Neither Rain, Nor Wind, Nor the FBI Stopped Us From Getting Our Message Out

As promised, here is my report from the Thursday night gathering down in Cedar Rapids to give Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards the message she wasn't welcome here.

I supposed I had better explain the FBI reference in the title. According to a KCRG-TV9 news report earlier in the week, PPECI president Joe Lock had been working with the "FBI, local police and businesses for weeks to ensure the safety of Richards and those attending the anniversary banquet." Yup, the FBI. But that shouldn't be a surprize given the Obama administration's view that Pro-lifers are terrorists & how in bed PP & Obama are. I'll have a little more on the FBI later.

About 53 of us left from DBQ at 2 PM. Most of us traveled via bus. We stopped in Dyersville to pick up a few people from that area so they didn't have to drive in to DBQ. The group was a wide range of people from a child of about age 10 to some elderly nuns in habits & 1 in a neck brace. There were several HS students as well.

On the way down, Steve Brody of Dubuque Co. Right to Life shared with us the KCRG story as well as explained a little of what was to go on. I also got appointed official photographerof the event. (Note: the pictures have not yet been posted on DCRTL's website. uness otherwise noted the pictures taken by the Pro-Life Action League. They can all be seen here.)

By the time we got down to CR the weather was wet & starting to rain. But that didn't stop us. In addition to those of us from DBQ there were people from Cedar Rapids, Fredericksberg & elsewhere in Iowa. There were also people from Chicago, Nebraska & Kansas. Among those from Chicago were Eric Scheidler from Pro-Life Action League. He brought several others with him, including his father Joe Scheidler. Between pictures I had a chance to talk to Joe about some of his experiences. I have to say that I felt extremely priviledged to be able to talk to him. He is clearly 1 of the patriarchs of the Pro-life movement. & he has experienced hatred, attacks on his person & seen plenty of battles. Yet he remains a humble man who truly cares about saving lives.

We got there about 4pm & unloaded the bus. The clothing, etc for the baby shower was unloaded. According to Sue Martinek of the Coalition for Life of Iowa, the items dropped off filled the complete back of her Ford Ranger (picture below).

The rally/press conference began at about 4:30 pm. I would say there were between 180 - 200 of us gathered. By that time the rain was really coming down & continued throughout our whole time there. Speakers were Coalition for Life of Iowa's Bill Brennan, Dubuque County Right to Life's Steve Brody, Sue Martinek of the Coalition for Life of Iowa, Pro-Life Action League's Eric Scheidler & Silent No More Awareness coordinator Jennifer Minnie. She shared her powerful story of how she was forced by her husband to have an abortion & howit destroyed her marriage. She went on to share how she joined the Catholic Church & got involved in Silent No More. Her story of the harm done, physical as well as emotional, & how God has healed her is 1 that PP would like to pretend didn't exist. The rally closed with a prayer lead by Fr. Mark Osterhaus of St. Pius X Catholic Church in CR.

We then marched from the park to Collins Rd in front of the Marriott as well as Park Place Lane behind it. Those who took their place on Park Place Lane had to take a long way arround because of the fact that PP got the Marriott as well as neighboring businesses to swear out "No tresspass" warrants in advance to keep us off their property. IMHO that actually worked to our advantage, as did the rain. The rain, because it clearly kept any abortion supporters from showing up. The no tresspass bit, because it ensured that the signs lined Collins Rd which is 1 of the main streets in CR. & at 5 pm there was plenty of traffic to see our message.

Pro-Life Action League brought their "Face the Truth" signs & had them already at the roadside for us to hold up. These signs show the truth about abortion & what it does. Some were put up behind the Marriott. The others in front on Collins Rd. Like I said, by keeping us off the property, they just gave us more visibility.

Operation Rescue sent its "Truth Truck (below). Throughout the period we were lining Collins Rd in front of the Marriott as well as Park Place Lane behind, the truck drove up & down both roads.

As the truck drove up & down the streets it also explained over a loudspeaker what the pictures were about. I started out over at Collins Rd taking pictures. Then before I headed to Park Place Lane, I checked with the CR Police Officer to be sure I didn't cross on any private drive. I then had to cut down past Chilli's despite their being a road right there. I continued taking pictures until the battery on the camera died. I then joined in with several others in praying a Rosary. Many of these were prayed throughout the time we were there. & with the exceptin of 1 incident, most of those going by reacted positively to our message.

We stayed until 6:15 pm & then headed back to the park. Right before the peaceful protest ended a passenger in a car driving past the picketers on Collins Rd. got out of the car. He confronted protesters. He began yelling “I don’t need to see no pictures of dead babies.” A woman in the same car got out and yelled a stream of expletives at a news crew before both people got back in the car & drove away. Interestingly the only mention of this incident was made by the story in the Cedar Rapids Gazzette. In fact, their story was the only 1 that had a seperate & balanced story about those of us protesting. (Crowd gathers to protest Planned Parenthood event)

As we got on the bus to head back to DBQ we may have been cold, wet & tired. My feet were sore. But we were all happy to have had the opportunity to go down there & witness to the truth about abortion.

I don't know the whole story yet, but according to Pro-Life Action League, the Iowa DOT took their signs & they have to come back to Iowa to get them.

I have to add a few comments about PP's reaction as well as the media's coverage of the event. (Links below to the articles I haven't already linked to.) 1st of all, as usual, PP tried to paint us as the violent ones & that they were working with the FBI to ensure everyone's safety if they chose to attend the event. While Joe Lock's comment that “We’ve not had an incident of violence in 30 years, and we want to make sure nothing changes that,” is true, his reason for saying so was to again paint us as violent & dangerous. Lock also told the media that local Planned Parenthood board members were calling those signed up for the banquet on Wednesday night to reassure them “they are going to be safe.”

According to 1 of the reports the FBI even had a tow truck in the parking lot, removing any cars believed to be trespassing. You will notice that we are also being painted as lawbreakers.

Meanwhile everything said by Cecile Richards & Joe Lock about what PP does never mentioned abortion. They tried to paint PP as a benovolent group that only cares about the health of women & men. & naturally the media didn't question them on that picture.

KCRG in their story about Cecile Roberts did mention that PP wouldn't let them film the banquet. I suspect that this was because the turnout was a lot lower than they were claiming it to be. KCRG had reported, "Organizers expected about 200 people." But Jill Stanek reports that an pro-life spy say the name tag table & it looked like less that 100 people. If they had filmed the banquet, the poor turnout would have been hard to hide.

KGAN's coverage quoted Richards as saying the abortion protesters don't know all PP has to offer. She went on to say "If I’d say anything to them, it would be if you really want to help prevent pregnancies and help avoid abortions, volunteer with a Planned Parenthood health center.” Talk about arrogance. She knows that we know the truth about PP. She also knows that we do more in a day that PP does in a year to prevent abortions. & again, you will note that her lies go unchallenged by the media.

KWWL made it sound like we only stayed arround as long as the media was watching. "The pro-life group left when the media turned off their cameras." They knew full well what our schedule was & they are intentionally lying. But then, that should come as no surprize given the media's pro-abort stance.

KGAN Report

KCRG Coverage:

In conclusion I have to say that PP did its best to paint us as evil while hiding the fact that their are the truly evil, violent & lawbreaking ones. As I pointed out the media went right along. There was not a single question asked about all the things that Live Action brought out about PP sites in other states covering rape & incest. Nor was a single question asked about the investigation into Iowa PP's telemed abortions being investigated. & the last of the 3 KCRG videos above is esp eggregious. Note that the anchor says we surrounded the Marriott, something tha they clearly knew we were unable to do because of the no-tresspassing warrents. & then to describe us as opposing a woman's right to choose makes it clear that she is anything but unbiased in how she sees us.

& then there is the fact that PP wasted our tax money by calling in the FBI. They knew full well there was no danger. But they didn't care. They know when the Obama administration stands. PP knew they would be willing to help them in their attacks on Pro-lifers. After all, according to Janet Napolitano we are domestic terrorists.

I have no problems with the police being there. If the weather had been good, we would have faced some fair weather abortion supporters who would have tried to cause trouble. This shows the difference between Pro-Lifers & abortion supporters. We didn't let the bad weather stop us. In fact we still draw from 150 to 200 people. They barely get 100 at the meal. & how many of them were freebies or employees that had to be there?

Despite the media bias, the truth got out. The media had to deal with the graphic abortion pictures & the wide variety of people who were there to defend life. In the end, we knew what the media & PP would do. We knew they were going to attack us & misrepresent us. But, SO WHAT???? We know our cause is right. & we are willing to pay the price to do what God is asking of us.

Planned Parenthood President in Cedar Rapids
Security Upped as Planned Parenthood President Makes Cedar Rapids Stop
REPLAY LIVE COVERAGE: Planned Parenthood protesters hold press
KGAN CBS 2 :: Top Stories
Planned Parenthood national president discusses protests, health care reform
Protestors line up outside Planned Parenthood banquet
Heavy security planned for Planned Parenthood anniversary event
Planned Parenthood celebrates 30 years in C.R. (Guest Column by PPECI President Joe Lock - Pure PR spin to make PP look saintly, no mention of abortion, naturally)
Abortion Protest [mp3]—Iowa Public Radio
Jill Stanek's posts: Pro-lifers rain on Planned Parenthood's dismally attended "celebration"
“Extraordinary security” in place for Planned Parenthood event with Cecile Richards tonight
Pro-Life Action League report: Quick Update Now, Full Cedar Rapids Protest Report Monday