Comments on: City Council Hears Our Stories http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/ Just another WordPress weblog Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:33:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Janet Geiger http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-48 Janet Geiger Mon, 03 Sep 2007 01:02:57 +0000 http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-48 Kelly M., thank you for your timely reminder. I too was struck with the woman from NOW, that she would speak before a crowd so obviously unfavorable to what she had to say. I hope some of us can reach out to her in a peaceful, loving way. I'm also thinking of the Pregnancy Information Centers, or PIC's, who do the opposite of PP's work. How about if we get behind these POSITIVE organizations like we have joined together against the NEGATIVE organization of PP. The PIC's are quietly working on the front lines, saving babies & supporting women. God bless them. I was at the City Council meeting, speaker number 30-ish, and wrote a response to the next day's article. It didn't get published, but that's ok. I think all our calls and letters have had an impact; the Beacon's coverage has been much more balanced, and we need to let them know we appreciate it. JTG Here's my letter to the Beacon. Thanks to my husband for editing. To the editor: I was greatly disappointed in the August 29 article reporting on the Aurora City Council meeting, which I attended. The reporter, Kristen Zambo, not only showed reprehensible bias; she also woefully misrepresented the emphasis of the meeting. Most of the residents who spoke addressed one of a few key issues, none of which were mentioned in Zambo’s article:  There are persistent, substantial allegations of Gemini’s deceit.  The city’s investigation into these allegations should be truly independent, with findings made fully public.  There are widespread charges against Planned Parenthood of breaking the law by not reporting findings of child sexual abuse.  For Aurora to be known regionally and nationwide as the site of the largest Planned Parenthood facility in the country is a smudge on the reputation of the City of Lights.  Aurora calls itself “A Character Counts Community.” Many speakers pointed out the contradiction between Gemini’s purported actions and the pillar of Trustworthiness. Out of roughly 100 speakers, only two were pro-choice, from NOW. Zambo’s only direct quote from the community comment portion of the meeting was 78 words from one of those two women. Zambo quoted 27 words from two people’s reference to the clinic earlier in the meeting, during discussion on the city’s garbage contract, and not during the public comment portion of the meeting. She did not quote a single one of the pro-life speakers, including  the many residents of Oakhurst who complained about having Planned Parenthood in their neighborhood, and described how its presence would hurt property value, quality of life, and businesses in the area  a young teenage girl who gave a brilliantly articulate, well-thought out, and well-researched address  an older woman, a 72-year resident of Aurora, who compared the arguments of the abortion industry to those of segregationists in the 1960’s: “They’re not really human”  the lawyer who had found ample evidence, even with a cursory investigation, suggesting fraud  State Senator Chris Lauzen, whom I saw being interviewed in the stairwell around 10:15 pm  Eric Scheidler, an Aurora resident and the leader in the local fight against Planned Parenthood  the many pastors, priests, and other clergy, including Pastor Mark Smith, who gave a respectful, friendly, but forceful address; and Pastor Dan Haas, who has a long history of leadership in community affairs and has worked for years with the city council to improve Aurora. The article neglected an important fact of the meeting, that Mayor Weisner announced that the city has initiated an investigation into the issue. The vocal dissent Zambo calls “shouting down the alderman” was to Alderman Keith’s motion to end discussion at 9:00, and not to the motion for Aurora residents to be given the floor before other speakers. This motion was not made until after aldermen had voted not to end the meeting at 9:00, but to stay until everyone who had signed up had spoken. The crowd was not “filled with people from Chicago, Bolingbrook, Naperville, Batavia and St. Charles, West Chicago, Wheaton and Round Lake Beach, among other communities.” The majority of the crowd were Aurora residents. People from other communities attended because the Planned Parenthood facility will affect many more communities than just Aurora; smaller Planned Parenthood facilities in other locations, where abortions are not performed, will send women and girls to Aurora for the procedure – another point that was brought out in the meeting, but not in the article. This meeting was not about “harassment and intimidation,” but about allowing the democratic process to work. Kudos to the mayor and the city council for making the sacrifice to stay until the wee hours of the morning. With respect to this story and the coverage of the Aurora Planned Parenthood facility, the Beacon has failed to report the news faithfully. Kristen Zambo has been assigned to 10 out of 12 of the last articles on this issue, including others with a decided bias. I would suggest that the Beacon reassign coverage of the Planned Parenthood story to another writer who can report free from bias. Respectfully submitted, Janet T. Geiger Aurora, IL Kelly M., thank you for your timely reminder. I too was struck with the woman from NOW, that she would speak before a crowd so obviously unfavorable to what she had to say. I hope some of us can reach out to her in a peaceful, loving way.

I'm also thinking of the Pregnancy Information Centers, or PIC's, who do the opposite of PP's work. How about if we get behind these POSITIVE organizations like we have joined together against the NEGATIVE organization of PP. The PIC's are quietly working on the front lines, saving babies & supporting women. God bless them.

I was at the City Council meeting, speaker number 30-ish, and wrote a response to the next day's article. It didn't get published, but that's ok. I think all our calls and letters have had an impact; the Beacon's coverage has been much more balanced, and we need to let them know we appreciate it.

JTG

Here's my letter to the Beacon. Thanks to my husband for editing.

To the editor:

I was greatly disappointed in the August 29 article reporting on the Aurora City Council meeting, which I attended. The reporter, Kristen Zambo, not only showed reprehensible bias; she also woefully misrepresented the emphasis of the meeting.

Most of the residents who spoke addressed one of a few key issues, none of which were mentioned in Zambo’s article:
 There are persistent, substantial allegations of Gemini’s deceit.
 The city’s investigation into these allegations should be truly independent, with findings made fully public.
 There are widespread charges against Planned Parenthood of breaking the law by not reporting findings of child sexual abuse.
 For Aurora to be known regionally and nationwide as the site of the largest Planned Parenthood facility in the country is a smudge on the reputation of the City of Lights.
 Aurora calls itself “A Character Counts Community.” Many speakers pointed out the contradiction between Gemini’s purported actions and the pillar of Trustworthiness.

Out of roughly 100 speakers, only two were pro-choice, from NOW. Zambo’s only direct quote from the community comment portion of the meeting was 78 words from one of those two women. Zambo quoted 27 words from two people’s reference to the clinic earlier in the meeting, during discussion on the city’s garbage contract, and not during the public comment portion of the meeting.

She did not quote a single one of the pro-life speakers, including
 the many residents of Oakhurst who complained about having Planned Parenthood in their neighborhood, and described how its presence would hurt property value, quality of life, and businesses in the area
 a young teenage girl who gave a brilliantly articulate, well-thought out, and well-researched address
 an older woman, a 72-year resident of Aurora, who compared the arguments of the abortion industry to those of segregationists in the 1960’s: “They’re not really human”
 the lawyer who had found ample evidence, even with a cursory investigation, suggesting fraud
 State Senator Chris Lauzen, whom I saw being interviewed in the stairwell around 10:15 pm
 Eric Scheidler, an Aurora resident and the leader in the local fight against Planned Parenthood
 the many pastors, priests, and other clergy, including Pastor Mark Smith, who gave a respectful, friendly, but forceful address; and Pastor Dan Haas, who has a long history of leadership in community affairs and has worked for years with the city council to improve Aurora.

The article neglected an important fact of the meeting, that Mayor Weisner announced that the city has initiated an investigation into the issue.

The vocal dissent Zambo calls “shouting down the alderman” was to Alderman Keith’s motion to end discussion at 9:00, and not to the motion for Aurora residents to be given the floor before other speakers. This motion was not made until after aldermen had voted not to end the meeting at 9:00, but to stay until everyone who had signed up had spoken.

The crowd was not “filled with people from Chicago, Bolingbrook, Naperville, Batavia and St. Charles, West Chicago, Wheaton and Round Lake Beach, among other communities.” The majority of the crowd were Aurora residents. People from other communities attended because the Planned Parenthood facility will affect many more communities than just Aurora; smaller Planned Parenthood facilities in other locations, where abortions are not performed, will send women and girls to Aurora for the procedure – another point that was brought out in the meeting, but not in the article.

This meeting was not about “harassment and intimidation,” but about allowing the democratic process to work. Kudos to the mayor and the city council for making the sacrifice to stay until the wee hours of the morning.

With respect to this story and the coverage of the Aurora Planned Parenthood facility, the Beacon has failed to report the news faithfully. Kristen Zambo has been assigned to 10 out of 12 of the last articles on this issue, including others with a decided bias. I would suggest that the Beacon reassign coverage of the Planned Parenthood story to another writer who can report free from bias.

Respectfully submitted,
Janet T. Geiger
Aurora, IL

]]> By: KELLY MARKHAM http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-41 KELLY MARKHAM Fri, 31 Aug 2007 20:26:57 +0000 http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-41 Hi. I just want to remind our fellow Pro-Life supporters that Jesus COMMANDED us to love our enemies and to do good to those who persecute us. I am convinced that although P.P. is an evil enterprise, many who support and use it are sincere, but horribly misguided, in their concern for women who find themselves in circumstances that they feel incapable of responding to in any other way and who may be pressured in ways of which we have no conception. I remember Jesus charging the Jewish leaders of His church of laying heavy burdens on the backs of people and not lifting a finger to help them. Granted, we have many resources that offer other chioices now. However, we must remember that in November of 1973, all we did was say (in effect), "You can't do that!" For many, many years, as abortion was sinking its roots deep into our society, we did almost nothing to help! WHAT WERE WE THINKING?! THAT IT WAS JUST GOING TO GO AWAY? Don't get me wrong - prayer is the greatest power on the face of the earth, but we are called to much more than just peaceful, prayerful protest. We are called to love! So, let's not treat these PEOPLE as if they are the scum of the earth! I was at the City Council Meeting and so much wanted to say something to the first P.P. speaker. She was tiny and so brave to get up in front of the likes of some of us and defend what she believed in! We are not called to judge her but to love her and others who see this "service" as valuable. I believe we are witnessing the turning of the tide that my Mother has been fighting by means of the written word from day one. Let's not get so justified in our attitudes that we forget that we are fighting EVIL and not PEOPLE! Thank you! HIS Peace! Kelly M. Hi.
I just want to remind our fellow Pro-Life supporters that Jesus COMMANDED us to love our enemies and to do good to those who persecute us.
I am convinced that although P.P. is an evil enterprise, many who support and use it are sincere, but horribly misguided, in their concern for women who find themselves in circumstances that they feel incapable of responding to in any other way and who may be pressured in ways of which we have no conception.
I remember Jesus charging the Jewish leaders of His church of laying heavy burdens on the backs of people and not lifting a finger to help them.
Granted, we have many resources that offer other chioices now. However, we must remember that in November of 1973, all we did was say (in effect), "You can't do that!"
For many, many years, as abortion was sinking its roots deep into our society, we did almost nothing to help! WHAT WERE WE THINKING?! THAT IT WAS JUST GOING TO GO AWAY?
Don't get me wrong - prayer is the greatest power on the face of the earth, but we are called to much more than just peaceful, prayerful protest. We are called to love! So, let's not treat these PEOPLE as if they are the scum of the earth!
I was at the City Council Meeting and so much wanted to say something to the first P.P. speaker. She was tiny and so brave to get up in front of the likes of some of us and defend what she believed in! We are not called to judge her but to love her and others who see this "service" as valuable.
I believe we are witnessing the turning of the tide that my Mother has been fighting by means of the written word from day one. Let's not get so justified in our attitudes that we forget that we are fighting EVIL and not PEOPLE!
Thank you!
HIS Peace!
Kelly M.

]]> By: Mike http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-36 Mike Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:34:06 +0000 http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-36 Has anyone seen the video's Jill Stanek has put together on both the Pro-Life Rally and the Council Hearing? If not, you can watch them here (See post #20 and #26)... http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=174188&page=2 Mike Has anyone seen the video's Jill Stanek has put together on both the Pro-Life Rally and the Council Hearing? If not, you can watch them here (See post #20 and #26)…

http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=174188&page=2

Mike

]]> By: Paul http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-28 Paul Thu, 30 Aug 2007 20:15:16 +0000 http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-28 I was very edified by the presence of several Protestant ministers and Catholic priests at the meeting and by their courageous verbal witness to the evil of PP. Especially moving was the very first to speak, Fr. Martin Heinz of Holy Angels Catholic Church in Aurora. His words set the tone for the next nearly six hours of comments. God bless him and all who spoke. Everyone was so articulate, no matter exactly their words. Some were extremely moving. Everyone spoke from their heart. God bless all. Let's continue to pray and fast so that this evil place never opens its doors. I was very edified by the presence of several Protestant ministers and Catholic priests at the meeting and by their courageous verbal witness to the evil of PP. Especially moving was the very first to speak, Fr. Martin Heinz of Holy Angels Catholic Church in Aurora. His words set the tone for the next nearly six hours of comments. God bless him and all who spoke. Everyone was so articulate, no matter exactly their words. Some were extremely moving. Everyone spoke from their heart. God bless all. Let's continue to pray and fast so that this evil place never opens its doors.

]]> By: Pat Fleming http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-25 Pat Fleming Thu, 30 Aug 2007 16:20:58 +0000 http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-25 There were three of us from St. Patrick Parish in St. Charles, IL who attended the Council Meeting in Aurora. We spent most of the time out in the hall but were able to hear the speakers. I was so moved by the deep concerns and heartfelt remarks given by so many Aurora residents. It was awe inspiring just to be in the presence of so many good people who are letting their voices be heard on the side of Pro-Life. I pray that this clinic will never open. There were three of us from St. Patrick Parish in St. Charles, IL who attended the Council Meeting in Aurora. We spent most of the time out in the hall but were able to hear the speakers. I was so moved by the deep concerns and heartfelt remarks given by so many Aurora residents. It was awe inspiring just to be in the presence of so many good people who are letting their voices be heard on the side of Pro-Life. I pray that this clinic will never open.

]]> By: Greg Guest http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-23 Greg Guest Thu, 30 Aug 2007 15:08:36 +0000 http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-23 I was truly moved with several emotions, during that meeting. The Lord speaks gives us the words when we speak for his people. I was thinking about leaving Aurora off my address, but since hereing from the Aurora citizens I am proud to show that name--Aurora. I was truly moved with several emotions, during that meeting. The Lord speaks gives us the words when we speak for his people. I was thinking about leaving Aurora off my address, but since hereing from the Aurora citizens I am proud to show that name–Aurora.

]]> By: Laurie Paulson http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-20 Laurie Paulson Thu, 30 Aug 2007 02:09:54 +0000 http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-20 Excellent--Eric!!! You guys are really going after the facts and the truth will set us free---the babies, the women --thank you---all of you. You are the "Today" example of our Lord... God Bless, Sincerely, Laurie Excellent–Eric!!!

You guys are really going after the facts and the truth will set us free—the babies, the women –thank you—all of you. You are the "Today" example of our Lord…

God Bless,

Sincerely,
Laurie

]]> By: Reeny M. http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-19 Reeny M. Thu, 30 Aug 2007 02:00:07 +0000 http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-19 I am very impressed with all of the hard work Eric Scheidler has put into this issue and equally gratified by the support he was able to elicit, including the eloquence of the people who came forward to expose the insidious actions and general dishonesty of Planned Parenthood. I will continue to pray daily for everyone involved whether they support or fight against this organization. I wish everyone God's mercy and peace. I am very impressed with all of the hard work Eric Scheidler has put into this issue and equally gratified by the support he was able to elicit, including the eloquence of the people who came forward to expose the insidious actions and general dishonesty of Planned Parenthood. I will continue to pray daily for everyone involved whether they support or fight against this organization. I wish everyone God's mercy and peace.

]]> By: Cynthia H. http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-18 Cynthia H. Thu, 30 Aug 2007 00:42:57 +0000 http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-18 I wish I could have been there . . . well, maybe not; I've never had much patience with parliamentary procedure. I did write an e-mail to the Aurora mayor pointing out that the clinic is going to be a major disruption to Oakhurst and the businesses on New York St -- I guess you must have been praying for me, Eric! Dunno what the opinion of someone 30 miles away in the Fox Valley is going to stand for, but at least I put my 2c worth in. I wish I could have been there . . . well, maybe not; I've never had much patience with parliamentary procedure. I did write an e-mail to the Aurora mayor pointing out that the clinic is going to be a major disruption to Oakhurst and the businesses on New York St — I guess you must have been praying for me, Eric! Dunno what the opinion of someone 30 miles away in the Fox Valley is going to stand for, but at least I put my 2c worth in.

]]> By: Christina Dunigan http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-17 Christina Dunigan Thu, 30 Aug 2007 00:02:17 +0000 http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2007/0829/city-council-hears-our-story/#comment-17 Oops, Eric, I spelled your name wrong! Sorry! Just noticed. Oh, well. Oops, Eric, I spelled your name wrong! Sorry! Just noticed. Oh, well.

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