I'm pleased to announce the launch of a brand new section of the Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood community. Now, in addition to getting all your updates on pro-life in the Fox Valley on the blog, you can discuss the issues on the Fox Valley Families Forum. Follow this link or click the button at the top of the page that says "Forum" to visit and sign up today!
The Fox Valley Families Forum is a great place for conversation on a wide variety of issues. "A Matter of Life and Death" is the section where you can discuss the whole range of life issues from abortion to contraception to euthanasia and more. "Pro-Life in the Fox Valley" is all about local pro-life events and issues. Stop by "Foundations of Faith" for conversation about religion, or visit the "Off Topic Lounge" where you can talk about whatever you want. [Continue reading . . . »]
UPDATES: Pictures from the rally are available on the Pro-Life Action League's Flickr page. If you took video at the rally, post a "video response" to Eric's Video Invite on YouTube. Also, several Balloon Reports have come in.
Winds ripped across the vacant lot outside Planned Parenthood Aurora Saturday morning, April 26, making the spring morning feel unseasonably cold. But a chill in the air was not enough to keep the Fox Valley's pro-life community from coming out in droves to stand up for unborn babies and their mothers.
Over 400 people came out to Families Against Planned Parenthood's "It's a Matter of Life and Death" rally to protest the presence of Planned Parenthood in their community. The rally featured a picket line of New York St., a peaceful prayer presence all over the area, and huge displays showing the beauty of life and the horror of abortion.
UPDATE: As the story develops, the young art student has claimed that the piece is not "performance art" but perfectly real. Yale, for it's part, is claiming that her denial is part of the performance and that she told them she would deny it if they exposed the piece. For my money, I still think it's a hoax, especially since her thesis adviser refuses to comment.
Either way, it is an unbelievably tasteless stunt for a revered institution such as Yale to be party to. By supporting an endeavor like this, whether real or a performance, Yale has removed all doubt that they have completely broken ties with the Christian origins which made the Ivy League the haven for intellectual excellence it had been. We'll see how long that reputation lasts.
Events at Yale this week make it easy to sympathize with King Solomon. Reflecting on a long, productive life, the king spake thus:
I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me. Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all of my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
Yale, one of our nation's oldest and proudest institutions of higher learning was founded in 1701 to be a place “wherein Youth may be instructed in the Arts and Sciences [and] through the blessing of Almighty God may be fitted for Publick employment both in Church and Civil State.” (from the Yale Charter). A mere 207 years later, a student is making her senior art project out of the remains of babies which she conceived and aborted herself. This also is vanity. Perhaps King Solomon understates the case. [Continue reading . . . »]
If you've been reading this blog (or other pro-life/pro-choice blogs for that matter) , you may be under the impression that there is little "common ground" between "pro-life" people and "pro-choice" people. However, this is not true.
One thing that both sides can agree on (I believe) is that we both want to reduce "unwanted" pregnancies.
That leads to the question . . .
What makes a pregnancy "unwanted"?
Assuming we want to reduce the number of abortions (which both sides can also agree upon for the most part), if and when a woman becomes pregnant with an "unwanted" pregnancy, what can be done to help her no longer look upon her pregnancy as an "unwanted" pregnancy, but a "wanted" pregnancy?
Of course the young lady was upset. She had just found out she was pregnant and was coming to Planned Parenthood to "deal with the problem". Planned Parenthood is always billed as some sort of panacea for women, where everything is happy, safe, and wonderful. Women go to Planned Parenthood for routine procedures that should cause no moral qualms in the women themselves or the surrounding community.
But then there are the facts. Yesterday afternoon, a young lady coming to Planned Parenthood sped towards two of our sidewalk counselors—Karen and Scott—and pulled away at the last second with one hand while delivering a rude hand gesture with the other. She then pulled into Planned Parenthood and entered the building with her friend. Not the behavior you would expect from someone on their way to obtain routine medical care. [Continue reading . . . »]
In an interesting twist, the infamous Dominick's fence came down yesterday afternoon, and with it many of the flowers and other commemorations pro-lifers had attached to it over the last six months.
In trying to figure out why it came down yesterday particularly, I took a look at the permit documentation for that fence, which we acquired back in December. You'll recall that the fence went up in October, after Planned Parenthood launched a nationwide effort to flood Dominick's, and their parent company Safeway, with phone calls complaining about our presence on their property.
Since even before Planned Parenthood opened their huge "Abortion Fortress" last year, we have been there praying, protesting and reaching out to the community.
Over the course of the last 6 months or so since we began our "40 Day Prayer Vigil" (that lasted 55 days), many, many people have come to pray at the PP facility that have never before been active in any pro-life activity. Aurora area churches have mobilized and are manning our Life Support hours, to pray for the women and staff and the unborn children.
How would you descibe your pro-life activity prior to Planned Parenthood's arrival in Aurora?
The "first-time" people that I have spoken to have been amazed at what spending an hour praying outside the PP facility has done for them. It has reinvigorated people, deepened people's faith and helped people take a more active stand for the lives of the most vulnerable of people.
Let's hear from the first-time prayer-people. How has this effected you, or changed you?
It was a chilly Good Friday morning last week when eighty of us gathered at Planned Parenthood for the "Scriptural Way of the Cross", led by Fr. Cesar Pajarillo of St. John Neumann Church. We stood together on the sidewalk behind the building, the site of the round-the-clock vigil that launched our fight against the "Abortion Fortress."
Fourteen scriptural passages on the suffering and death of Our Lord were read over a bullhorn by various members of the group. After each, Fr. Cesar offered prayers for our deepened commitment to following Christ.
I'm pleased to announce the launch of a brand new section of the Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood community. Now, in addition to getting all your updates on pro-life in the Fox Valley on the blog, you can discuss the issues on the Fox Valley Families Forum. Follow this link or click the button at the top of the page that says "Forum" to visit and sign up today!
UPDATES: Pictures from the rally are available on the Pro-Life Action League's 
Events at Yale this week make it easy to sympathize with King Solomon. Reflecting on a long, productive life, the king spake thus:
If you've been reading this blog (or other pro-life/pro-choice blogs for that matter) , you may be under the impression that there is little "common ground" between "pro-life" people and "pro-choice" people. However, this is not true.
Of course the young lady was upset. She had just found out she was pregnant and was coming to Planned Parenthood to "deal with the problem". Planned Parenthood is always billed as some sort of panacea for women, where everything is happy, safe, and wonderful. Women go to Planned Parenthood for routine procedures that should cause no moral qualms in the women themselves or the surrounding community.
In an interesting twist, the infamous Dominick's fence came down yesterday afternoon, and with it many of the flowers and other commemorations pro-lifers had attached to it over the last six months.
Since even before Planned Parenthood opened their huge "Abortion Fortress" last year, we have been there praying, protesting and reaching out to the community.
It was a chilly Good Friday morning last week when eighty of us gathered at Planned Parenthood for the "Scriptural Way of the Cross", led by Fr. Cesar Pajarillo of St. John Neumann Church. We stood together on the sidewalk behind the building, the site of the round-the-clock vigil that launched our fight against the "Abortion Fortress."