. . . because action speaks louder than words.
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
News and commentary from the Pro-Life Action League
Madeline Mann, born at only 26 weeks [Photo by Loyola U Health System]
Both Chicago’s major newspapers, the Tribune and the Sun Times, ran feature stories on Monday, December 12, 2011, about the tiniest babies that survive and thrive.
The smallest and fourth smallest premature babies ever delivered were born and treated at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago. Madeline, born in 1989 at 9.9 ounces held the record until Ramaisa stole it in 2004, weighing in a 9.2 ounces.
Both girls are doing extremely well. Madeline is an honor student in college and Ramaisa is an active 7-year-old.
The story of their survival is heartwarming. But for a pro-life activist is it also a dramatic reminder of the humanity of the baby before she is born, and the tragedy of late-term abortion. [Continue reading ...]
Breast cancer awareness and research seems to dominate the news each fall. October is designated as the official breast cancer awareness month, but pink everything—ribbons, shoes, hats, gloves, T-shirts—spills over into the subsequent weeks of Autumn.
Now a new study has been issued by the Institute of Medicine on “Breast Cancer and the Environment: a Life Course Approach.” The interesting thing about this study is that it was expected to come down hard on industrial practices opposed by environmental groups. Instead researchers found that women’s life style choices are the more persistent factor in breast cancer risk.
The study found that substances to which women voluntarily expose themselves are much clearer sources of risk than environmental factors over which they have little or no control. Oral contraceptives made the list, along with cigarettes, alcohol and fattening foods. [Continue reading ...]
Jennie Goodman and Governor Pat Quinn
On Thursday, November 17, Personal PAC will hold its annual fundraising luncheon in Chicago.
Personal PAC is “dedicated to electing pro-choice candidates to state and local offices in Illinois.” Their motto—It’s Pro-Choice or No Choice—is unwittingly revealing. They believe in No Choice for an unborn baby. Nor do they really believe in choice for women.
Personal PAC actively opposes even measures that are beneficial to women such as a 24-hour waiting period before making a choice for abortion, laws mandating informed consent and Illinois’ parental notification law, which remains unenforced 16 years after being enacted. [Continue reading ...]
Joe Scheidler (right) with St. Joseph Right to Life County President Tom Gill [Photo by Ann Scheidler]
On Thursday, October 6, League Director Joe Scheidler gave the keynote address at the 20th anniversary celebration of St. Joseph County Right to Life in South Bend, Indiana. Joe had also been the speaker at the group’s inaugural banquet in March 1992.
Scheidler congratulated Indiana on its decision to de-fund Planned Parenthood, a move that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius immediately objected to, claiming that Indiana had no right to make such a determination. Scheidler assured the crowd that many other states are watching the drama over de-funding Planned Parenthood, with the aim of taking the same action.
Scheidler emphasized the importance of prayer and action in our battle against abortion. As a former Benedictine seminarian, he still adheres to St. Benedict’s motto, Ora et Labora — Pray and Work. “Prayer is essential,” said Scheidler. “But it is not enough. We have to take action to change the culture.” [Continue reading ...]
Joe Scheidler receives the Msgr. John Spreen Warrior Award from Dr. Leonard Rybak of Springfield Right to Life [Photo by Ann Scheidler]
Pro-Life Action League National Director Joe Scheidler was the keynote speaker at the annual Springfield (Illinois) Right to Life banquet Friday, September 23. Scheidler also received the Msgr. John Spreen Warrior Award for his courage in the battle against abortion.
Msgr. Spreen was an outspoken defender of the sanctity of life. During one of his homilies he once played a recording of the “Diary of the Unborn Child.” Some members of the congregation got up and walked out. But Monsignor went ahead and played the recording at each Mass that day, and each time several people walked out.
Springfield Right to Life honors him by presenting three awards each year in his name: The Statesman Award to a pro-life political figure, The Rosebud Award to a behind-the-scenes worker and the Warrior Award to a courageous leader.
Joe and I drove to Springfield early on Friday to spend the day at the Abraham Lincoln Museum prior to the banquet. Springfield Right to Life president Merle King and his wife Betty served as our hosts for lunch and the tour of the museum. The Lincoln Museum is well worth a trip to Springfield and would make a wonderful field trip for students of any age who are fascinated by American history. [Continue reading ...]
In spite of polls showing that a majority of Americans generally oppose abortion, the legislative and judicial environment remains hostile to life. As a result, pro-life activists and lawmakers have been forced to become increasingly creative in their attempts to protect the unborn.
The partial birth abortion ban was a start in a trend to prohibit a certain type of abortion. Nebraska, Alabama and Idaho have enacted laws that highlight the unborn baby as the victim capable of feeling pain at least by the twentieth week of gestation.
Idaho Governor Butch Otter signed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act into law in April 2011. Not surprisingly, the Idaho law is being challenged. [Continue reading ...]
Kameron and Kaydon Manns
On March 31, 2010, Kameron and Kaydon Hayes were born to Brianna Manns at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago.
They were identical twins—closer than most. Kameron and Kaydon were conjoined twins, joined at the thorax and sharing a heart and liver. From the beginning their mother and medical professionals knew that their lives would be short and fraught with difficulties.
But Kameron and Kaydon defied odds. Everyone was surprised that they survived to celebrate their first birthday. But on Friday, August 13, they finally lost the battle they had fiercely fought. Their heart was beating erratically, and there was nothing more that the medical team could do.
When doctors discovered the complication during Brianna Manns’ pregnancy they talked to her about aborting them. But their mother said abortion was never an option. “I am a strong believer in not having abortions — very, very strong,” said Manns. “They are my babies. I had the feelings that any mother would have,” I wanted my children to experience life to the fullest, to whatever extent that it might be.” [Continue reading ...]
Joe Scheidler outside the Robbinsdale Clinic abortion facility, August 6 [Photo by Ann Scheidler]
Pro-Life Action Ministries in St. Paul, MN hosted the first ever national sidewalk counseling symposium last weekend, and the Pro-Life Action League was well-represented. League Director Joe Scheidler spoke on Friday evening, along with Fr. Frank Pavone and Pastor Walter Hoye, to spiritually prepare for the work scheduled for Saturday.
Prior to the Saturday workshops, attendees boarded school buses (not equipped with springs or shock absorbers) and headed for the Robbinsdale Clinic abortion facility, which promotes itself as a family health clinic. Pro-Life Action Ministries owns the building next door to the clinic. The PLAM center includes an office, a chapel and a gathering space.
In the backyard PLAM has erected a platform so that sidewalk counselors have an opportunity to speak to the abortion clinic clients and offer information and alternatives. The front yard of the PLAM house includes a large crucifix and a grotto to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The local authorities have placed unreasonable restrictions on the pro-lifers in Robbinsdale. A limited number of people can be on the sidewalk. Photographs of the clinic are prohibited. But there is a pro-life presence at the abortion facility whenever they are doing abortions. Babies are being saved in spite of the clinic and the community’s efforts to thwart the pro-lifers’ mission. [Continue reading ...]
On Friday, as I stood at the Face the Truth staging area at our site near a Taco Bell at 79th and Stony Island Avenue on Chicago’s South Side, a young woman drove up and asked to buy one of our red Truth Tour shirts. She then sat in her car eating her lunch.
About 20 minutes later, this young woman rolled down her window and asked if we had any information about counseling after an abortion. I brought her a Project Rachel card [PDF] with the number 800-848-LOVE for post-abortion counseling.
She then told me that looking at the pictures of the aborted babies is very hard. And she told me it brought back to the forefront her own abortion over 20 years ago. She talked about the fact that she knew it was wrong. She had repented and she believed that God had forgiven her. But still she felt the need to talk to someone about her own personal experience. [Continue reading ...]
Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade recently wrote in a syndicated column that appeared in papers across the country that he now knows “what winning really means.”
Wade was just awarded custody of his two sons. He grew up in Chicago, and his own father was heavily invested in his upbringing. Wade wrote that since his sons have come to live with him, “every day has been like Father’s Day.”
President Obama recently appointed Wade to a new parenting program geared toward encouraging fathers to become more involved in their children’s lives. That means accepting the responsibility for the lives they help to create. Being a responsible dad means serving as a role model for his sons and daughters. That demands honesty, integrity, dependability, compassion, discipline and love. [Continue reading ...]