I’m working on more Nebraska material, but in the meantime, here’s something I posted last week on my Theoconia blog regarding the Columbus Life Chain event last week. It’s adoption related.
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I just returned from the the 2008 edition of the Most Boring Abortion Protest in Columbus: Life Chain. (October 7).
Life Chain is a yearly October event held throughout the country. It’s billed as “a peaceful, prayerful public witness of pro-life Americans standing for one hour praying for our nation and for an end to abortion.” It attracts mostly middle class retirees and SAHM-types who wouldn’t dream of showing up in front of CapCare or Founders or shutting down City Hall for a week.
In Columbus this means that “respectable” anti-aborts and their kids too young to object to being tricked out, come out to flank the Statehouse, carrying unobtrusive signs that remind the public “abortion hurts women” and “adoption is a loving option.” Never mind that many natural mothers, forced to send their de-parented bastard babies to the adoption mill, would disagree with them.
Whatever. Life Chain locally is bereft of Meansies in Blue Beanies, aggressive Bible bangers, traipsing chanting prayer warriors, blown-up lurid baybee blender bits poster carriers, shofar blowers, and “truth trucks” (unless CBR -Midwest or other graphically oriented folks decide to glom off the event). This doesn’t mean, however, that Life Chain, Minutemen United, and Operation Save America are 10,000 miles apart, even if their denizens refuse to admit it. Neil Horsley excluded. Sort of.
I wrote about Life Chain in 2006: Life Chain: The Kool-Aid Test. Instead of repeating what I wrote there, I suggest, you read my original entry so you’ll see the similarities between Life Chain and the more outwardly militant–similarities hidden from all but the mosts curious local worker bees,.
It is difficult to tell how many Life Chainers attended since the demo was held during rush hour and bus stop loiterers were mixed in with the crowd. It looked, though, that 70-80 people showed up this year. There were plenty of babies and toddlers in strollers (aka “abortion survivors” since anyone born after Roe is considered to have survived abortion), but the old priest and cranky cross-wielding nun were missing. (see 2006 pictures. NOTE: Blogger is being flakey with the pictures in this entry, but they ARE there.) A younger priest, though was thronged by a group of women.
Does Columbus Life Chain accomplish anything besides making “respectable” demonstrators feel good about themselves and perhaps serving as a funnel though which a handful of folks will fall out the other end into the arms of their more radical fellow travelers? I have no idea.
I left early since I needed to go home and watch some paint dry. I caught the bus a couple blocks south of the Statehouse. When we got up to the Statehouse, the Life Chainers were posing–signs in hand– for a group photo. Somebody on the bus asked to no one special, “what ARE they doing?” and then saw the signs. eeecchhhh….At least one person wasn’t impressed.
Go to the Life Chain website and punch in Ohio (under “National Listings”) to see where other Life Chain events in Ohio (or in your state) are taking place this month.
Are they real pics ?
I cant STAND people who children for their own agendas
It happens, Jane, especially with these folks. (Ooops, there I go again, generalizing*blush)I have observed a few of these protests and there are always a bunch of kids mixed in. I still find it scary that people will protest agains what should be an individual, personal matter. Too much church in my state for me.
Oh yeah Jane. These are locals.
Adoption kills children too….
Yes Adoption kills Children too, because of
A) a lifetime of not understanding the confusion inside the why’s , where’s , who’s etc and taking their own lives or spiralling into a life of drugs and crime with the same end result
OR
B) where the adopting parent kills the child.
Perhaps a ADOPTION KILLS Children placard should be placed in the mix next time
Of course I meant to write I cant stand people who USE Children etc – bit of a typo !
Just appalling that they would children of that age parading with signs about ABORTION and KILLING.
I find these types of people so hypocritical.
From Kevan,
We have a group of anti-abortion wackadoos who have been up to this since last spring here in Flagstaff, Arizona. They started at Planned Parenthood. There is a core group of—count ’em—three with about 2 to 4 part timers. They were also harrassing people going to the Chinese restaurant next door to PP. Plus harrassing women using PP and bullhorning passers-by. The landlord finally posted the entire shopping center with “No Trespassing” signs so that when the police are called, the clowns get cited for being on the property or blocking public sidewalks when they move off the property. But not before these clowns followed home a PP volunteer and bullhorned her house and vandalized the sidewalk with graffiti. They got arrested, tried and convicted for that. Then they started picketing the newspaper office for “supporting” abortion.
Evidently, there’s a nationwide movement to protest abortion beginning in smaller communities. But it looks like they’re starting to run out of steam. Plus, with current anti-terrorism laws, they have to be VERY careful. The days of bombing aborition clinics is over. The first group that does it again will suddenly find themselves on the next unmarked lear jet to Guantanamo or elsewhere. Not even their conservative buddies would be able to save them from Der Homeland Security justifying their existance with such glowing proof of domestic terrorists. Except in that instance, they’d be right.