. . . 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: This is the second installment in a four-part Twenty-Fifth Anniversary retrospective series on the Pro-Life Action League. Due to its length, this installment is broken into three parts.
In September, the League organized a protest of Cook County Hospital, which had resumed abortions a year earlier. Over one-hundred-fifty demonstrators held a memorial service for the estimated 1560 babies who had died from abortion at Cook County in the previous year. Several of the Cook County Commissioners who opposed abortion had sued County Board president Richard Phelan in a challenge of his power to unilaterally reinstate abortion at the hospital.
Jeannie French, coordinator of the National Women's Coalition for Life and founder of the Professional Women's Network, spoke on behalf of pro-life taxpayers who object to the use of their tax money to kill children and announced an ongoing petition drive demanding an end to abortion in the County hospital.
Other leaders participating in the memorial service included Archdiocese of Chicago Respect Life Coordinator Mary Hallan, who read a statement from Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, Fr. Jim Heyd, head of the Chicago chapter of Priests for Life, Kathy Reese, representing the Black Pro-Life Church Coalition and Rev. Bradford Traywick, pastor of the Broadview Baptist Church.
Later in September, I joined a protest at the Swedish American Hospital in Rockford, IL, organized by Scott Matthiew of Rockford Citizens for Life. Pro-lifers regularly picketed that hospital because the city's only abortionist, Richard Ragsdale, had staff privileges there. News coverage of the picket in a driving rain was excellent. The protesters also picketed Ragsdale's home the same day.
In 1993 I joined with California pro-lifers in suing Governor Peter Wilson for having ten pro-lifers forcibly ejected from Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Sacramento during an ecumenical prayer service honoring the pro-abortion governor in January 1991. In October, 1993 I went back to Sacramento to give my deposition in the case, Burns v. Wilson. I testified to my actions in the Cathedral, where I stood and announced that the ceremony was a sacrilege and requested prayers for Wilson. I had been arrested immediately and dragged from the Church.
Joe and Tim Murphy on the steps of the Supreme Court after Dec. 8, 1993 oral arguments in the "first round" of NOW v. Scheidler
My fellow "racketeers" and I sat in the front row at the United States Supreme Court on December 8, 1993 for the oral hearing in NOW v. Scheidler. G. Robert Blakey, architect of the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) statute, argued on behalf of the pro-life defendants. The question at hand was whether the RICO statute required an economic motive. Since the pro-lifers had not profited from their efforts to shut down abortion clinics, Blakey maintained they could not be charged under RICO. The Clinton justice department sided with NOW and argued that the statute did not specify that an economic motive was necessary.
Prayers by the hundreds accompanied us to the Supreme Court. A few days before the oral argument, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin met and prayed with Ann and me and our youngest son, Matthias. The Cardinal presented me with a medallion of the Holy Name of Jesus, bearing the words, "That you may have life in His name." He also promised to offer his Mass on December 8 for a positive outcome at the Supreme Court. On the morning of the oral argument Fr. Frank Pavone, head of Priests for Life, celebrated Mass at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for the Scheidlers and Murphys.
The media turned out in droves to question attorney Blakey and NOW's lawyer, Fay Clayton, after the one-hour oral hearing. In spite of the pro-abortion stance of most of the nation's major media, many took the editorial position that the pro-life activists should not be subject to RICO charges.
[Back to Top]The Pro-Life Action League helped coordinate the third annual SpeakOut Illinois conference on January 20, 1994. Adopting the theme, "Changing Hearts and Minds," five hundred Chicago area pro-lifers gathered at the Bismarck Hotel to hear Dr. Jean Garton, founder of Lutherans for Life, give the keynote address. Three women who had been helped by the South Side Pregnancy Center told their stories of choosing life for their babies with the help of the center. And Mike Bailey, the Congressional candidate from Indiana, explained how he used his campaign as an opportunity to educate voters on the reality of abortion by showing graphic pictures in his television ads.
Following the talks, the group marched to the State of Illinois building for a rally, where Joe and Ann Scheidler spoke before several dozen members of the group boarded buses for Washington's March for Life.
Two days after the twenty-first anniversary of Roe v. Wade the Supreme Court handed down its 9-0 ruling in NOW v. Scheidler, broadening the scope of RICO by deciding that the RICO statute could be used against protesters. The case would begin its trek through the Seventh Circuit to the District Court and back. Again the nation's newspapers lined up in opposition to the use of RICO against protesters, since political protest has a long and proud tradition in American history.
Undeterred by the unexpected defeat at the Supreme Court, the League escalated protests at American Women's Medical Center. Christmas and New Year's Day had fallen on Saturdays that year so the clinics had been closed two Saturdays in a row. Expecting a backlog of abortions for the weeks after the holidays, we scheduled protests at several clinics for the following two Saturdays. Braving sub-zero temperatures, dozens of protesters participated. On the third Saturday, which coincided with the twenty-first anniversary of Roe v. Wade the League joined forces with Operation Rescue Chicago and Armitage Baptist Church for a large scale demonstration at American Women's Medical Center. Following the announcement of the Supreme Court's 9-0 ruling against me, another large contingent of pro-life protesters demonstrated at Chicago's abortion clinics.
The Pro-Life Action League presented the Protector Award to Pennsylvania's Peg Luksik at its annual Awards brunch on March 6, 1994. The League's Tim Murphy also received a special award for his excellent coordination of demonstrations at Chicago area abortion facilities. The Dirty Dozen activist awards were given to twelve faithful pro-life activists who regularly came out to the clinics to save babies.
I spent St. Patrick's Day 1994 in Ireland, where I spoke at a four-day conference sponsored by Human Life International in Malahide, County Dublin. The Irish Times carried an extensive story about the conference and highlighted my praise for Ireland as the "last great hope of civilized society," since Ireland was one of the only developed nations that rejects abortion.
[Back to Top]On December 30, 1994 a gunman shot seven people at two Boston abortion clinics, killing two of them. Boston's Cardinal Law immediately announced that all pro-life activity outside abortion clinics should cease, and he canceled a scheduled pro-life Mass. My niece, Elsa Scheidler, then a graduate student at Boston College, regularly prayed at an abortion clinic with a friend. She contacted her Uncle Joe to ask his thoughts on Cardinal Law's decree. I told Elsa that I disagreed with Cardinal Law and recommended that she and her friend, Michael Patrick, continue to pray as usual at the clinic. They turned out to be the only pro-lifers at any Boston-area abortion clinic and were interviewed and photographed by Boston media.
Following Elsa and Michael's example, most of Boston's pro-lifers returned to their sidewalk counseling and prayer activities in front of the abortion clinics. Time magazine quoted me in the issue for January 16, 1995: "If we go away, it's like we are conceding guilt." I blamed the increase in violence on the FACE bill, which restricts protests. Placing restrictions on peaceful demonstrations only encourages turning to the non-peaceful approach.
Spreading the word on the importance of non-violent direct action, I traveled to Bakersfield, CA, Washington D.C. and Ft. Wayne, IN in January 1995. February and March were filled with protests and talks in the Chicago area. The Museum of Science and Industry installed an exhibit on AIDS, filled with misinformation and promoting the use of condoms to avoid the disease. Tim Murphy and I took a group of fearless pro-lifers and twelve signs saying, "LIES" into the museum. We paid our admission fee, viewed the exhibit and then stood with our signs. We were ejected by security.
Joe and Tim Murphy expose the deception of the Museum of Science and Industry's 1995 exhibit on AIDS
Spring of 1995 was a busy time for me. In April Mark Crutcher and I spoke at an activist conference in Wichita, KS, hosted by Life Legal Defense Trust. I spoke on non-violent techniques to stop abortion while Crutcher talked about ways to dissuade medical students from going into the abortion business.
In May, I joined Maine pro-life activist Prof. Terence Hughes to picket the home of abortionist Parker Harris and the Mabel Wadsworth Women's Center, as well as the Eastern Maine Medical Center where Harris performed late-term abortions. Later that month, Ann and I gave a joint talk in Aurora, IL for LIFE (Life is For Everyone) of Fox Valley. I emphasized the spiritual battle against abortion and Ann spoke about how the testimonies of the former abortion providers can help the pro-life movement.
Bill Clinton made another trip to Chicago in June, and following through on a promise to confront him with the truth about abortion at every opportunity, the League coordinated a protest across the street from the Chicago Hilton and Towers on Michigan Avenue. Sixty protesters held signs, including graphic posters of an aborted baby, abortion: america's holocaust and pray to end abortion. As President and Mrs. Clinton arrived at the hotel they had no choice but to see the pickets and the graphic signs.
In July 1995, we released our second video featuring former abortion providers. Abortion: The Inside Story focused on the testimonies of seven women who had worked in various capacities in abortion clinics. Roger MacZura, who had produced Meet the Abortion Providers, and had videotaped four Abortion Providers conferences, edited all the presentations. Then Tim Murphy, Ann and I spent a day in the editing studio at Russell Videos in Detroit, carefully reviewing every scene, adding still photos and putting the finishing touches on the video.
The League held a sidewalk counseling conference at the Lincolnwood Radisson Hotel on August 26. Ann conducted the seminar with the assistance of Annie Scheidler, Cathy Mieding and Julie McCreevy. They discussed the motivation for sidewalk counseling, the importance of stepping into the shoes of the pregnant woman and the role of men in the decision for or against life. Tim Murphy explained the details of the Chicago Method and how to research the lawsuits against abortionists.
[Back to Top]At the invitation of Right to Life of South Africa and Fr. Paul Marx, OSB, of Human Life International, I spent two weeks in South Africa in September 1995, introducing the activists there to my successful methods of pro-life activism. The pro-life team from the U.S. visited Johannesburg and Cape Town, meeting with local pro-life leaders. South Africans are overwhelmingly pro-life, but there is enormous pressure from international population control forces to legalize abortion in South Africa.
Joe leads rally in Cape Town, South Africa, September 1995
While in Cape Town, I visited a nursery run by the Visitation Nuns who care for babies dying of AIDS, including three-year-old N'tombi, who could speak three languages and chose to speak English with her new American friend.
In October, Ann and I traveled to Rome for the Pontifical Council on the Family's World Congress on Pope John Paull II's encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, which had been issued on March 25 to the enthusiastic welcome of the pro-life community. The Vatican urged pro-life leaders to invite young people to participate in the Congress, so we also brought Annie Scheidler and John DeJak, president of Loyola University of Chicago's pro-life club. We joined hundreds of pro-lifers from all over the world to discuss the various ways to implement the Pope's encyclical.
Human Life International scheduled a conference in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in November of 1995 and invited me to deliver the banquet address. Two days before the event, however, I received a call from Mark Bell, director of the Canadian branch of HLI, informing me that twenty-seven pro-abortion groups had banded together to try to keep me out of Canada. Bell said Fr. Marx and I might need special visas to enter the country.
When I arrived in Calgary, I was stopped by customs officials and had to fill out a Canadian Immigration Form and pay $125 for a special visa. I was told I could only remain in the country for three days. The pro-aborts who instigated the trouble had discovered that I had been convicted of trespassing in 1985 for going into an abortion clinic in Wilmington, Delaware at the behest of three local Christian ministers. I had paid a $50 fine at the time. But that "crime" translated to "Criminal Mischief" in Canada and has kept me out of the country ever since.
I had plenty to do in the United States, however, and spent December traveling from coast to coast. I spoke in Aiden, SC, Boston, MA and Los Alamitos, CA. The Los Alamitos event was a demonstration at the racetrack where abortionist Edward Allred is part owner and races his own horses. Over three hundred pro-life activists marched from Laurel Park to the Los Alamitos Race Track, where Allred had invited thousands of friends to a special running. Allred owns forty abortion clinics across the United States and has many lawsuits against him, his clinics and the other doctors who work for him.
Thus ended 1995, one of my busiest years yet, with three international trips, travels all around the country and many bold campaigns and protests. This level of activism would countinue in the coming years, even as the NOW v. Scheidler lawsuit finally came to trial in federal court.
Next Issue: "Pro-Life Action under Siege: The Abortion Forces Attack the League, 1996-2000"
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