Archive for October, 2007

Before the hideous fence went up, someone formed the sign of the cross out of large rocks on the hillock facing Planned Parenthood. Several other rock crosses soon appeared.

Now that all of these crosses are barricaded behind the fence, they have a sort of "early church catacombs" quality. The remind me of those ikthys fishes etched into the walls of ancient cities by our Christian ancestors.

While of course any "life topic" is free to be discussed on the Wednesday Open Thread, the above reflection suggests the topic of religious faith and the pro-life movement.

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Greetings fellow pro-lifers! My name is Matt Yonke and I just came on as Eric's assistant last week. I'm honored to be of service to the crucial fight against abortion.

One of my first assignments was to head over to PP and snap some pictures of the newly erected wall of shrubbery [WAV] going up along the sidewalk where we've been praying. As you can see in the picture, this row of six foot evergreens puts yet another layer of 'fencing' between us and the facility.

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As Roger reported, Saturday's rally was a tremendous success. I would estimate that at least 1,000 pro-lifers participated in the event, sending the message: "It's not over. We're here for life."

The Aurora police did a great job of keeping the peace and defending our First Amendment rights—that is, until the near the end of the Rally, when Police Chief William Powell and Corporation Counsel Alayne Weingartz came on the scene.

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Today's "Here for Life" Rally had a huge turnout, despite the cold, overcast weather and threats of rain. People gathered from all walks of life to support the gift of life outside the largest abortion mill in the U.S. What a dichotomy. On one hand, you have a group of people offering FREE help and a real "choice" to women in need, and on the other, you have the "quick and easy", unhappy, unhealthy non-solution for $ALE at PP. [Continue reading . . . »]

On Tuesday, the Government Operations Committee, under acting chairman Stephanie Kifowit, refused to send on to the Committee of the Whole a non-binding resolution proposed by Alderman Chris Beykirch which would call upon the State of Illinois to enact and enforce a parental notification law. Today, Beykirch called a special meeting of the Buildings, Grounds and Infrastructure Committee to discuss the issue.

Also sitting on the BGI Committee are Aldermen Richard Irvin and Rick Lawrence. Lawrence has proposed a parental notice ordinance which Irvin and Beykirch have endorsed. I am here live-blogging today's BGI meeting.

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The little crosses in this photo were dug up out of the dirt around Planned Parenthood and tossed in the gutter by a couple of employees one day during the 40-day vigil. I retrieved them and brought them to the Vigil area, where I snapped this photo.

Folks seemed to appreciate the open discussion thread last Wednesday, so I thought I'd make it a regular Wednesday feature. This thread is for discussion on any aspect of the life issues, but to get the ball rolling and make it interesting I thought I'd throw out a starter question:

What makes a human person a human person?

10:40 a.m. Just a heads up that I'll be live blogging from City Hall, starting with the Government Operations Committee meeting at 4:30 at the Alderman's Office (map), and then at the regular City Council meeting at 6:00 in the Council Chambers.

This will be the fifth City Council meeting in a row at which pro-life citizens have stood up to speak on the issues. Our focus in "Round 5" will be the parental notice ordinance proposed by Rick Lawrence.

Check back this afternoon at 4:30 when the live-blogging will commence.

Government Operations Committee

4:25 p.m. I'm outside on the sidewalk on Downer Place waiting to be let into the meeting. Our foes Bonnie Grabenhofer and Gay Braun are out here with me too.

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The Parental Notice ordinance is an important piece of legislation that affects all of you in a personal way. It supports your rights as parents and protects your children from the predators who would want to keep their deception and harm of your children from you. As responsible adults we must support this ordinance. Let’s get this ordinance passed. When it’s all said and done though we still must remain vigilant against the forces that will harm our children.

If you are following other blogs here, you are aware of the decision by the Portland School Committee in Maine to allow distribution of birth control products in King Middle School in Maine. [Continue reading . . . »]

YOUTH FOR TRUTH

The Archdiocese of Chicago (currently running the Chicago 40-Days For Life Prayer Vigil) invited Youth For Truth to hold a Pro-Life Youth Rally in Chicago.

The Rally will be this Sunday, October 21, 2007, from 1:00-4:00 pm, in Chicago! At 1pm, meet at the Chicago Planned Parenthood (1200 N. LaSalle Street—corner of LaSalle and Division) where we will kick off our rally with prayer. From there we will march from the Planned Parenthood to St. Joseph’s Church (located at 1107 N. Orleans Street, Chicago) where our rally will continue with a band, to lead us in music, and great speakers!

Stand up for life! Be a voice and a witness for the silenced! All youth, Jr. High through College invited! Bring Friends!Wear your pro-Life apparel! All who cannot join us: Please keep us in your prayers!

Parking: You are welcome to park at Holy Name Cathedral (located at 735 N. State Street, Chicago). However you will be walking a distance to the Planned Parenthood from there. If possible, you may want to find a nearby parking spot on the street.

When the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic opened a few weeks back, I’m certain that Mayor Weisner, Steve Trombley and the pro-aborts expected us to go home and consider the case over. Well they couldn’t have been more wrong!

I attended last week’s City Council meeting and was quite honestly surprised to see so many pro-lifers out in force to maintain pressure on the Mayor and to support life. The City Council meeting was once again packed with citizens demanding that the Mayor enforce Aurora laws and shut down the clinic. But the scene outside of city hall was equally compelling, as crowds of pro-lifers gathered to protest the Mayor’s actions and pray for the clinic to close.

With growing limits on citizen speeches during council meetings, I asked those outside if they had any messages for the Mayor… and did they! Many citizens no longer have a voice in Aurora City Council meetings, but they were still eager to send a message, even a small one, to the Mayor.

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