Counter-protester Aisha Truss-Miller yells at League Vice President Ann Scheidler [Photo from Chicago Sun-Times]
The billboards that went up yesterday in the south side of Chicago by the group Life Always have caused quite a stir, and shockwaves have reached as far as the west coast!
The fierce counter-protest of the unveiling ceremony yesterday, as reported by the League’s Ann Scheidler, was quite a surprise and lead some to believe the billboards might be vandalized in the night. Fortunately this was not the case, but the media and Planned Parenthood certainly took notice of the ads. Read all about Planned Parenthood’s glaring press release omission and see video coverage of the billboards after the break!
Planned Parenthood’s Glaring Omission
Planned Parenthood put out a press release and a blog post about the situation today that expressed outrage that anyone would dare to offer any advice or information to a woman making a life-altering decision like having an abortion.
But what both the blog post and the press release glaringly omitted was what the new ads actually said. The most they said was that the ads feature President Obama’s face, apparently sacrilege enough for them.
Why would Planned Parenthood express outrage but not want to repeat the ads’ content? Perhaps because it’s a simple fact. The ads state: Every 21 Minutes, Our Next Possible Leader is Aborted.
There is nothing in this that Planned Parenthood can deny. An abortion does take place roughly every 21 minutes, and every one of those babies aborted could be the next President.
So instead of addressing the content of the ad, they resort to their usual tactics: lies. Their press release states:
. . . the billboards posted in Chicago’s south side [are] an offensive and condescending effort to stigmatize and shame African-American women while attempting to limit their ability to make private, personal medical decisions.
What? How does putting up a billboard limit anyone’s ability to make medical decisions? And how does giving someone all the facts “shame and stigmatize” anyone? The presence of pro-life black women speaking at the unveiling and the strong pro-life sentiment of the African-American community gives the lie to Planned Parenthood’s attempt to spin this bracing, fact-based campaign into something ugly.
Billboards Make News Across the Globe
Joe and Ann Scheidler’s presence at yesterdays event did not go unnoticed, either here in Chicago or in the national media.
Here at home, one of the organizers of the protest of Saturday’s Tribute to Joe Scheidler realized after attending yesterday’s event met Joe and Ann without knowing who they were, and the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune noted Joe and Ann.
Elsewhere, news outlets as far away as ABC national news (see video above) and the Seattle Times reported on the event, and the story has even crossed the pond to be commented on by the UK Daily Mail Online.
Hopefully all this press coverage will draw attention to the message of the signs: that the African American community is losing numbers at an alarming rate through abortion, and many of those could be the great leaders of tomorrow—but only if they have the chance to live.
