I
will post information about the Pro-Life Action League from Wikipedia and other
links.
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Pro-Life
Action League Logo
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The
Pro-Life Action League is an American anti-abortion organization founded
by Joseph M. Scheidler in Chicago in 1980. It describes its type of activism as
"non-violent direct action". The organization's primary goal to end
abortion. Joe Scheidler is the national director, and his son, Eric Scheidler,
is the executive director. Joe Scheidler's wife, Ann, is the vice-president of
the organization.
It
was prominently involved in the Scheidler v. NOW 2006 Supreme Court
decision, which was ultimately decided in favor of Scheidler in an 9-0 vote.
Activism
Face
the Truth
The
organization is perhaps most widely known for their Face the Truth
displays, in which they display large images of abortion victims in public
areas, such as largely inhabited cities or busy intersections. The tours are
generally held monthly around the Chicago area and occasionally in other areas
of the country.
These
displays have been known to elicit a strong response from passing drivers and
pedestrians, ranging from words of support to angry protestations and violent
action in rare cases. The League's goal is to educate the public and "to
show what abortion does to the unborn child."
Abortion
Clinic Presence
Another
major facet of the League's activism is its presence at abortion clinics, which
may include protests, prayer vigils, or sidewalk counseling. According to the
League's philosophy, presence outside clinics is crucial to ending abortion,
both on a national and individual basis — a steady clinic presence across the
country maintains the idea that abortion is not universally supported, and
alternative services can be provided to women seeking abortions.
The
League holds pickets and protests and abortion facilities as a way to let the
community know that abortions are being performed at these locations.
The
League gained attention for its campaign to stop an Aurora Planned Parenthood clinic
from opening in September 2007, and their efforts resulted in the clinic's
opening being delayed for over two weeks. The league has since maintained a
constant presence at this facility.
INTERNET SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Scheidler
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Joseph M. Scheidler
[PHOTO SOURCE: http://prolifeaction.org/about/joe.php]
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Joseph M. Scheidler (born 7 September 1927) is a noted American pro-life
activist, National Director of the Pro-Life Action League, former Benedictine
monk, and named defendant in the NOW v. Scheidler litigation, a 19-year saga
which was ultimately resolved in Scheidler's favor by the U.S. Supreme Court in
2006. He is affectionately known as the "Father of Pro-Life
Activism". Scheidler lives in Chicago with his wife Ann, and has seven
children and numerous grandchildren, many of whom are involved in his
organization.
NOW
v. Scheidler
In
1986 the National
Organization for Women (NOW) filed a lawsuit in the United States
District Court against a host of Pro-Life groups and individuals including the
Pro-Life Action Network (PLAN) and Scheidler, among others. The suit was filed
under the claim that Scheidler and the other defendants had violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
(RICO) through a conspiracy to prevent women from accessing abortion services
through the threat of violence or the implied threat of violence. The district
court dismissed the case on the grounds that an organization without an
academic motive (such as the Pro-Life Action League, a non-profit organization)
could not be considered a "racketeering enterprise" under RICO.
However,
the case was then brought to the Court of Appeals where it was determined that
a non-profit organization could, in fact, be considered a racketeering
enterprise. This was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 1994, in a 9-0 vote in
favor of NOW. This allowed the original case to move forward. The decision did
not make any statements about whether or not Scheidler and PLAN were guilty of
the racketeering allegations, however. It simply stated that they could
be tried under RICO.
A
trial began in 1998 to determine whether the allegations against Scheidler and
PLAN were true, and if they were, in fact, violations of RICO and the Hobbs Act (this was added as a predicate).
It was the role of NOW to prove that there had been a national effort by PLAN
to prevent women from accessing abortion clinics through violence or the threat
thereof. After NOW's testimonies, the jury decided unanimously that PLAN was
guilty. The court awarded monetary compensation to NOW, and also ruled that
PLAN was forbidden to interfere with NOW's right to provide abortion services.
PLAN
appealed to the seventh circuit under the claim that they had not violated the
Hobbs Act. The act explicitly defines extortion as obtaining property, and PLAN
argued that at no point had they taken property from NOW. This claim was
rejected, and PLAN took it to the Supreme Court. The court voted 8-1 in favor
of Scheidler and PLAN. It ruled that PLAN, while depriving abortion clinics of
property, did not actually acquire anything, meaning PLAN did not commit
extortion under the Hobbs Act.
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