. Scheidler case">related story).
Eric Takes Over Tour Duty
Our 2003 Face the Truth Tour ran from July 9-19. Eric took over as Tour coordinator. Tom Morrison joined us again, along with John Jansen, a teacher at Northridge Prep School and former president of the Loyola University pro-life group, plus we had a crack team of volunteers who set up each site with the efficiency of a military unit. Dan Payne, Scott and Leo Reese and Eric's son Nate were invaluable to the success of the Tour. Over sixty "Tourists" came to our house for a barbecue after the last site on July 19.
On Sept. 3 Paul Hill was to be executed in Florida for the shooting death of an abortionist and his driver. I fielded media calls all day on the death penalty, my reaction to shooting abortionists and the state of the pro-life movement after the shootings. I appeared on The O'Reilly Factor to discuss Hill's execution.
I had a flurry of talks in September and October, traveling to Arlington, VA, Buffalo, NY, Menominee Falls, WI, Libertyville, IL, Sterling Heights, MI, Steubenville, OH, Orange County, NY, and Ann Arbor, MI to promote activism and assure pro-lifers that we are making headway.
In November I was invited to Washington, D.C., along with a group of writers and editors, to attend a preview and discussion of The Passion of the Christ, scheduled for release on Ash Wednesday the following year. The film was so powerful that the room remained dead silent for nearly a full minute when it was over.
Winter Activism
It's always nice to have an excuse to go to a warm climate in mid-January. Luckily I was invited to Tucson, AZ for a series of events commemorating Roe v. Wade. We picketed Planned Parenthood, attended a pro-life Mass sponsored by Catholics United for the Faith, and joined a March to a cemetery for a memorial to the unborn. At the cemetery thirty-one white doves were released, marking each year of legal abortion. Then a person born in each year since 1973 came forward to place a white rose at the memorial.
Ann and I, with Eric and his son Nate, went to Washington for the annual March for Life. It was Nate's first plane ride which made the trip more fun for all of us. As usual it was exhilarating to march down Constitution Avenue with hundreds-of-thousands of fellow pro-lifers. After the March Ann and I attended the "Silent No More" press conference in front of the Supreme Court. Dozens of women testified to the devastating effect abortion had had on their lives. While Eric and I attended meetings the day after the March for Life, Nate and Ann toured the city.
In February I flew to Miami Beach, FL to receive the Cardinal O'Connor Award from Legatus. Four years earlier I had been in Cong. Henry Hyde's office and commented on the Cardinal O'Connor Award on his bookshelf. He offered to let me borrow it for a while. Shortly afterward his office was destroyed by fire and all his plaques and awards were destroyed—except for the Legatus award, which was safely on display in my office. I told the Miami audience I could now return Henry Hyde's award since I finally had my own.
On Ash Wednesday Chicago pro-lifers met at an Evanston, IL theater to see The Passion of the Christ. I noticed many in the audience were teenagers. Just like at the November preview, when the film was over there was silence, which continued as the people filed out. In spite of the controversy surrounding the film, it was a resounding success.
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