WomanNews, a feature of the Chicago Tribune, put its foot down its throat last week when it headlined a story of pro-life victories, “Anti-Choice Groups Celebrate Victories.” They must have received a bundle of e-mails, letters and phone calls. I know, because many people told me they had contacted them, and when I called the Tribune last week, you could hear them discussing the faux pas in the background.
Reaction to Trib Headline Bias
A letter or two appeared in the General Voice of the People and Don Wycliff is rumored to be preparing a response for the op ed page one of these days soon, but you can imagine the delight of this editor when the lead letter in WomanNews Letters to the Editor just one week later, Nov. 5, was from one Brittany Scheidler from Springfield IL. Brittany is my Nephew Jim’s sixteen-year-old daughter and here is what she writes:
I have read an Oct. 29 Tribune article with the headline,”Anti-choice groups celebrate victories.” I must object to the label “anti-choice” for pro-life or antiabortion groups. As a pro-lifer myself, I find the term “anti-choice” very biased against pro-life groups. It is a very negative and misleading title.
To say that pro-lifers are anti-choice is to imply that we are against choice or choosing in general. Actually, we are against the very specific “choice” to kill innocent people, born or unborn. “Anti-choice” is a term completely void of journalistic integrity as well as basic English accuracy. Please do not use this label in future reports.
Signed, Brittany Scheidler.
Brittany is, of course, one of my favorite people and has been for all of her sixteen years. Now she is one of my favorite authors. She said it all.
Tina Mahar of Tinley Park has the second letter in WomanNews, and her’s is excellent, too Tina is not only pro-life but is an excellent sidewalk counselor and a true activist. Georgia Guida of Brooklyn, NY, Charlie Schumer’s bailiwick, likes “anti-choice” and is glad pro-lifers are upset. We will say a prayer for Georgia that she gets her head on straight before it is too late.
In the Voice of the People Wednesday Margaret Riggs of St. Charles says she has made a choice and that choice is life. How can that make her anti-choice? “I choose life for the unborn,” she writes. ” I choose life for the aged. I choose to protect those who cannot choose for themselves. I would hope that anyone who does not share these values would make better choices.”
Our hat is off to all those who contacted the Tribune with their comments. One of these days the Tribune editors are bound to get the message that killing babies and the elderly is not a nice choice. Ever.
Thanks, Fr. Schultz
And while we’re tipping hats to good people, here is a doff for Fr. Rob Schultz of St. Joseph’s in Wilmette who wrote a full page review of our video on sidewalk counseling, No Greater Joy. It appeared in the October 12 issue of their Sunday Bulletin, which shows just how far behind we are in or mail. But it is one of the best reviews we’ve seen on this blockbuster video on sidewalk counseling, and Father really catches both the pathos and the optimism in this video. He calls it inspiring, informative but also sad. Thanks, Father. We needed that.
Bush To Outlaw Partial Birth Abortion
Nurse Jill Stanek, Jim Finnegan and others are out in Washington D.C. today at the White House witnessing the signing of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban by President George W. Bush. The dragons are poised to get a judge to enjoin it right away, but at least a chink has been made in the abortion armor simply by having one of their methods of murder ruled illegal. We will have a first-hand report on Friday’s Weekend Action News.
