Protesters hold graphic abortion signs as a NARAL supporter enters the Standard Club [Photo by Matt Yonke]
Today the Pro-Life Action League hit the streets to protest NARAL’s “Power of Choice” luncheon at the Standard Club in the heart of downtown Chicago. Their keynote speaker was none other than Obama’s head of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius.
Sebelius has been in the back pocket of the abortion industry for years, all the way back to her time as governor of Kansas. There she filled her campaign coffers with huge donations from Planned Parenthood and notorious late-term abortionist George Tiller, and then shielded them from prosecution for performing illegal abortions.
Now, as HHS secretary, Sebelius is forcing states that defunded Planned Parenthood, like Indiana and New Hampshire, to continue funding them against their will. She’s also forcing insurers to provide free birth control for everyone with no exception for institutions fundamentally opposed to it, like the Catholic Church.
League Brings the Truth of Abortion to NARAL
Needless to say, the League wasn’t about to let this abortion celebration go by unnoticed, nor were we about to let attendees forget exactly what it was they were celebrating.
So at 11 a.m. we took to the streets with graphic photos of aborted babies in a Face the Truth display, along with signs reading, Stop Abortion Now and NARAL: Stop the War on Unborn Women. Over 40 pro-lifers showed up—a great crowd for a Wednesday morning—which made for a sizable display.
As is usually the case when we protest an abortion industry fundraiser, many attendees didn’t look very comfortable with the vivid reminder of the reality of abortion, nor with having their picture taken entering the party.
One pro-abortion attendee stopped to talk to some of the protesters, but all she had to offer were condescending platitudes about how they made her realize how important an organization like NARAL was.
Restauranteur Asks Protest to Move
Rooftop diners photograph the protest [Photo by Matt Yonke]
A restaurant manager who disliked having the graphic pictures outside during lunch time asked if we would move the signs. League staff told them that, no, we couldn’t move the signs because nobody likes them and if we moved them every time someone complained, we wouldn’t be able to put them anywhere.
Ironically, the restaurant had an outdoor rooftop seating area and a crowd of patrons, far from losing their lunch, were leaning over the edge to take pictures of the protest!
Importance of Keeping Abortion in the Public Eye
The protest wrapped up at 12:30 once everyone had entered for the luncheon, which started at noon. Everyone who entered saw the truth about abortion. Joe Scheidler gathered the crowd of volunteers for a closing prayer. He reminded volunteers how crucial it is to keep the reality of abortion in the public eye and especially in the eyes of those who support abortion as much as NARAL donors.
Though Sebelius seemed to have entered through a back way, avoiding the display, she no doubt knew it was there, and her avoidance of the images speaks volumes in itself. And the very fact that Sebelius and her cronies are reduced to forcing states to continue funding Planned Parenthood by fiat shows that they are on the ropes. The American people are turning a corner on abortion, largely because pro-life activists have kept the issue in the spotlight for the last 37 years. Let’s keep the effort going strong!
