Must’ve been some picket
(Photos in this post, provided by Pro-Life Action League, were taken at the Truth Tour stop spotlighted in the following news story. The staff member in this top photo is Eric Scheidler of PLAL.)
On July 17 the Daily Herald reported…
The graphic anti-abortion demonstration on Arlington Heights Rd. near Rand and Palatine roads for 90 minutes Wednesday afternoon generated at least 50 complaint calls to Arlington Heights [IL] Village Hall and the police department.
The Pro-Life Action League uses blown-up pictures of aborted fetuses, part of what organizers the Face the Truth Tour.
The group is engaging in 8 days of picketing….
Calls from people who had driven by the protest came in for at least an hour, said Diane Staggs, administrative assistant in the village manager’s office. Most were upset their children had to see the pictures, she said.
Karen Zarcone, a clerk at the Shell gas station at Arlington Heights and Rand roads, said protesters were on all 4 corners Wednesday afternoon.
“I told them I would appreciate if I didn’t have to see an aborted fetus when I come out to check the pumps,” Zarcone said. “It was hurting business. Nobody wanted to pull up here.”
The Thomas More Society Pro-Life Law Center had notified Arlington Heights police of the picketing, noting that their First Amendment right to do so has been upheld 3 times by the U.S. Supreme Court, said Capt. Nicholas Pecora.
The picket was largely uneventful, except one of the demonstrators said he was pushed by an irate man. Police were unable to locate the suspect, Pecora said.
Signs warning drivers that graphic images are ahead are posted, in time for drivers to turn away before children in the cars might see the pictures, said Ann Scheidler, the league’s vice president.
“This is what happens 4,ooo times a day every day in the United States,” she said. “Children are growing up in a culture that does not value life.”
The idea is to convince women driving by that they do not want to have an abortion now or in the future, she said….
Other than the insistence of calling pro-lifers “anti-abortion,” this news coverage of PLAL’s picket was pretty fair. I don’t find myself needing to add our side’s rebuttals to the other side’s complaints.
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 think that the pictures tell the truth. I have little ones that I sit down and tell them the truth. So in turn they will pray for these moms and dads. I think if people don’t see what really happens they don’t want to get involved. After having a still born baby boy(Martin Anthony) over two years ago changed my ways about the pictures exposed to people. Holding a baby without life made me get more involved in the pro-life movement.
Rose, thank you for sharing.
These folks on the “front lines” are the real heroes of the prolife movement. They are breaking through the thin veil of denial in which many American live with respect to abortion. They are putting the truth out there where it’s hard to avoid. And that’s what hurts many people’s feelings.
So, which do we want to respect more? The need to reveal the truth, or the need to protect the feelings of those who don’t want to know it?
I say the answer is obvious. As Father Pavone says, “America will not reject abortion until America sees abortion”. Amen, Father.
Rose,
I am sorry for your experience in the loss of a child. Thank you for sharing that.
I am so very proud of those that are not the least bit uncomfortable with others uncomfortable feelings. The pictures depict the truth of what abortion does to an innocent child.
GO Eric and PLAL!! I love the last picture of the sweet little boys and their signs. Hope for the future!
I don’t argue about being called “anti-abortion” as much as I used to. It’s true that the label is in the negative, and only describes one aspect of what I believe as a pro-lifer, but I have to wonder if the “pro-freedom” abolitionists squirmed when they were described as being “anti-slavery.” I suspect it was a title that they wore as a badge of honour.
I am definitely anti-abortion and proud to wear that label. Abortion is a violent tragedy that targets the most innocent and defenseless members of the human family. But, like most pro-lifers, I don’t stop there. I believe we should educate, encourage and empower women to make honourable choices that are compatible with our innate human ability to create, nourish and protect new life.
Hear hear, Michelle!
I’m not worried about my own label. I’m more concerned with the dehumanization of the unborn by use of various euphemisms.
My kids know what abortion is and what it does. Yes, the photos are graphic, but frankly, I’ve seen graphic billboards in the anti-Meth campaigns as well. They’re supposed to wake us up, and they do.
Michelle, the term “anti-abortion” is simply the most accurate way to describe we prolifers, and frequently appears as a definition for prolife in dictionaries. So yes, wear it with honor.
Actually, the most derogatory term used by the proaborts is “anti-choice”, but that too can be accepted as a compliment, since it’s also one of the alternate terms accepted by some dictionaries for “prolife”.
And when you think about it, that term clearly illustrates what the term “choice” means to a proabort, doesn’t it? It means abortion, pure and simple. So when they call us anti-choice, they are admitting that their use of the term “choice” means abortion and nothing else.
I don’t argue about being called “anti-abortion” as much as I used to.
Me neither. It’s a bit like being described as “anti-murder.”
The problem with your signs is they are not medically accurate. They are third trimester abortions from China, not first or second which are legal in the US. Having had a first trimester miscarriage I can tell you it looked NOTHING like your signs. It honestly looked like tissue with a small yolk. That’s the the truth and most Americans know that.
I was at the Aurora siteon Saturday and I must say, there were far MORE people honking and thumbs up than there were flippers!
My kids were with me- 7 of the 8. they have seen the pictures- they have a right to see the truth. Do the pictures bother them? OF COURSE! But- they bother them in a good way…. they MOURN the loss of that precious life!
There has NEVER been ONE single nightmare in this house but engaging conversation as to what abortion is.
that is what the complainers are afraid of- that they have to explain to their children what abortion is. something they feel is a RIGHT of every woman! how do you explain to a child that murder of an unborn baby is ok?
id love to be a fly on THAT wall!
C, I’m not sure how to respond other than to say “check your facts”. 1. Abortion is legal in the US all nine months. 2. PLAL uses images from all stages of pregnancy. 3. Why, in your mind, would second trimester or first be worse than third?
So true, Kelli- my government runs anti-smoking commercials with the most graphic images of clogged arteries, cancerous mouths and disected brains- with the crazy notion that seeing the effects of smoking may convice some to quit and others not to start at all. As gross as they are, none of the images even begin to touch the horror of dismembered bodies of innocent children.
And thanks, Doyle- of course “choice” means abortion, but why would we expect people who endorse/assist/defend the killing of tiny humans to be truthful when describing themselves or their opposition?
Louise- I think a day will come when children ask their parents and grandparents “Were you anti-abortion?” the same way our children ask if we (or their grandparents) were against apartheid or segregation. One day we’ll get past the semantics and the selfishness and recoil in horror at the genocide that happened right under our noses.
FYI- My CPC is about to purchase our very own 4D ultrasound machine!!! The TRUTH in LOVE wins again!!
C., I’m sorry for your loss. However, I’m interested in your source on the pictures. We have certificates of authenticity from a medical coroner, verifying the gestational age and that it was an elective abortion (not a stillbirth or miscarriage), notorized in the U.S. for most if not images used.
Also embryonic & fetal development images can be found at medical embryonic development websites such as The Visible Embryo, & pregnancy & parenting websites such as Baby Center. Regardless, do your own research on accurate, non-political, medical and academic sites before believing what you hear.
Pictures: for us liberals, it is OK for us to use pictures if we are trying to provoke guilt regarding the various meat industries, as PETA does. Or to provoke guilt regarding the children that we are starving in Africa – especially, if we have one of those pictures with the flies hovering around the children. Or to provoke our guilt regarding endangered animal trafficking, including gorillas, chimps, orang utans, etc. Or if we are trying to invoke guilt regarding the destruction of habitat due to global warming — excuse me — climate change. Or the homeless. Low-income-neighborhood classrooms in disrepair. Not spaying/neutering animals. Smoking – ooh, those lung pictures. Clubbing baby seals for their fur. Poor govt response to Hurricane Katrina. Deforestation in the rainforest to allow poor locals to graze cattle. Sex ed in middle school. Dophins, turtles, or whales killed by the tuna fishing industry. Etc. Pictures? The more realistic, the more authentic, the better.
But when it comes to abortion, I have received my marching orders from DNC central command: the truth in pictures is not allowed.
*That is, if you or anyone else wishes to see medical authentication that the images are correct. Also it’s worth noting that the Doe vs. Balton (I think, or some similiar name) supreme court ruling legalized abortion in the 2nd & 3rd trimesters for “the health of the mother” however it was so broadly defined that it allows for purely elective abortions at this time.
Rachel: Thank you for sympathy, though I didn’t even know I was pregnant at the time so it wasn’t a loss so much as it was a surprise and disappointment. The picture I am referring to specifically is the one with forceps holding the head over the jar, in the corner it clearly states the gestational age to be past 30 weeks (I can’t zoom in enough to see the exact week). It seems to be the one I see the most when I drive by your protests. If you have one’s from all stages I am glad to hear it, I am assuming you show them next to coins to show the size relation?
Alex: Please do not put words in my mouth. I never said that first trimester was better then second or third trimester. I was merely pointing out what I had seen in the signs and my experience with an early miscarriage. Most women have an abortion in the first trimester, if you are trying to reach them you may want to show more first trimester photos. That is ALL I am saying. Again please do not put words in my mouth or assume I am mean something else.
Not to mention the graphic image of Gerry Santorio’s bloody, naked body pro-choicers, especially Women on Waves, likes to tote around. Tell me, did they get her family’s permission to tote that degrading and humiliating picture her to tote around? What of the graphic nature of that picture?
Michelle,
Congrats on the 4D ultrasound machine!! Woot!
Row1,
Excellent comment!!
That picture at the top with the baby’s head being held by forceps over a jar is what made me become pro-life. And I was 8. Children SHOULD see these pictures! It may just keep them from having sex as teenagers! I know being pro-life and knowing the truth about abortion AND the rampant STD’s out there kept me a virgin till I met my husband. I have no emotional baggage from a promiscuous past. And yes, I had lots of boyfriends. These pictures are TRUTH and the truth works wonders!
The problem with your signs is they are not medically accurate. They are third trimester abortions from China, not first or second which are legal in the US. Having had a first trimester miscarriage I can tell you it looked NOTHING like your signs. It honestly looked like tissue with a small yolk. That’s the the truth and most Americans know that.
Posted by: C at July 20, 2009 7:53 AM
no that’s not the truth C and you KNOW it.
A unborn baby’s arms and legs appear as buds at 5 weeks. Many many women do not even know they are pregnant at this stage. By the 8th week the feet and hands are well formed and look exactly like little feet and hands.
There are many pictures showing aborted fetuses being held by adult hands and next to objects so the viewer can gain an idea of size.
C, the pictures of younger children killed by abortion are shown with objects to put size in perspective.
Thought others have pointed it out, I think it’s important to state again that abortion is legal through all 9 months of pregnancy. The clinic a mile from my house claims to do abortions up to 23 weeks. I know of at least 5 more clinics in my state that claim the same. There are at least 2 doctors in the nation that will do abortion up til the due date, for any or no reason.
C. I too disagree with the use of the graphic images around children, but have done the research and I found them to be accurate, however you’re right, first and second trimester images may have more impact as they are more commonly preformed. As for the image you mentioned above, I will be able to access the internet at the library this afternoon & will see what kind of background & documentation on it I can find.
The Las Vegas Review Journal printed OSA’s abortion
protest signs on the front page of their second section
this week!
First time I’ve ever seen a paper show the truth, in nearly 25 years of opposing child killing in the womb.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/51016222.html
Also, to answer your question, yes, the coins and pencil tips next to the aborted fetus are for size comparison and with that said, the images have been enlarged to show details of development, not to deceive the size as some may believe.
My Family and I were also at the 3 Aurora/ Naperville sites last Saturday. This was our first time joining the “Tour”. My wife brought a stroller for our toddler and the teenage kids and I each held up a sign.
I thought we were just participating at the first site (PP) but the kids wanted to do all 3 stops..hey, who am I to curb the kids’ pro-life enthusiasm.
Yeah…have to agree we did get a lot more honks and thumbs up than the thumbs down, head-shaking and finger toward heaven.
At the Naperville site , we were holding the first couple of signs that had “Abortion is not Healthcare” message near a stop light.
I was just finishing a pamphlet written by Fr. Pavone when a car driven by an elderly gentleman rolled down his window and started yelling at me. I was caught off-guard but I remember he was very agitated when he pointed his finger at me and said “You are a disgusting human being” and to “put that sign away”. I said “We’re not the ones who are doing this”. At that point the light changed and as he drove away, he yelled “You’re an a**hole!”.
I just replied “God Bless you.”
** Looks like we’re doing this again next year **
C,
I’m sorry for your miscarriage. For more posts and pictures on fetal development/miscarriage here at Jill’s site, go to the search box at the top of the page and type “Bethany’s baby”.
* * * * * * * * * * *
I was at the Aurora Truth Tour site on Saturday and drivers were pretty calm. Just three flippers (and I had to chuckle inside because I was holding a sign of a cute 8 week old fetus, not the other one). If you’ve never participated before, it’s a powerful experience to know that you are doing something for these babies.
The Tour is over but you can still find a friend and go pray at a clinic for just a day. Remember the mothers and babies in your daily prayers. Every little thing you do makes a difference.
God bless the Scheidler family. Their witness to Life is a blessing to all.
RSD,
Good for you bringing the whole family!!
* * * *
I’m convinced the most vehement pro-aborts are suffering from abortion experiences themselves. There are those who feel no remorse, but those who do need to know that there is counseling available. Look up “post-abortive counseling” in the phone book, contact a social service agency, a church. Also, go to Jill’s “ARCHIVES” on the right of this page and scroll down to “POST-ABORTION”.
* * * *
“Louise- I think a day will come when children ask their parents and grandparents “Were you anti-abortion?” the same way our children ask if we (or their grandparents) were against apartheid or segregation.”
Michelle,
I can picture what you wrote as a cartoon or billboard. Maybe it’s already been done…. Artists, anyone??
Jill,
I didn’t know Arlington Heights (IL) was such a pro-abortion town. Maybe their churches aren’t doing a very good job at preaching the Gospel of Life.
Thanks, Jill, for posting this.
The Tour was a tremendous success this year, and one of the highlights, as you can see above, was all the new folks who came out to join us. So glad to have you all!
I thought people might appreciate taking a look at the Pro-Life Action League’s response to the issue of kids and graphic abortion photos.
Eric Scheidler
Executive Director
Pro-Life Action League
May God bless everyone who participated and will participate in Face the Truth in the future. I agree wholeheartedly with Father Pavone. The complaints about children seeing this? What’s worse, the images or the fact that this happens 4,000 times a day in this country?
“If you’ve never participated before, it’s a powerful experience to know that you are doing something for these babies.”
———————————————–
Janet, I wholeheartedly agree!
It’s still pretty tiring, though, physically and emotionally. But I tell my kids (and myself) to offer up the suffering to put an end to abortion.
C, I am very sorry for your loss. I don’t know how early your miscarriage was, but my baby died at 6 weeks past conception, and after I miscarried, I took pictures – you can see the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, toes, fingers- all clear as day. (And even if s/he had not, it would not have taken away the biological reality of what s/he was. I had another miscarriage afterwards that was earlier- so the baby was not even large enough to see- but I still know because of the scientific facts that that baby was just as much a human being as the first was).
You can see pictures of my baby at this link:
https://www.jillstanek.com/archives/2007/03/bethanys_baby.html
you can also see pictures of unborn children from a neutral site here:
http://www.ehd.org/prenatal-images-index.php
And here is a video clip, showing the unborn child at just 6 weeks:
http://www.ehd.org/movies.php?mov_id=30#content
Hi Bethany!! Hi Blessing!!
The Evanston site had (predictably) greater dissenting reaction than Arlington Heights. It would be interesting to get the total number of complaint calls directed at each of the 24 locations. John at PLAL counts Arlington Heights as one of the sites with the highest number of volunteers because the local churches recruit and encourage their members to join the Tour.
Our young (6, 9, & 11) sons are quite willing to assist in displaying the Truth. Three of the signs are explicit and unpleasant for them, but the boys know they are there to help end abortion. They have even sat down on their own at home and read the Truth Tour brochure with the stories behind each sign. They feel better knowing the pictures are honoring those poor babies and that the babies were rescued from the trash bins, one from Chicago and two from Texas abortion mills. No nightmares here.
Thank you PLAL!
Rachael, the court case you mentioned is ‘Doe v. Bolton’.
Man, that looks terrible…/yawn.
Please, my cousin sent pictures like that to me almost every week of kids blown to bits in Iraq.
…and, yet, you guys said nothing to then President Bush…
Why did we go to Iraq?
Has it dawned on you that a lot of miscarriages might be caused by the increased concentration of toxins and pollutants in the air.
Which party wants to increase the ppm of toxins and pollutants that you eat and breath?
“Shock and awe” doesn’t work but keep it up.
One sign that I WILL BET 1 MILLION DOLLARS TO ANYONE HERE THAT YOU WILL NOT SEE AT AN ABORTION PROTEST IS A SIGN PROMOTING adoption.
What happens when you accentuate the positive and not the negative? Oh wait, that’s just pyscho babble isn’t it?
“One sign that I WILL BET 1 MILLION DOLLARS TO ANYONE HERE THAT YOU WILL NOT SEE AT AN ABORTION PROTEST IS A SIGN PROMOTING adoption.”
Come with me to the next protest, you bring the money, I’ll bring the sign. :)
Tell me where to go and I’ll be there.
lol…good humor!
You GOOD people have a good night.
Every year at our life chain event I hold a sign that says, Adoption the loving option.Does that count?
Hey, Jeff, got a photo?
You sure won’t find ANYTHING about adoption here.
I held an “adoption, the loving option” sign at a rally we had in our town last year. Most pro-life pickets have that sign or one similar, not to mention they have brochures filled with information about adoption to give away to women, and they refer women to CPC’s which also refer to adoption in a big way. I know, because I volunteer at a CPC and we provide women with information on adoption, and the information on people who are seeking to adopt. Soonerman, you couldn’t be less informed. Have you ever been to a picket in real life? Have you ever been to a CPC? There are twice as many CPC’s as there are abortion clinics in the US, and I’m pretty sure all of them refer to adoption.
http://www.hh76.com/pro_life_search_results.asp?search_in=1000&page=1&search_for=adoption
Jill’s archives on Adoption:
https://www.jillstanek.com/archives/adoption/
Which party wants to increase the ppm of toxins and pollutants that you eat and breath?
Maybe this article will give you some idea…
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/10/the-ghoulish-spirit-of-margaret-sanger-lives/
Hi Bethany!
How are y’all? :)
Hi Janet! We’re doing fine- just got back from vacation and are getting back to the old routine. How about you? I hope you’re doing well.
We’re good, Bethany. Enjoying our summer!