May protest brings more new activists

Last Saturday, May 17th, our monthly protest at Planned Parenthood was finally blessed with some real spring weather! Though it’s been warming up for months, we’ve had nothing but cold and wind every third Saturday. So it was a nice change of pace to head out to New York Street and Oakhurst Drive in shorts and a t-shirt. As the sun shone down, the picket line grew. Dozens carried “Planned Parenthood Lies to You” and “Planned Parenthood BAD for Aurora” signs among others, showing the consistent, peaceful dissent that has only gotten larger in the Fox Valley over the last nine months. Several large signs bearing the image of Our Lord holding and aborted baby reading “Abortion Kills His Children” lined the north side of New York Street. Several people kept a quiet prayer presence on the sidewalk behind Planned Parenthood, praying for the women entering the clinic and mourning the deaths of their little ones. Sidewalk counselors were present as they are every day Planned Parenthood is open, standing at the front lines offering hope to and help to abortion-bound mothers. Upwards of one hundred people took part in the various facets of the protest and I was privileged to meet several new pro-lifers who joined us for the very first time on Saturday! It is always a great encouragement to see how fired up people become when they take that first step into doing something about their pro-life convictions. At 10:30, everyone gathered on the corner of New York and Oakhurst for some words of encouragement and a closing prayer. Eric Scheidler reminded the crowd of the three-fold attack on the very roots of our humanity the abortion commits: It attacks motherhood, fatherhood, and childhood. All three of these basic parts of our human identity are ripped to pieces at Planned Parenthood, which is what makes abortion such a formidable enemy in our culture. The protest was a great shot in the arm, as it usually is. Between the weather and the influx of new pro-lifers, I left very encouraged. Mark your calendars for our next monthly protest, June 21st, 9 to 10:30 a.m., and invite a pro-life friend who hasn’t joined in the fight yet. You’ll be doing them a huge favor by giving them an opportunity to stand up for what they believe in.