Graffiti on the tarp attached to the fence at Albany Medical-Surgical Center reads “GO-DIE!” [Photo by Ann Scheidler]
When I arrived at the Albany/Family Planning Associates abortuary this morning, a couple of the prayer warriors who were also just arriving, directed my attention to the canvas tarp on the chain link fence around the parking lot. There in orange spray paint was the message “Go-Die!”
We couldn’t figure out the meaning of the message. Is it meant for the pro-lifers who stand along that fence and pray for the babies, the mothers, the fathers and the clinic staff? Or is it aimed at the clinic itself?
I have been counseling and praying at Albany for years. I know everyone else who comes there on different days to counsel or pray. I can’t imagine that any of them would be the “graffiti artist.”
As I stood on the Elston Avenue sidewalk outside the clinic entrance a Chicago Police squad car drove past the graffiti, then right past me, without even slowing down. The officer glanced my direction but kept going. I don’t know whether the clinic reported the graffiti, or if they even noticed it yet, although all the workers would drive past it to go into the parking lot.
On another note, though, at the clinic entrance I spoke to a woman whose friend was inside having an abortion. She took my information and was quite friendly. Then she said to me, “Where were you yesterday? This is her second day.” Unfortunately there is no prayer presence or counselor at Albany on Wednesdays. Did we miss an opportunity to save a life because no one was there yesterday?
If the “graffiti artist” does consider himself to be pro-life, he would be much more useful standing in prayer along that fence rather than painting the canvas tarp.
