Fair officials back down, will let pro-life display return
It’s amazing how persuasive attorney intervention can be.
After telling the Catholic group Peter’s Net it was barred from returning to the Walworth County Fair in Wisconsin this year, the fair board changed its mind upon hearing from the Thomas More Society, a pro-life legal group, and Wisconsin attorney Jerome Buting.
At issue was the pro-life component of Peter’s Net’s display…
While fair officials made other excuses, the issue boiled down to viewpoint discrimination, according to the Thomas More Society. From gazettextra.com, May 12:
Attorneys said that it was a patron’s reaction to the booth that made the fair change its mind. According to the Jan. 29 letter:
A mother of a 7-year-old boy complained to the fair staff that a Peter’s Net booth volunteer gave her son a 2-inch model of an 11-week-old unborn baby as a game prize, according to the letter.
The baby was in a bag that also contained information cards. One card explained fetal development, the other had abortion statistics. The organization said the baby was not a prize or a toy and only available to teens, adults, and children with adult permission, according to the letter.
In response, fair staff told Peter’s Net volunteers to give the baby models only to people 18 or older, preventing the group from reaching its target audience of teenage girls, according to the letter.
The mother returned to the Peter’s Net booth and told the volunteers that fair staff had promised her organization would not be allowed to return. The mother shouted, “I got you kicked out,” at booth volunteers and began to harass them, according to the letter. Volunteers felt threatened enough to call 911.
Seriously, at issue was a 2″ fetal model?
It continues to amaze me what power these beautiful little dolls hold over abortion proponents.
I know I speak for the entire pro-life community when I say we are proud of Peter’s Net for promoting life in its orthodoxy and refusing to cower.
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
I totally understand where you’re coming from, but I don’t like “freakazoid” in this context– that kind of irrational anger strikes me as possibly post-abortive :(
And by “that kind of irrational anger” I of course mean the anger displayed by the woman at the fair. For some reason I can’t edit/delete my earlier comment.
Come on WI!! :)
I have volunteered at fairs in the prolife booth. Soooo fun and had tons of people. Positive, prolife people. :)
Similar to what Kelsey is saying, I think we can do better to respond to the over-the-top reactions for what they are. People aren’t actually angry about a 2″ doll… they are angry about feeling convicted in the depth of their heart over deeply personal matters that they can never reverse. It’s so easy to start debating about what they say they are upset about. It’s our calling to get to the heart of the matter. Easier said than done – but shoot for he stars…
Kelsey, Laurie, point taken. “Freakazoid” being deleted… :)
Yes, this past weekend at a local human rights fair, a woman approached our local Right to Life booth and said that the fetal models were beyond offensive. She also tried to get us removed but failed. It’s pretty obvious that she was probably post-abortive. also, several people claimed that our fetal models were inaccurate. I checked them against many different embryology textbooks and they are completely accurate. People just don’t want to hear the truth because it means that either they or someone very close to them is guilty of killing an unborn child.
The fetal model should always be named Cletus, i.e. Cletus the Fetus.
Nice looking blonde in the picture.
You don’t know Wisconsin.
We got cute blondes, wall-to-wall.
Lol…”I got you kicked out”! Open mouth insert foot!
The woman was confronted by the truth, and the truth struck a raw chord of guilt in her heart. I never thought that a little rubber doll of a baby would cause so much anger, but it seems as though it is very effective in making people realize the enormity of the act of abortion.
Of course the FAIR officials had to allow the Pro-Life booth to return. Patently OBVIOUS that the ‘complaining’ woman could have FABRICATED the entire story in a malicious attempt to falsely accuse Peter’s Net. Similarly, the boy could have picked up the package from the ground. Still, it might be a good idea for Peter’s Net to have some video cameras recording their booth/exhibit in the future. With date/time markers. That same woman, or her cohorts, may be back for another attempt. < Bob Pawson, Pro-Life Educators of America
I’m not surprised, sadly. Our Deanery has received increasing static from the McHenry County Fair regarding our Pro-Life booth, and they have banned the distribution of fetal models.