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Abortion industry converts tell the inside story
News and commentary from the Pro-Life Action League
News and commentary from the Pro-Life Action League
Eric prays a Rosary outside a Germany abortuary in September of this year
I’ve just learned from one of my pro-life contacts in Germany that a court hearing is coming up this Thursday, December 1, on the status of sidewalk counseling in the city of Freiberg. A law enacted earlier this year created a buffer zone around abortion facilities that has effectively outlawed sidewalk counseling. A similar law was put in place in Munich as well.
When I visited Germany this past September, I had the opportunity to pray at the oldest abortuary in Munich, where the sidewalk counseling ban was in force.
It was an eerie experience. My colleague Bryan Kemper and I had to switch off sides of the street to pray a Rosary together, since only one person can stand nearby the clinic entrance at one time. Had we German enough to speak to any of the clients we could have been fined €500 ($670) for doing so.
For an American used to the free speech protections afforded by the First Amendment, the situation for pro-lifers in Freiberg and Munich is hard to imagine.
Please keep Thursday’s court hearing in your prayers. German babies are dying today because courageous German sidewalk counselors have been muzzled by this unjust law.
Eric Scheidler speaks on activism at the International Pro-Life Youth Conference, Nov. 12 [Photo by Dave Bathon]
This past weekend I traveled to Los Angeles for the first ever International Pro-Life Youth Conference to join a cast of fantastic speakers and 300 of the most enthusiastic young pro-lifers I’ve ever seen.
The conference was expertly organized by Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust and cosponsored by several other pro-life groups, including the League, which provided copies of our Sharing the Pro-Life Message handbook to all attendees. Rev. Pat Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition did an extraordinary job as Master of Ceremonies.
My contribution to the conference was a new PowerPoint presentation on conducting successful events entitled, “10 Keys to Effective Pro-Life Action,” which drew on my years as an activist. These keys included such advice as “Devise your battle plan,” “Cooperate with police” and “Take care of volunteers.” [Continue reading ...]
The pro-life Carney brothers
This has got to be about the most creative—and inspiring—pro-life fundraiser I’ve ever seen. Last week, the four Carney brothers—Jack (9), Joey (7), Michael (5) and Christopher (3)—decided to pool their Halloween candy and see if they could raise some money to help the Pro-Life Action League save babies and their mothers from abortion.
To set their creative plan in motion, the two oldest, Jack and Joey, went with their Dad, Chris, to his office in downtown Chicago. They gave away their candy to people at the train station and at the office, accepting donations for the League. In all, they raised $368.98!
The Carney Family at the 2010 Face the Truth Tour in Lake Zurich, IL
What’s especially touching about the boys’ contribution to the League’s effort is that they’re all experienced pro-life activists. They’ve joined the League’s Face the Truth Tours in the past, along with their parents and sisters—a great pro-life family!
The Carney Brothers hope other pro-life kids will take up their idea next year. I hope so, too—because that’s what the Pro-Life Action League is all about: finding dynamic ways to fight abortion, and then empowering others to join the effort.
Chris and his wife Millie must be very proud of their sons. So am I!
Two of the most exciting things going on the pro-life movement right now are:
These two dynamic forces are coming together next week at the first-ever International Pro-Life Youth Conference, November 11-13 in Los Angeles.
The conference is being hosted by Survivors, Ireland’s Youth Defence and Students for Life, with the sponsorship of such cutting-edge pro-life groups as Live Action, Stand True Ministries, Human Life Alliance—and of course, the Pro-Life Action League.
I’m proud to be one of the speakers at the IPLY Conference, along with such pro-life “rock stars” as:
Student registration is a mere $35 for the whole weekend, but registration closes November 9—so act now if you want to attend. You can get more information here or go straight to the registration page here.
This historic conference will motivate, educate and equip pro-life youth to end abortion in their lifetimes. It is not to be missed!
Lately I’ve been getting a lot of overwrought e-mails from the pro-abortion lobby (I’m signed up on all their lists), warning that “anti-choice” legislators are on the verge of taking away women’s access to abortion.
Hyperbole is common enough on both sides of the abortion battle, but the kind of outrageous exaggeration coming from the pro-choice side in recent weeks has side has been off the charts—and in the end it may backfire.
Take this, for example, from the National Organization for Women’s Terry O’Neill: “It’s part of the radical right’s core strategy to chip Roe v. Wade to bits. They won’t outlaw abortion per se, they’ll just make it virtually impossible to access.”
Yesterday, pro-life blogger Jill Stanek posted a cartoon called “Occupy Womb Street” that originally appeared at the leftist website The Daily Kos. The target of cartoonist Jen Sorenson was the pro-life leadership of the House of Representatives, which passed the Protect Life Act last week.
The cartoon is clever, despite its hateful attitude towards both the unborn child and childbirth (which even some feminists cherish as the special province of women). I credit Sorenson for her creative play on the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, as well as her pun on the word “labor” in the cartoon’s last panel.
But what impresses me most about this 4-panel comic is panel 2, in which a fetus holds a picket sign reading “Will work for nutrient rich blood.”
Here Sorenson unwittingly highlights the humanity of the child in the womb, not only by recognizing the child’s utter dependence on its mother at this early stage of life, but drawing what can only be called a cute little fetus. [Continue reading ...]
Eric speaks in Anneville, PA Oct 14 [Photo by Henri Lively]
Last week I was honored to join the Defend Life Speaking Tour—the longest running pro-life speaking tour in the nation—at the invitation of stalwart pro-life activist Jack Ames. Jack is famous for putting his speakers to work, and Jack managed to line up 5 talks for me in just two days.
I arrived the morning of Thursday, October 13 and was picked up at the airport by Fran Griffin, who helped Jack arrange my speaking engagements. After lunch with some of the pro-life leaders of northern Virginia, we drove to Seton School in Manassas, founded by Catholic historian Anne Carroll, whose late husband Warren founded Christendom College.
I addressed the all-school assembly about how they can help restore a culture of life. After a brief overview of the humanity of the unborn child and the key facts about abortion, I explored how Catholics like them are called in a special way to actively fight against abortion. [Continue reading ...]
This past Sunday I stumbled upon a speech by a fellow named Phil Plait from a 2010 conference called “The Amaz!ng Meeting 8″ (that’s not a typo, by the way—that’s how they write it). I had never heard of Plait or TAM before, but I found a lot of value in what he had to say.
Turns out Plait is a noted skeptic and atheist. An astronomer by training (he worked on the Hubble Space Telescope), he writes the popular science blog, Bad Astronomy (I don’t know where he stands on abortion, but I’m willing to bet he’s pro-choice). TAM is an annual meeting that focuses on science, skepticism and atheism.
It may seem strange for a devout Catholic pro-life activist like me to be taking advice from a world-famous atheist, but Plait offers some keen insight on how people think and how we can reach them.
Plait admits that the human brain is “wired for faith” and that therefore skepticism is a “hard sell”—and that’s where what he has to say becomes so relevant for us pro-lifers. [Continue reading ...]
The Pro-Life Action League is bringing a 3-site Face the Truth Tour to Cincinnati tomorrow, October 8. Join us as we share the truth about abortion with our fellow citizens:
Get more information on Face the Truth, and watch a 2-minute video on this courageous and peaceful campaign here.
Note: This is Eric Scheidler’s fourth and final report on his pro-life mission to Germany and Austria. Previous reports covered his participation in the March for Life in Berlin, activities with German Youth for Life activities and meeting with Austrian Youth for Life.
Eric praying at Klinik Stapf abortuary in Munich, Sept. 21 [Photo by Bryan Kemper]
On the warm, sunny afternoon of September 21, I stood alone on the sidewalk outside Klinik Stapf, the oldest abortuary in Munich, Germany, praying a Rosary. But why alone? Where was Bryan Kemper, my partner in this pro-life mission to Germany and Austria?
Bryan was across the street—banished there by a law enacted in Munich earlier this year that allows only one person to stand outside an abortion facility at a time. But far worse, the law actually bans sidewalk counseling.
For those of who have been fighting unfair restrictions on sidewalk counseling like Chicago’s Bubble zone, the Munich law is incomprehensible. Indeed, it has been a terrible blow to pro-life activists in Munich, who estimate that 50-80 babies will be killed as a direct result of this law, babies whose mothers would have been reached by sidewalk counselors. [Continue reading ...]