Free Republic

When Kelsey McLain, then a 25-year-old in the midst of the first trimester of her pregnancy, arrived at the abortion clinic closest to her home, her car couldn’t get past the entrance of the parking lot. ... For pro-lifers, the opportunity to protest outside clinics is nothing less than a divine calling. In 1985, Joseph Scheidler, founder of the Pro-Life Action League and often called the ‘grandfather’ of the pro-life movement, published the book Closed: 99 Ways to Stop Abortion. It begins with a chapter on sidewalk counseling, which Scheidler called “the single most valuable activity that a pro-life...

About 2 a.m. this morning someone(s) threw several bricks through the front window the Chicago north side home of pro-life luminaries Joe and Ann Scheidler, president and VP of the Pro-Life Action League.One of the bricks had a weird, expletive-ridden note wrapped around it, which you can read on page 2. The vandal(s) were clearly pro-aborts. The one writing the note was apparently post-abortive.I called Ann to make sure she and Joe were ok. She relayed an interesting tidbit.“I just remembered that the Illinois Choice Action Team held a training session last night for deathscorts to go to the...

Let's all stand with the Scheidlers Chicago, IL – Operation Rescue was outraged to learn this morning that the home of long-time pro-life leader Joseph Scheidler was attacked in the middle of the night with bricks of asphalt being thrown through two front windows. One of the bricks contained a threatening note from an obvious abortion supporter bearing a message of hate. The attack occurred around 2:00 A.M.“We denounce in the strongest terms the cowardly violence that shattered the peace of the Scheidler home last night,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “We demand that that Attorney General Eric Holder...

Wednesday July 28, 2010 Protest to be Held at Catholic Hospital that Employs Planned Parenthood Abortionist DURANGO, Colorado, July 28, 2010 (LifeSiteNew.com) -- On July 29, the pro-life organization LifeGuard will hold a press conference and protest in front of Mercy Regional Medical Center (MRMC), a Catholic hospital that has a Planned Parenthood abortionist on its staff."A Catholic Hospital that grants full privileges to a Doctor who brutally murders babies every week is NOT a Catholic Hospital," stated Joe Scheidler, National Director of the Pro-Life Action League in a press release. "Mercy Regional can no longer ignore this issue....

First of Two Downtown Tour Days Reaches Tens of Thousands Posted by League Staff (July 12, 2010 at 6:31 pm) Face the Truth signs over the Kennedy Expressway [Photo by Sam Scheidler]Tens of thousands of Chicagoans saw graphic abortion pictures at three sites in the heart of the city today—images they carried back to their homes all throughout the six-county region. Thousands of long overdue conversations about abortion will take place this evening around the dinner table because of the Pro-Life Action League’s successful “Face the Truth” Tour today. Kennedy Overpass Signs Reach 200 Cars Per MinuteThe day began with...

We did it!Yesterday's deadline for the passage of new legislation in the Illinois House of Representatives passed without HB6205, the Illinois FOCA bill, ever coming to the floor for a vote. That means the bill is effectively dead for this year. All our prayers, phone calls and lobbying paid off. Join me in celebrating this great pro-life victory -- all the more savory coming on the heals of our stinging defeat nationally over the pro-abortion health care bill. Congress turned a deaf ear to the people, but here in Illinois legislators listened to us and decided against this radical, highly...

Saturday, Mar 20, 2010: Monthly Protest at Planned Parenthood Aurora—9:00 a.m. With the national health care battle and the fight here in Illinois over HB6205, it seems like pro-life activism has been all about phone calls and e-mails lately. Time for some REAL action! Join the protest at Planned Parenthood, 3051 E. New York Street (map). Picket signs will be provided. These monthly protests punctuate the ongoing Life Support effort, offering prayer and assistance for Planned Parenthood clients every hour the facility is open ... We're in the final stretch of our fight against the Illinois FOCA bill for this...

Joe Scheidler, founder of the Pro-Life Action League and author of the book, Closed: 99 Ways to Stop Abortion has been sued by NOW and they have won the first round. The judge slapped Joe with a judgment of $257,780.76 which of course he cannot pay. He has appealed, but he if loses, he'll lose everything -- including his home and what little money he has saved. He could be held liable for 14 years' worth of the abortionists attorneys' fees, an amount that adds up to millions of dollars. Joe is being represented by Tom Brejcha, of the Thomas ...

Doctors who perform abortions often exist in a Manichean universe where there are only two kinds of people: Those who leave them alone about their work and the "terrorists" who stand in front of their clinics with picket signs and rosaries. Some hire extra security to escort them in and out of their abortion clinics. The idea of actually having a relationship with one of the protesters is unthinkable. Yet in early 2005, Dr. John Rivera, an abortionist, found himself having coffee with Luis Mendoza, a protester who had videotaped him coming to work at Chula Vista's Clinica Medica Para...

The last time we checked, newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito had not been seen slipping into telephone booths and emerging in a blue body suit with a big red "S" on his chest. But that hasn't stopped anti-abortion leaders from attributing superhuman powers to him. Justice Alito is seen as the fabled fifth conservative vote on the high court, joining justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy and Chief Justice John Roberts, also a newcomer. It's understandable pro-lifers would feel this way. Pro-choice forces flavored the Roberts and Alito nomination seasons with stark warnings the two men would...

<p>The Supreme Court dealt a setback Tuesday to abortion clinics in a two-decade-old legal fight over anti-abortion protests, ruling that federal extortion and racketeering laws cannot be used to ban demonstrations.</p> <p>The 8-0 decision ends a case that the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had kept alive despite a 2003 ruling by the high court that lifted a nationwide injunction on anti-abortion groups led by Joseph Scheidler and others.</p>

American Girl Tries to Restore Image, Pro-Life Group Declares Victory To: National Desk Contact: Ann Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League, 773-777-2900, 312-965-1030 cell, ann@prolifeaction.org CHICAGO, Dec. 14 /Christian Wire Service/ -- "American Girl is trying to restore its wholesome image with pro-life families," said Ann Scheidler, executive director of the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League. "Their efforts at damage control show how effective our protest and boycott have been." "In contrast to American Girl's affiliation with pro-abortion Girls Inc, they have just launched a major ad campaign, designed to protect girls from growing up too fast," said Scheidler. "The sudden...

American Girl Tries to Restore Image, Pro-Life Group Declares Victory To: National Desk CHICAGO, Dec. 14 /Christian Wire Service/ -- "American Girl is trying to restore its wholesome image with pro-life families," said Ann Scheidler, executive director of the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League. "Their efforts at damage control show how effective our protest and boycott have been." "In contrast to American Girl's affiliation with pro-abortion Girls Inc, they have just launched a major ad campaign, designed to protect girls from growing up too fast," said Scheidler. "The sudden about-face is clearly a response to our boycott of American Girl during...

Pro-Life Group To Picket American Girl Place in New York To: National Desk Contact: Ann Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League, 773-777-2900, 312-965-1030 cell, ann@prolifeaction.org CHICAGO, Dec. 8—The Pro-Life Action League will lead a picket by parents and their daughters at American Girl Place on Fifth Avenue in New York City on Saturday, December 10, from 10:00 a.m. to noon, in protest of American Girl's ties to the pro-abortion advocacy group, Girls Incorporated. "December is the busiest shopping season of the year," said League Executive Director Ann Scheidler. "Our picket will reach thousands of shoppers on New York's Fifth Avenue...

Court Considers Limits to Abortion ProtestsBy TONI LOCY, Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON - A nearly 20-year old legal fight over protests outside abortion clinics returned to the Supreme Court for the third time Wednesday, with anti-abortion groups arguing that they should be able to demonstrate without fear of lawsuits and large damage awards. Two years ago, the high court said there was no basis for using federal extortion and racketeering laws to ban demonstrations by anti-abortion leader Joseph Scheidler and others. An appeals court subsequently ruled a nationwide injunction may be supported on other legal grounds, and the protesters brought the...

CHICAGO/PINELLAS PARK, March 23, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - One of America's best-known pro-life groups is blitzing downtown Chicago with leaflets in an attempt to correct media misrepresentation of Terri Schiavo's condition. "The public has been grossly misinformed about Terri Schiavo's condition and prognosis," said Joseph M. Scheidler, National Director of the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League. "We're taking to the streets to make sure Chicagoans learn the truth about Terri, the young woman in Florida who is being starved to death." Scheidler, who has been making headlines for years with his court battles with various abortion groups, said that the group is...

NOW presses pro-lifers despite high court Feminist group lost case but still could defeat abortion opponents-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The National Organization for Women, which has stated an intent to crush groups opposing abortion, could collect $1.2 million in damages and legal fees from pro-life activists despite losing a case before the U.S. Supreme Court one year ago. As WorldNetDaily reported, the feminist group charged protests organized by Joseph Scheidler's Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League amounted to extortion under RICO, the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. However, in a decisive 8-1 ruling, the Supreme Court reversed the RICO charge against Scheidler's group Feb....

Justice O'Connor's information on "assaults" is included in a brief NOW filed in September that alleged a series of violent acts perpetrated by the Scheidler defendants. But a WORLD investigation ("False witnesses?" Oct. 5, 2002) revealed that those assertions may have been based on false testimony by NOW witnesses: —Carolyn Thompson, a woman who testified anonymously that she was beaten bloody at a Los Angeles abortion protest, told a significantly different version of her story in a 1989 class-action suit in which she was the named lead plaintiff. That story varied on numerous essential details and mentioned no assault. Scheidler...

Supreme Court Says No Extortion in NOW vs. Scheidler Wednesday, February 26, 2003 By Kevin McCullough, Political Correspondent (kmc@wyll.com)  - Bi-Partisan Decision in 8-1 ruling Jokingly calling himself a "Racketeer for Life," Joe Scheidler celebrates the Supreme Court decision today CHICAGO -- Today, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a decision reversing all lower court rulings in the case of NOW (The National Organization of Women) vs. Scheidler. The reversal sets landmark status to the profile of what the federal law known as RICO truly means. "We're pinching ourselves this morning," said Tom Brejcha, attorney for the Scheidlers....