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Home Action News Special Issue 2008 Ground Zero (7 of 7)

Special Issue 2008 ACTION NEWS | VOL. XXVII No. 1

This Special Report on the Pro-Life Action League's battle in Aurora, Illinois is divided into seven parts.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

The League at Ground Zero, cont.

Peter Breen, Tom Brejcha, and Rich Baker at the ZBA

Pro-life attorneys (from left) Peter Breen, Rich Baker and Tom Brejcha at the Nov. 28 Zoning Board of Appeals hearing[Photo by EJS]

Pro-Lifer Ordered Not To Pray

Powell's threats came to bear at our first regular monthly protest on November 17, attended by over 200 pro-lifers—an amazing number for a routine abortuary protest. One of those not participating in the protest was Roger Earl, who had chosen instead to stroll with his baby daughter Isabelle along the sidewalk across the street, in prayer support of his wife Elizabeth who was sidewalk counseling. He was approached by a police officer who asked what he was doing, and when he said he was praying, she asked him what he was praying about!

The officer ordered Roger to cross the street if he was praying about the Planned Parenthood clinic—the most egregious civil rights violation yet. Roger was later able to tell his story to Federal Judge Virginia Kendall during a Settlement Conference with the City of Aurora over violations of our civil rights.

After the protest, 80 pro-lifers gathered for a sidewalk counseling seminar by Ann Scheidler at Our Lady of Mercy Church. The protest and seminar were aided by the help of my new assistant, Matt Yonke, who came on staff on October 22 to help me with the growing workload in Aurora.

Zoning Board of Appeals Does a "Pilate"

On November 28, the Aurora Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) finally met to hear our appeal of the city's decision to issue an occupancy permit to Planned Parenthood. Over 100 pro-lifers were there to observe the hearing, each wearing a red carnation supplied by the League as a token of solidarity. Though the meeting dealt only with procedural matters, it was exciting to finally have the zoning case underway.

The ZBA board met twice more, on December 12 and January 7. At the January 7 meeting they granted the City's Motion to Dismiss, on the bizarre grounds that our appeal was too late. They said we should have filed the appeal back in 2006 when Gemini received their final approval from the Planning and Development Committee—though nobody knew back then that Gemini was really Planned Parenthood!

Though disappointing, this decision by the mayoral appointees on the ZBA was expected, and on February 11, we filed our case in state court, where it continues to move forward to this day—a painfully slow but extremely critical legal effort to shut down Planned Parenthood once and for all.

Picket line outside Planned Parenthood

Monthly protest Dec. 15 at Planned Parenthood in the snow [Photo by Sam Scheidler]

Meanwhile, we continued to focus on street-level activism. On December 15, 200 pro-lifers faced cold and snow to join the monthly protest, and the same number joined in a Christmas Caroling Tour of four west suburban abortuaries, concluding at Planned Parenthood Aurora.

Aurora Activism Going Strong in 2008

The new year dawned promisingly with over 100 stalwarts facing subzero temperatures at the January 19 monthly protest, which was followed by an "Action Speaks" seminar on pro-life activism. The snow and chill continued through the February 16 monthly protest, which again was attended by well over 100 faithful pro-lifers.

We have continued to see these kinds of numbers at our monthly protests through the spring and summer, and we have continued to hold regular sidewalk counseling seminars. Several of these have been conduced by veteran counselor Jeff Eschbach, who also wrote an invaluable booklet on the particular challenges of counseling at the Aurora facility. With Jeff's training, our counselors have saved at least a dozen babies from abortion that we know of.

Defending Our Civil Rights

On March 26 the Earls and I, along with attorneys Peter Breen and Tom Brejcha met in the chambers of Federal Judge Virginia Kendall to try to work out a settlement agreement with the City of Aurora over the ongoing violations of our civil rights by police. The city finally got the message that we were not going to be intimidated into abandoning our pro-life witness.

Both the judge and the attorneys for the City—the same ones who had appeared before Judge Norgle in September—agreed that there had been some serious problems—especially the time Roger Earl was told not to pray on a public sidewalk.

When we next met with the judge on July 8, after several delays and postponements by the City, also in attendance was Connie Betz, one of the most faithful counselors at Planned Parenthood. On April 18, Connie had been arrested for the "crime" of trespassing on what Planned Parenthood considers their side of the street. Again, the judge and attorneys for Aurora could see this was a major problem.

On July 21 the parties met again, this time without the judge, to discuss our remaining problems. We're scheduled to bring a Settlement Agreement to the Judge in mid-August.

Planned Parenthood Claims Immunity from Libel

As the zoning case moves slowly towards trial in state court and as we work towards a civil rights agreement with the City, the really exciting—and volatile—legal action has been in our libel case against Steve Trombley and Planned Parenthood. Nearly every other week throughout the spring and summer my lawyers and I have been slugging it out in the courtroom of Kane County Circuit Court Judge Judith Brawka with Planned Parenthood's high-profile attorneys.

Planned Parenthood is claiming total immunity from any defamatory statements made about the Scheidlers, the Pro-Life Action League, and the other activists fighting Planned Parenthood in Aurora. The basis of this claim is a new Illinois statute, the Citizens Participation Act, which was passed in order to shield citizens from lawsuits designed to scare them away from petitioning the government for favorable action.

In Planned Parenthood's version of the story, we pro-lifers filed our lawsuit not to protect our good name from defamation, but to intimidate Planned Parenthood! As outrageous as that sounds, the judge seems willing to consider that reading of the new law—which would impose huge legal fees on the 20 pro-life plaintiffs in the suit if we lose. A hearing in this critical case is scheduled August 22.

Rainy Days and 40 Days: Our Fight Continues

As the one-year anniversary of our fight in Aurora approached, the Pro-Life Action League's Face the Truth Tour came to Aurora for its final day. Despite heavy rain, more than 150 pro-lifers came out for the first site at the Abortion Fortress. My team and I judged it too rainy to bring out the big graphic signs, so I dispatched my assistant Matt to our nearby storage facility to get our waterproof picket signs.

For 45 minutes, we picketed in the rain, an inspiring scene of umbrellas and pro-life signs—plus the smiling faces of so many pro-lifers eager to face the bad weather to do God's work. Finally the rain abated and we brought out the big signs. We were again hassled by police over a sign showing Jesus and a flag held by my father, Joe Scheidler, on the southeast corner of Oakhurst Drive and New York Street. He was clearly facing New York, not the townhouses behind him, but the police claimed he was in violation of their ordinance. But when Joe and I didn't immediately buckle under, they walked off to confer and before they returned we had concluded our time there.

Balloon launch at April protest

"Balloons for Life" launch at the April 26 protest at Planned Parenthood [Photo by Sam Scheidler]

The overwhelming turnout for the Aurora Truth Tour site, along with the continued trouble from the police, convinced me that Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood ought to participate in the national 40 Days for Life campaign, running September 24-November 2. Our settlement talks with the city have dragged on too long; the 40 Days campaign gives us a clear deadline for securing our civil rights. And even though our fight against Planned Parenthood is going strong, many of those who participated in the Vigil before Planned Parenthood opened need a special reason to return to the front lines.

For if there is one thing I have learned over the past year, it is that the single most important work we do as pro-life activists is to pray and witness at the abortuaries. Our prayer siege at Ground Zero in Aurora has drawn tremendous blessings. Not only have we seen the rise of the most vibrant local pro-life activist community in the nation, but we have learned how to confront Planned Parenthood's 21st Century strategy of building huge, upscale Abortion Fortresses all around the country—knowledge my father and I are already sharing with activists across the nation.

Planned Parenthood may believe they've won in Aurora, but their victory will not stand. As I said back in August 2007, "Whether it's 40 days of prayer or 40 years of effort, we will shut down the Abortion Fortress of Aurora."

For the latest developments in Aurora, or more details on the first year of our siege of the "Abortion Fortress", visit FamiliesAgainstPlannedParenthood.org.

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