Free Speech Outside the Abortion Clinic [Atlantic Magazine!]

The Atlantic Magazine ^ | March 19, 2015 | Diana Pearl

[Mrs. Don-o]

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 person can engage in. When pro-lifers counsel at an abortion clinic they come between the baby who is scheduled to be killed and the doctor who will do the killing.”

It’s because of people like the Schiedlers that abortion is still a fiercely debated issue decades after Roe v. Wade was decided. “It’s a hot topic because we’ve stayed out there, forcing the issue,” says Eric Scheidler, Ann and Joseph’s son and the executive director of the Pro-Life Action League. “We’re not going to forget about this, and we’re not going to let our society forget about this.”

[Mrs. Don-o]

-Go ahead and click on the link. There's a whole lot more there; this excerpt is entirely inadequate to capture the article.

Eric Scheidler at ejs@prolifeaction.org has this to say:

The article, "Free Speech Outside the Abortion Clinic," explores what motivates pro-lifers to reach out to women through sidewalk counseling, and what impact this outreach has.

My mother Ann and I are both quoted in the feature, along with Cathy Mieding, one of the most faithful and effective sidewalk counselors I know.

As you'd expect from a liberal media outlet, the article parrots some of the usual attacks on pro-lifers. But on balance author Diane Pearl does a fair job of presenting our side.

I'd love to know what YOU think about it.

Eric Scheidler at ejs@prolifeaction.org

[kosciusko51]

For a left-leaning rag, it is more even-handed than I expected. One interesting item is that the author used pro-life instead of anti-abortion to describe the protestors.

[Amendment10]

With all due respect to mom & pop, please consider the following.

As a consequence of many generations of parents not making sure that their children are being taught about 10th Amendment-protected state powers versus constitutionally unenumerated “rights,” such as the so-called “right” to have an abortion in this example, post-FDR era activist justices got away with politically establishing the “right” to have an abortion outside the framework of the Constitution.