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Home Action News June 2003 Other Stories

June 2003 ACTION NEWS | VOL. 22 No. 2

Other Stories

Illinois FACE Law Thwarted in This Session

Pro-life groups throughout Illinois formed an ad hoc coalition this spring to prevent passage of a bill intended to obstruct sidewalk counseling outside of abortion mills.

"The pro-abortion side really thought they were going to get Illinois FACE this year. This was a real defeat for them."

House Bill 2486, the so-called Illinois Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) bill, was passed earlier this year by the Illinois House and was voted out of a Senate committee, but was never brought before the full Senate. Thanks to the pro-life postcard and telephone campaign, the bill's sponsors realized they did not have the votes needed for passage.

HB 2486 uses vague language and huge civil penalties in an effort to frighten sidewalk counselors and abortion protesters away from abortion mills, and is even worse than the national FACE law, which many civil libertarians consider unconstitutional. Illinois pro-life groups responded by urging their members to contact their state senators to vote against the bill.

Though the deadline for passage of the bill was extended until the end of the year, pro-life lobbyist Ralph Rivera of Illinois Citizens for Life said that keeping it from being brought for a vote was a real pro-life victory: "The pro-abortion side really thought they were going to get Illinois FACE this year. This was a real defeat for them." The fight against the bill will resume in the fall, Rivera said.

Pro-life activists from around the country should keep an eye on the fate of the Illinois FACE bill. Similar efforts can be expected around the country as the pro-abortion forces seek new ways to undermine effective pro-life activism in the wake of their defeat in NOW v. Scheidler.

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Eric Brings Marriage Message to Indianapolis

[Photo by Alex Scheidler]

League Communications Director Eric Scheidler spoke in Indianapolis on the meaning of marriage on June 11. Over two hundred young adults attended the talk at the Rathskeller Bar and Restaurant, part of a Theology on Tap series on the Sacraments. Eric discussed the complete gift of self that unites husbands and wives, making them an icon of the Divine Mystery. Questions after the talk focused on Natural Family Planning and contraception.

To invite Eric to speak, call his home office or write eric@prolifeaction.org.

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League's Growing Internet Presence

The Pro-Life Action League is bringing activism to the World Wide Web with a completely redesigned website that was launched when our victory in the Supreme Court was handed down in February. Communications Director Eric Scheidler elected to launch the new website before work on it was completed, the better to handle the aftermath of the High Court's announcement, which came much sooner than expected.

With its clear layout and powerful search engine, the new site has served both pro-lifers wanting to keep up to date with League news and reporters researching the League and the NOW v. Scheidler case. The site receives a steady stream of hundreds of visitors each day.

Joe Scheidler's Hotline Now Online

Eric has continued to update the site, with new material being added almost daily, including an online edition of Joe Scheidler's Action News's Hotline three times a week. Many of the testimonials of former abortion providers are available, as well as the whole history of NOW v. Scheidler. Generations for Life, the League's youth outreach branch, has its own section, complete with the most current version of the Generations curriculum.

Join the League's E-mail List

Pro-life activists around the world can also keep up to date with League activities and other pro-life news through Life-Update, the League's biweekly e-mail newsletter. Participants in several recent League events, including our protest of the NARAL luncheon on April 30 and the big "Bring America Back to Life" Victory Celebration on June 7, heard about them first through the Life-Update message.

If you have any questions or comments on the site, contact webmaster Eric Scheidler.

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Rest in Peace, Greg Morrow

[Greg Morrow, Early 80s]

Greg Morrow at a picket of pro-abortion judge Prentice Marshal in the early 1980s

The pro-life community lost one of its stalwarts in May with the death of Greg Morrow. Greg became involved in pro-life work way back in 1970. Over the years, he talked hundreds of women out of abortion, attended thousands of protests, was arrested dozens of times, and even ran a crisis pregnancy center for a time in Virginia.

Greg was contentious, blunt, straightforward, excessively bright, organized and militant -- an old-style defender of the faith. Greg stayed active to the end, attending the Helpers Mass and Vigil last April.

At his Requiem High Mass at St. Thomas More, Fr. Anthony Brankin said, "We will not see the like of Greg Morrow again." We are afraid he is right. Greg was surely one-of-a-kind and we will all miss him.

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