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News and commentary from the Pro-Life Action League
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Yesterday, the U.S. Senate had the opportunity to pass the Blunt Amendment, which would have rolled back the Obama administration’s HHS mandate that all employer health plans provide free contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortion-inducing drugs.
The Blunt Amendment would have protected the religious freedom of churches and other institutions from being forced to provide insurance coverage for “services” that violate their moral beliefs.
In other words, it would have restored what was, up until a few weeks ago, the status quo.
Yet the Senate voted down the Blunt Amendment 51-48. In so doing, the Legislative Branch of our federal government upheld the Executive Branch’s grievous assault on religious freedom.
As important as it was for pro-life Americans to email and call their senators to encourage them to support the Blunt Amendment, it was not enough to stop the HHS Mandate.
This means the Nationwide Rally for Religious Freedom is now more urgently needed than ever. [Continue reading ...]
Pro-Life Action League National Director Joe Scheilder with Camille Daub (left) and Elizabeth Purgahn (right) at Defenders of the Unborn banquet
When Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton came down from the U. S. Supreme Court in January, 1973, many of us realized these abortion rulings were cut from whole cloth, without any legal basis in the Constitution.
These twin decisions were clearly the most dangerous, destructive and outrageous ruling ever handed to the American people. They defied everything our nation stands for: the care and protection of its citizens by the government.
These decisions had to be reversed. But how?
We began looking for leadership in cities where pro-life organizations had already been formed. Chicago had its Illinois Right to Life Committee and Birthright.
Another city where the activist approach was in full swing was St. Louis, Missouri.
People like John Ryan, Sam Lee, and Joan Andrews were already out on the sidewalks and in front of the clinics and saving women from aborting their babies. [Continue reading ...]
In response to President Obama’s HHS Mandate, the Pro-Life Action League is partnering with Citizens for a Pro-Life Society in calling for a national day of prayer and protest.
The Nationwide Rally for Religious Freedom will take place in cities and towns all across the country on March 23 at Noon.
Thousands of faithful, pro-life Americans will meet at U.S. government sites—Federal Buildings, Congressional offices and historic sites—to stand up for religious freedom and demand that Obama rescind the HHS Mandate.
Over 50 cities and towns have already signed on to be a part of the Nationwide Rally on March 23, with more locations being added to the map every day. Contact the League for information on leading a Rally in your town.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is now mandating [Continue reading ...]
Pro-life activist Peter D’Attilio [Photo via MassResistance.org]
A Massachusetts judge has dismissed all charges against peaceful pro-life activist Peter D’Attilio stemming from his arrest last summer in what was clearly a disturbing case of police misconduct.
I’ve written previously about this incident, in which D’Attilio was arrested after distributing pro-life bookmarks at St. Rocco Parish’s annual festival in Franklin, Massachusetts.
After a festival chairman complained to police and asked that D’Attilio be removed, officers approached him and asked to see his identification. D’Attilio responded by asking why they wanted to see his ID.
One of the officers, Patrolman Robert Burchill, responded that he “needed to know who he was dealing with”.
D’Attilio claims that Officer Burchill then told him he was on private property owned by the church, at which point D’Attilio claims he offered to leave voluntarily, but then Burchill told him not to leave.
D’Attilio says he then told Burchill he was illegally detaining him, and that the officer tried to put his hand in D’Attilio’s back pocket to grab his wallet. [Continue reading ...]
Alan Nelles popped up one day — it must have been some time in the mid 1990s — at the Albany Medical Surgical Center abortion mill, unknown and unannounced. He wanted to know what he could do to stop abortion. We told him to pray with us.
He didn’t have a rosary so we gave him a cheap plastic one — which he seemed delighted with. He didn’t want to lead any Mysteries, but joined in answering the prayers. He seemed to like the songs we sang out of the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants prayer book.
I assumed he was Catholic, so I was surprised when I asked him what church he went to and it turned out he was Lutheran. Whenever I’d tell him he was more Catholic than many nuns I had met, he’d always say “We’re all Christians,” and that would be that. [Continue reading ...]
This year’s TeenSpeak conference was a great success with two great talks by Josh Brahm of Life Report. But in a special surprise, Abby Johnson, who was giving the keynote address to the adults at the SpeakOut Illinois conference, came by to give a quick talk to the teens.
Her call to purity and to the hard work of keeping the pro-life movement going was so inspiring to the kids I thought I’d share it here.
March for Life 2012 outside the US Supreme Court building [Photo by John Jansen]
I’ve attended the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. a good number of times, but this year’s was by far the most upbeat, energetic and encouraging march I’ve been to, and the Pro-Life Action League was thrilled to be a part of it.
The crowd was enormous and excited about the coming year, as well they should be. 2011 was a banner year for the pro-life movement, and the momentum only keeps going our way.
As the march wound through the streets of the nation’s capital one could see groups from all religious traditions, all ages and races, school groups, church groups, colleges with huge banners—it was quite a show.
But there was one thing that I don’t think anyone missed—the Crusaders for Life pro-life youth group from our own St. John Cantius church here in Chicago. The giant group came equipped with chants, huge yellow “LIFE” balloons, and portable platforms where they could carry some of their cohorts above the crowd to lead chants. [Continue reading ...]
Yesterday, Pro-Life Action League Executive Director Eric Scheidler, Generations for Life’s John Jansen, myself and 150 other Chicagoans attended a meeting of the Chicago Committee on Special Events to defend free speech and public protest.
With the G8 and Nato summits coming concurrently to Chicago this spring, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel has taken the opportunity to ratchet up the city’s laws governing public protest.
The legislation, which was originally proposed as a temporary measure for the summits but has since become permanent, drastically increased fines and required a permit for any gathering of people in public space. The ordinance defines a “Public Assembly”, which requires a permit, as: [Continue reading ...]
Sign posted at Rockford’s NIWC abortion mill before its license was suspended on Sept. 30, 2011. NIWC is now closed for good. [Photo via Pro-Life Corner]
The notorious Northern Illinois Women’s Center in Rockford just became the first abortion clinic in the U.S. to shut down in 2012.
A Rockford Register Star article posted just this afternoon confirmed that NIWC’s management has decided not to reopen after having its license suspended by the State of Illinois for over three months due to serious health violations.
Why did NIWC decide not to reopen? The article explains:
The clinic’s decision is based on a lack of support from the community, the political climate surrounding the abortion issue both locally and nationally and the challenge the clinic would face in rebuilding staff, the director said.
Take a look at these reasons again:
(1) A lack of support from the community. It’s not hard to see why the good people of Rockford want nothing to do with NIWC. A creepy looking place that doesn’t sterilize their instruments and has bizarre window displays featuring signs of Jesus giving the middle finger and saying, “Even Jesus hates you” isn’t the sort of place anyone would want in their backyard. [Continue reading ...]
Stalwart activist Jim Finnegan, who joins the League on our Face the Truth Tour every summer recently led a protest of abortionist Phillip Waterman outside his sprawling estate on the Gulf of Mexico.
Check out scenes from the protest and hear Jim tell the story of another abortionist who quit after Jim led protests outside his home!