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News and commentary from the Pro-Life Action League
News and commentary from the Pro-Life Action League
Joe Scheidler speaks at the Heartbeat Bill rally in Columbus, OH [Photo by Ann Scheidler]
I don’t know when, if ever, Ann and I have attended a more up-beat, exciting and colorful rally than the one held by Created Equal pro-lifers in the Ohio State Capitol last Tuesday, Sept. 20. The occasion was an all out effort to convince the State Senate to pass the Heartbeat Bill.
As law, it would make it illegal to perform an abortion after the heartbeat of an unborn baby is detected. The House passed the bill earlier by a margin of 54 to 43, and the Senate, made up of 33 members, could pass the bill with 17 votes.
The rally was to urge the crowd of more than four-hundred to encourage their senators to vote “yes” on HB 125. According to the experts, a heartbeat law could save 26,000 lives in Ohio each year. [Continue reading ...]
Ann and I will be traveling to Columbus, Ohio with our good friend Jill Stanek this Tuesday, September 20 to join the rally urging the state Senate to pass the state’s “Heartbeat Bill”.
The rally is being touted as “the most important pro-life rally of our time.” And it may well be, since its passage would, according to medical specialists, save 96 to 99% of unborn babies slated for abortion. The heart begins to beat as early as 18 days from conception and be detected on present monitors as early as 6 weeks.
House Bill 125 (the “Heartbeat Bill”) says that no abortion can be performed if the unborn baby has a detectable heartbeat, with the only exception being to prevent the death of the mother or irreversible impairment of a major bodily function. THe bill has enormous support in the state and needs only 17 votes to pass in the 33-member Senate. The House vote was 54-43. [Continue reading ...]
I was dismayed to read the letter released by Bishop Patrick Zurek of Amarillo, Texas, advising his fellow bishops that he is calling Fr. Frank Pavone back to the diocese, effectively stopping his work as head of Priests for Life.
I have known Fr. Frank personally since he was appointed by Cardinal John O’Connor as director of Priests for Life 20 years ago. I have frequently appeared with Fr. Frank at pro-life conferences and have participated in myriad projects with him. I can honestly say that I have never met a more dedicated, passionate and hard-working pro-lifer, priest or layman.
I know for a fact that Fr. Pavone never charges a dime for a speaking engagement. He travels wherever he is invited and pours himself into his mission to motivate Catholics and faithful Christians to join the fight against abortion, to reach out in compassion to troubled and desperate pregnant mothers and to lead post-abortive women and men to healing in Jesus Christ. [Continue reading ...]
Joe Scheidler speaks at pro-life candlelight vigil in Auburn Hills, Michigan, Aug 27 [Photo by Rebecca Kiessling]
More than 400 pro-life activists gathered Saturday in front of the shell of a massive building that has been purchased by Planned Parenthood to be used as another mega-abortion facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
I was among those invited to address the prayer warriors during the three-hour prayer vigil. Other speakers included attorney Rebecca Kiessling, who spoke about how she was conceived in rape, and how her life was spared only because the law would not allow her mother to have an abortion in 1969. As such, Kiessling said she had a very personal reason for preventing this Planned Parenthood abortion facility from opening.
The prayer vigil was planned and conducted by nationally known pro-life leader Dr. Monica Miller and her organization, Citizens for a Pro-Life Society.
The prayer vigil consisted of readings by local pastors, many religious hymns, a time for private and small group prayer and a blessing at the conclusion. As the vigil continued into darkness, candles were distributed to the assembly, and a chorus of young students sang in harmony, adding to its solemnity.
The main purpose of the vigil was to seek Divine help in keeping Planned Parenthood from completing the building and turning it into an abortion center. [Continue reading ...]
The Pro-Life Action League’s staff will show pro-lifers in Cincinnati, Ohio how a “Face the Truth Tour” is carried out by taking this highly successful project to the streets of the Queen City on Saturday, October 8.
Bringing the tour to Cincinnati was suggested by my cousin Tim Scheidler at the Tribute held in my honor earlier this year. Tim is from Cincinnati and believes a tour will not only alert the public to the barbaric practice of abortion, but will also help to increase the number of pro-life activists in the area.
Working with Tim to sign up volunteers for the tour is Jennifer Giroux, a legendary pro-life leader known across the country for her many successful campaigns against abortion. She has been instrumental in publicizing films such as The Passion of the Christ, promoting the campaigns of pro-life politicians and working behind the scenes to get local legislators to sponsor and pass anti-abortion legislation. [Continue reading ...]
ComEd letter to “New Resident.” Joe and Ann Scheidler have lived in the same home for 44 years. [View full size (PDF)]
In our 38 years of pro-life activism, our home on the north side of Chicago has been the target of various kinds of harassment. In the days before caller ID, we received fairly frequent crank phone calls, including a phony call for Ann to come down to the morgue to identify my dead body.
Our home has been picketed, our house and garage spray painted. Last December our front windows were broken by self-proclaimed pro-abortion vandals.
But the latest incident may be the most unusual. [Continue reading ...]
The Jaycees in Palatine, Illinois have told the Palatine Area Catholics Respect Life organization that they can’t carry their usual banner (pictured right) in the Fourth of July parade this year—because it has a picture of an unborn baby on it!
Despite the fact that the sign received applause and standing ovations along the parade route last year, the sign has been vetoed.
The pro-lifers were told they could replace the fetus with a picture of a pregnant woman, and march with the 80 other entries. But the group’s co-founder, Martin Kelley, refused the offer, saying it defeats their purpose. The Jaycees claim they made a mistake last year by allowing the picture to be used, but claim they didn’t see a clear image of it. The story is catching the media’s attention and was featured today on the Huffington Post.
Now that the Jaycees have taken a good look, they have determined that the picture “crosses a line.” You can call the Jaycees at 847-604-0288 and let them know that there’s nothing offensive about unborn babies, and the banner should be allowed in the parade.
In one way or another, we will all miss Tom Roeser, who died on Sunday at the age of 82.
Some of us will miss him as a longtime friend. Others will miss him as a prolific and enormously informed political analyst—as evidenced in his many columns in the Chicago Sun-Times and the Wanderer, in his books, and on his popular Sunday evening talk show. Others will miss the man who was chairman of nearly everything. [Continue reading ...]
Of the dozens of books and articles written about the effect of abortion on men, one the most interesting and comprehensive is Arthur Shostak and Gary McLouth’s Men and Abortion.
It consists mainly of interviews with 1,000 men in thirty U. S. abortion clinics waiting for their partners having abortions. It seems to have captured their various attitudes of indifference, guilt, or fear of harm to their partners.
While the book was written in the mid-80′s, it probably echoes interviews that would be conducted today.
What is unusual about the book is not the finding that many men go through grief and loss almost as much as women, or that most men get no counseling but are ignored or even mistreated by abortion clinic staff.
![Vicki Thorn speaking at Resurrection Hospital in Chicago [Photo by John Jansen]](http://prolifeaction.org/pix/2011/vickithorn1.jpg "vickithorn1")
Vicki Thorn speaking at Resurrection Hospital in Chicago [Photo by John Jansen]
Vicki Thorn, founder of the post-abortion outreach Project Rachel, has an extremely informative talk entitled, “Abortion: A Hidden Loss.” And she certainly proves her point that every abortion is a loss not only to the mother and the father of the aborted child and their extended family, but also to society.
Vicki, who also founded the National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing, spoke Tuesday at Chicago’s Resurrection Hospital to an audience of caregivers, chaplains, mental health professionals, and pro-lifers looking to learn more about the hidden effects of abortion. The event was co-sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago Respect Life Office.
Vicki explained why women have abortions, and addressed the desperate need for post-abortive women—and men—to be helped through the grieving process. [Continue reading ...]