Archive for the ‘Legal and Political’ Category

Tonight for the first time the City Council will vote on an agenda item of concern to the pro-life community: a non-binding resolution proposed by Alderman Chris Beykirch which calls upon the State of Illinois to do what it takes to enforce the 1995 Parental Notice Act.

As of 3:30 p.m., over 70 people are signed up to speak on this agenda item. I will begin live-blogging the City Council meeting at 6:00 p.m., with help from my assistant Matt.

6:00 p.m. The aldermen are filing in and taking their seats. Corporation Counsel Alayne Weingartz is in position, ready to interrupt every community speaker at the two-minute-and-thirty-second mark.

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Eric has asked everyone to attend Tuesday’s City Council meeting to support Parental Notification. The City Council will vote on a non-binding resolution to be sent to Springfield calling on the state government to finally enforce the 1995 Parental Notice Act. This is the first time we actually have an item on the agenda, and it is important to have as much pro-life support as possible.

The meeting will be held in the City Council Chambers at 44 E. Downer Pl. at 6 p.m., November 27. Please sign up to speak by calling the City Clerk at 630-844-3615, and saying that you want to talk about the parental notice resolution that's on the agenda [PDF].

I’ve posted videos below of pro-lifers speaking on this topic – let’s build upon these and have a strong turnout tomorrow in support of life and parental notification! [Continue reading . . . »]

I'm blogging from the Committee of the Whole meeting, at which the parental notice resolution (not to be confused with the ordinance) will be presented for movement on to next week's City Council meeting for a vote.

5:45 p.m. All twelve aldermen are present. Mayor Weisner is absent—I hear he's on vacation at his luxury home in Florida. The C.O.W. are currently discussing items from the Finance Committee. They have already discussed the Planning and Development Committee items. Government Operations is up next, and the parental notice resolution is the second of their items.

This might be a good point to clarify the difference between the parental notice resolution and the parental notice ordinance.

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As Eric captured in his Tuesday blog, the last City Council meeting addressed concerns over the growing restrictions on Pro-Lifers’ basic rights. With each new event, Aurora officials further erode our freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution – the right to free speech, the right to assemble peaceably – and this issue is now at the forefront of the Planned Parenthood controversy.

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4:30 I'm coming to you live from the meeting room of the City of Aurora, Illinois Aldermen's Office, where the Government Operations Committee will be discussing the parental notification ordinance and resolution, both of which were punted to the legal department three weeks ago.

Corporation Counsel Alayne Weingartz entered the room a few minutes ago; she sits just in front of me and one seat to the left. Chief of Staff Bill Wiet—who has admitted having had contact with Planned Parenthood as far back as February—is here too. The Aldermen Hart-Burns, Kifowit and Garza have just arrived; Hart-Burns has begun the meeting.

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On top of the ongoing pro-life presence at Planned Parenthood—which needs your help—the upcoming week presents no less than sixfive opportunities for pro-lifers to take action against Planned Parenthood:

1. Protest at Waubonsee College at 10 a.m. Tuesday—CANCELLED
2. G.O. Commitee discussion of Parental Notice at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday
3. City Council Meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday
4. Monthly Planned Parenthood protest at 9 a.m. Saturday
5. Clinic witness training seminar at 11:30 a.m. Saturday
6. Benefit screening of Bella at 2:50 p.m. Saturday

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Pictured here are the memorial crosses sponsored by participants at the "We're Here for Life" Rally on Saturday, October 27—all piled up in my garage.

As Matt reported, they were found dug up and left in the parkway on Monday, October 29 and reinstalled that afternoon, then confiscated by police on Thursday, November 1 and recovered by pro-lifers the next day—fittingly on All Souls Day in the Roman Catholic Church. Our information is that the city legal department authorized the removal of the crosses.

The legal department answers to the mayor, which both illustrates the importance of even a mere mayoral election to the pro-life cause (not to mention the cause of freedom), and suggests a possible topic for this Wednesday's discussion thread: pro-life and politics.

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Our fine public servants are at it again, showing their disrespect for the lives and memories of the unborn.

As you may recall from my article on October 29th, someone had uprooted the memorial crosses pro-lifers had placed in the ground along New York St. as a part of our huge "We're Here for Life" rally on October 27th. That time they at least had the courtesy to leave them laying on the ground so our faithful prayer warrior Bruce could stake them back in place later that day.

Yesterday police and city workers came by and removed the crosses again, this time taking them into police custody. After some inquiries, our purloined property was restored to us and the crosses are now safely stored, ready to be put back where they belong. [Continue reading . . . »]

I've just received word that the Aurora Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) has set a hearing date for our appeal on zoning questions surrounding Planned Parenthood's approvals to build and occupy their Abortion Fortress. The hearing will be November 28 at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall.

I'd like to see a huge crowd of concerned citizens at the ZBA hearing—the first time since our campaign began that the Planned Parenthood issue is actually on the agenda of an official city meeting.

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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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