"Deplorable and Unsanitary Conditions"

Last week, authorities made a shocking discovery while investigating a West Philadelphia abortion clinic run by Kermit Gosnell where a woman died following an abortion in November 2009.

In Gosnell's office, they found two dozen frozen fetuses.

On Sunday, Gosnell's license was suspended, with the suspension order detailing "deplorable and unsanitary conditions" that made his practice "an immediate and clear danger to the public health and safety."

Today, on the pro-choice blog RH Reality Check, Rachel Larris has a post on Gosnell and the woman who died at his facility in November (the woman is identified by the Philadelphia Inquirer as Karnamaya Mongar).

Who does Larris blame for the woman's death?

Why, pro-lifers, of course.

Another Bubble Zone Update

We learned on Friday that Mayor Daley intends to sign the free-speech choking Bubble Zone ordinance.

In an attempt to justify his decision, the Mayor remarked, "There has to be some civility left in our society."

How ironic. The mission of sidewalk counselors is to try to prevent mothers from having their children killed — and, in the process, sparing them a lifetime of pain and regret — and they're the ones who are uncivil?

Watch No Greater Joy, our documentary on sidewalk counseling, and judge for yourself:

Bubble Zone Update

The City Council passed the Bubble Zone ordinance yesterday by a vote of 28-13. It will go into effect November 17 unless Mayor Daley vetoes it.

Since last week, we've been encouraging people (regardless of where they live) to call his office and ask him to oppose it. So many people have called that when you call his office now, instead of having a real, live person answer the phone, it goes to an automated menu which asks you to press 1 if you're calling about the Bubble Zone. It then allows you to vote no by pressing 2.

You can — nay, should — make your voice heard by calling 312-744-3300 between 8:00am and 5:00pm CDT.

Here's the video of the press conference at the conclusion of our protest yesterday — at which 150 people showed up:

If You Happen to Be Near Chicago City Hall Tomorrow

Join our Bubble Zone protest!

Chicago City Council Committee Votes to Choke Free Speech

I'm still waiting on details, but I just found out from one of our attorneys that the Chicago City Council's Human Relations Committee passed a "bubble zone" ordinance this morning.

Now it goes to the full City Council next Wednesday. If it passes there, we'll sue.

Here's more background from our press release this morning:

Members of the Pro-Life Action League and attorneys from the Thomas More Society will attend the Human Relations Committee meeting of the Chicago City Council TODAY at 9:00 AM Wednesday, Sept. 30. The Committee is considering an amendment to the Municipal Code to prohibit picketing within 50 feet of any medical clinic. These organizations strongly suspect this amendment is aimed at preventing pro-life people from praying and reaching out to clients of abortion facilities with information on alternatives to abortion.

Pro-life activists routinely stand on the public sidewalk at the entrances to abortion clinics in Chicago to offer information to anyone seeking services at the abortion clinics. The groups know of no incidents of intimidation, harassment or threats as referred to in the amendment introduced on Sept. 9 by Alderman Vi Daley (43rd Ward).

Both the Thomas More Society attorneys and the Pro-Life Action League contend that the amendment is unconstitutional.

Note that the IOC makes its decision in two days. If the city council is taking measures like this now, one can only imagine what sorts of tricks they'll try to pull — under the guise of ensuring "safety" and "security", natch — to restrict demonstrations near Olympic venues come 2016.

EEOC to Catholic College: Drop Dead

I can't say as I'm surprised:

Feds Accuse Catholic Belmont Abbey College of Sexual Discrimination for Not Covering Contraception

So much for separation of church and state.

Thankfully, the BAC powers that be aren't backing down.

From the article:

"As a Roman Catholic institution, Belmont Abbey College is not able to and will not offer nor subsidize medical services that contradict the clear teaching of the Catholic Church," said Belmont Abbey President William Thierfelder. "There was no other course of action possible if we were to operate in fidelity to our mission and to our identity as a Catholic college."

After faculty members filed complaints with the EEOC and the North Carolina Department of Insurance, Belmont Abbey says the EEOC told the school in March 2009 that it would close the file on the discrimination charge, as it had not found the school's decision in violation of its statutes. But the agency later reversed itself, and issued a determination letter to the school on August 5 affirming that the ban amounted to gender discrimination, because it pertains only to women.

"By denying prescription contraception drugs, Respondent (the college) is discriminating based on gender because only females take oral prescription contraceptives," wrote Reuben Daniels Jr., the EEOC Charlotte District Office Director in the determination. [emphasis added]

Aside from presenting us with a clear example of bureaucracy run amok, Daniels' comment also provides with what could rightly be called a "teachable moment".

He noted that only women take oral contraceptives. This, of course, begs the question prompts the question: Why is there no contraceptive pill for men?

The redoubtable Dr. Janet Smith explains why in her talk "Contraception: Why Not":

There's a wonderful book out by Dr. Ellen Grant called The Bitter Pill. She was very much in on distributing contraceptives in the 60's in London, but she saw woman after woman coming in with different pathologies that she found were pill-related high blood pressure, blood clots, cysts in the breast, all sorts of things.

So, she said, "I'm not going to prescribe these anymore." She looked into this and she discovered, that when they were first testing for the pill, they were trying to find a male contraceptive and a female contraceptive pill.

And in the first study group of males, they found that there was some slight shrinkage of the testicles of one male, so they stopped all testing of the male contraceptive pill.

You might notice that there is no such thing in the first study group of females. Three females died and they just readjusted the dosage.

Let's read that again:

And in the first study group of males, they found that there was some slight shrinkage of the testicles of one male, so they stopped all testing of the male contraceptive pill.

And this:

You might notice that there is no such thing in the first study group of females. Three females died and they just readjusted the dosage. [!]

Smith continues:

Now, I don't know what that tells you, but it tells me that there's something sinister going on here. Women are still dying from the pill.

If you look at the insert in any set of pills, you can get this from a pharmacist if you can't find it elsewhere, it says such things as the pill will cause blood clots, high blood pressure, heart disease, greater increase of some kinds of cancer, infertility.

Now, these are very small percentages where this happens, but there are some sixteen million women in the United States on the pill. Sixteen million.

And even a very small percentage is still a very large number of women. Not to mention the day by day side effects. These always fascinate me.

Most women, in fact, 50% of women who start on the pill, stop within the first year because of unpleasant side effects. So, these side effects are really largely those of the sixteen million who continue, so you can imagine how bad they must be for the 50% who stop.

It's not Belmont Abbey College that's mistreating women.

It's the Pill.

Is There a Pattern Here?

This reminds me of this.

[HT: Christina Dunigan at Real Choice]

What a Relief

I received a notice in the mail this week from the Illinois Secretary of State's office reminding me that my driver's license is up for renewal this year.

Great, I thought. Now I get to go and wait in line at the DMV.

But, upon opening the letter, I learn that if 12 statements do not pertain to me, I can instead renew by mail (or by phone or online, but these options would also require a "minimal [read: outrageously expensive by Jansen standards] payment processor fee", so those options are right out).

After reading through statements 1-10, I'm in the clear. Then, I get to number 11:

Your legal name or gender has changed or you have lost your driver's license.

I must admit that the juxtaposition of these three things made me laugh out loud.

Number 12 didn't pertain to me, either, so it looks like the DMV will not have to be visited by me this year.

Walk Like a Man

I mentioned last week that our recent Face the Truth Tour went swimmingly, and that unlike the previous two years, we had no major run-ins with local police.

Leading up to our recent Tour, we extensively researched the municipal codes of the various communities we would be visiting and assembled copies of the relevant ordinances for each in a binder that we could have on hand to show local law enforcement if we were questioned about our right to conduct such a demonstration. (As it turned out, this binder came in very handy at one site in particular, as it helped to defuse a potentially difficult confrontation with police in south suburban Burbank on 16 July.)

In many communities, the ordinances governing demonstrations like ours — wherein we coordinate groups of people who stand alongside the street holding large, graphic abortion pictures — are in the same section as ordinances governing parades.

In the course of researching these municipal codes, we noted with interest how the village of Chicago Ridge defines a "parade":

Parade means any organized procession or march as for display or to march, or walk through as for display, or to make a display of or to show off, to walk about ostentatiously, or the assembly in formation by any persons upon the public streets, sidewalks or public places in the village. Public assemblages or addresses and meetings shall come within the scope of this definition for purposes and requirements of obtaining a permit or license.

It was the fact that "walk[ing] about ostentatiously" without a permit is actually on the books as verboten that gave us all a good laugh.

This discovery prompted me to recall this:

Doug Kmiec, Jill Stanek, Barack Obama, Infanticide, and "Common Ground"

In response to Doug Kmiec's June 1 National Catholic Reporter column, in which he writes:

I don't see how keeping the outrageous claim alive today that President Obama’s contrary view somehow supports “infanticide” leads toward common ground.

...our friend Jill Stanek writes today on her blog: "I can now irrefutably state Doug Kmiec is a disingenuous person."

It is indeed not a little troubling that Kmiec continues to obdurately deny that Barack Obama voted to support legalized infanticide.

Kmiec also writes in his column:

A good beginning would be to heed President Obama’s call to reduce the need for abortion, through education, contraception, improved adoption services, and support for a woman to carry her pregnancy to term. [emphasis added]

One of these things — guess which one — is not like the others.

It's scandalous that Kmiec would expect his fellow Catholics to even consider for a second that the Bullwinkle Approach might be a good idea.

Aside from being, um, seriously wrong, it also doesn't work.

The Morning-After Pill: Not All It's Cracked Up to Be

When I first heard about the federal court decision last month ordering the FDA to make the morning-after pill available to 17-year olds — a decision gushingly lauded by ACOG, natch — I couldn't help but call to mind this post on the Life Training Institute blog last year.

Therein, Rich Poupard (aka Serge) writes about a web seminar (at one time accessible here) in which Dr. James Trussell made some astonishingly candid admissions about the failure of emergency contraception to reduce the rate of unintended pregnancy.

Trussell's page on Princeton's website notes that he is "a senior fellow at the Guttmacher Institute and a member of the board of directors of the NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation, The Guttmacher Institute, the Society of Family Planning, and a member of the National Medical Committee of Planned Parenthood Federation of America". It further notes that Trussell "has actively promoted making emergency contraception more widely available as an important step in helping women reduce their risk of unintended pregnancy..."

Poupard notes that Trussell acknowledged, among other things, the following:

1. Trussell previously hoped (published in 1992) that EC would reduce unintended pregnancies and abortion by half.

2. 15 years later 11 studies have consistently showed no decrease of pregnancy rates from use of ECs.

3. Trussell also stated that a future decrease in pregnancy rates from EC use is highly unlikely - an astounding admission. ...

4. Due to difficulties in estimating the expected pregnancy rates, the published efficacy in the package insert of EC is almost certainly too high.

He then trenchantly notes:

This is amazing stuff. Since there was extensive news coverage of the effort to get Plan B to OTC status, why the silence in the wake of information that Plan B will not effect pregnancy or abortion rates? Imagine the outcry if a heart medication was thought to reduce heart attacks by 95% - and was made over-the-counter in order to increase its availability to reduce heart disease. A year later evidence comes out that no study had ever found that it had any effect on heart attack rates, and that the only thing that could be said about it is that it is "probably better than nothing". There would be a great outcry, congressional hearings, and accusations that the evil pharmaceutical companies were gouging unsuspecting patients. However, so far there has not been a peep among those concerned about "women's health" that they could be promoting an expensive medication that may not be effective.

Instead, we get this:

On Wednesday, Nancy Northrup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, praised the agency's apparent change of heart.

"We commend the FDA for taking swift action to ensure that its decisions on Plan B are based solely on the drug's safety and efficacy," said Northup, whose group had brought the lawsuit against the FDA. "It is a key step for the agency as it seeks to restore confidence in its ability to safeguard public health and leave politics at the lab door."

NEJM Op-Ed to Pro-Life Doctors: Drop Dead

Medicine needs to embrace a brand of professionalism that demands less self-interest, not more. Conscientious objection makes sense with conscription, but it is worrisome when professionals who freely chose their field parse care and withhold information that patients need. As the gatekeepers to medicine, physicians and other health care providers have an obligation to choose specialties that are not moral minefields for them. Qualms about abortion, sterilization, and birth control? Do not practice women's health.

Because, you know, it's all about "choice".

[HT: JivinJ]

Truth Is Sometimes Stranger than Fiction

Which of the following actually happened at a community college in Washington State?

• (a) A human rights student group wanted to post materials around campus encouraging people to work to stop the genocide in Darfur, but was told by the school that they would also have to post materials encouraging people to work to continue the genocide in Darfur.



• (b) An anti-racism student group wanted to post anti-racist materials around campus, but was told by the school that they would also have to post materials from the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Brotherhood.



• (c) A feminist student group wanted to post materials around campus encouraging people to work to stop violence against women, but was told by the school that they would also have to post materials promoting violence against women.



• (d) A student service organization wanted to post materials around campus to raise awareness of individuals in the community suffering from poverty, but was told by the school that they would also have to post materials promoting ignorance of individuals in the community suffering from poverty.



• (e) A pro-life student group wanted to post pro-life information around campus about the harms of abortion, but was told by the school that they would also have to post pro-abortion information.

You can probably guess which one is the right answer.

[HT: JivinJ]

[Cross-posted at Generations for Life]

We Get the Elected Officials We Deserve

Given the events of today, I find it fitting, given the uber-corrupt nature of politics in our state, that Barack Obama's Senate replacement will be named by a man who's now in federal custody.

Just a few minutes ago, I happened to recall a related post I originally put up on the Generations for Life blog on 10/30/06 under the title "Shameless".

Said post follows:


A couple weeks ago, my wife and I received some mail from:

The Executive Mansion
410 E Jackson
Springfield, IL 62701-1719

It was addressed "To the Parents of Maria Jansen."

"What could this be?" we both thought.

Upon opening it, we found a card saying "Welcome, Little One" with a collection of stuffed animals looking out the window at an approaching stork carrying a bundle in its beak.


Opening it up, the right flap said, "The world is one baby sweeter now."

The main part of the card reads:

Congratulations on the birth of your new baby! Childbirth is an exciting event for every family, and we are proud to share in your joy.

A healthy child is a happy child. Therefore, it is important that your baby receive proper immunizations by two months of age. It will help to ensure protection against future illnesses.

Best wishes to your whole family on this very special occasion.

Rod Blagojevich

At this point, we had to chuckle. Honestly, we don't know which of our girls' births this card was intended to recognize, as all three of our daughters are named Maria. (We call each of them by their middle names).

Presumably, it was sent in response to the birth of our youngest daughter, Maria Lucia, who was born in September 2005. Which means the card is at least a year late (“…it is important that your baby receive proper immunizations by two months of age”).

I guess when your office is as scandal-plagued as Governor Blagojevich's is, these sorts of things get put on the back burner.

Indiana Planned Parenthood Covers Up Sexual Abuse of 13-Year Old Girl

Just released this morning, here's the first installment of The Mona Lisa Project, a series of undercover investigative videos from UCLA student Lila Rose and Live Action Films:


Indiana Planned Parenthood Covers Up Sexual Abuse of 13-year Old

Now What?

We now have a president-elect who said he doesn't know when human beings should be given human rights, who promised to sign the Freedom of Choice Act—which would have a devastating effect on existing pro-life laws—and who voted to support legalized infanticide.

South Dakota's effort to ban most abortions failed.

California's effort to pass a commonsense parental notification law for minor girls seeking abortions failed.

Michigan voters approved a state constititutional amendment to permit stem cell research embryonic stem cell research (read: killing little people for the putative benefit of bigger people).

And Washington state became the second state to legalized doctor-assisted suicide.

(On the bright side, though, Proposition 8 appears to have passed in California.)

Details on all these state ballot measures are available here.

So, what do we do now? Wail and gnash our teeth? Beat our breasts and don sackcloth and ashes?

To be sure, there is a time for penance, and a time for mourning. (Along these lines, do read these three sobering posts on Christina Dunigan's RealChoice blog.)

After such time, we need to get active. And if we're already active, we need to get more active.

I've often told people who contact us looking to get involved in pro-life activities that just as all politics is local, so too is all pro-life activism.

David Bereit, national director of 40 Days for Life — whose most recent campaign saved the lives of over 520 babies — made this same point in a press release today, headlining it simply:

Pro-lifers must look beyond elections
and focus on making local impact

Exactly.

Who knows what new pro-abortion legislation will passed in the next four years, or who will be appointed to the Supreme Court?

Nobody does. And that's why we can't sit around and do nothing and wait for Someone Else To Do Something.

There is no better time than now to get involved in pro-life activism.

Now is not the time to hang our heads or wring our hands. Now is the time to put our pro-life beliefs into action in our own communities.

As for our attitude, we would do well to heed the counsel from a long-time pro-life activist who e-mailed this morning with some advice to keep in mind these next four years (and, for that matter, always):

Remember to be positive and joyful! Don't give in to negativity. St. Paul who was no stranger to difficulties told us, "with all our affliction, I am overjoyed" (2 Cor. 7:4). He exhorted his fellow Christians to be joyful: "Rejoice always" (1 Thess. 5:16); "rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice" (Phil. 4:4). We need to be cheerful and confident in our defense of Christ and life. "So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7). We will not win the world with a sour face but with the love, truth, and the joy of Jesus Christ. St. Peter tells us when we live and even suffer joyfully we can, "Rejoice in so far as you share Christ's suffering, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is reveled." (1 Peter 4:13).

And, as my boss, the redoubtable Joe Scheidler, reminded me this morning, at Mass we pray to Our Heavenly Father, "In your mercy keep us free from sin . . . as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ."

This was the Church's prayer yesterday. It is the Church's prayer today. And it will be the Church's prayer until the end of time.

Politicians and their unfulfillable promises of "hope and change" will come and go; but real, authentic "joyful hope"—along with faith, and above all, charity—these endure, and they sustain us.

This Video Won't Last Long on YouTube

I just got an email from Students for Life of America about their latest investigative video.

Watch it now—I'm sure it will be yanked soon:



Here's SFLA's press release:

Video Catches Planned Parenthood Covering Up Statutory Rape



ARLINGTON, VA - Students for Life of America (SFLA) has released a video exposing two Planned Parenthood clinics in Winston-Salem and Charlotte, North Carolina covering up statutory rape of young girls. To view the video, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkakpcWSyWY

In June of 2008, two college women volunteering for Students for Life of America entered two clinics in North Carolina posing as underage girls, 15 and 14, who just had unprotected sex with their mother's live-in boyfriend who was in his 30s; each girl told the clinic workers that he suggested she come get the morning the Morning After Pill. According to N.C. Gen. Statue 7B-301 and 7B-101, this information was enough to trigger North Carolina statutory rape reporting laws, obligating any person who learned of this story to report the crime to authorities.

In both visits, Planned Parenthood staffers acknowledged that what was happening to the girls was statutory rape and even admitted that they were required to report the incident.

However, after the visits, Students for Life of America filed North Carolina Public Records Requests to find out if the Planned Parenthood locations had reported the crimes. SFLA has obtained and posted documents, which show that the crimes were not reported to authorities in either Charlotte or Winston-Salem. To view the reports from police department authorities, go here: http://www.studentsforlife.org/index.php/plannedparenthoodinvestigation/

In addition to covering up the statutory rape of these young girls by failing to report, both Planned Parenthoods were willing to help them get on birth control without their parents' knowledge, which would prolong the abuse while covering evidence. One staffer in Charlotte even said to the girl, "You can do it now," and set an appointment for the minor to obtain birth control the following week.

Further, both clinics told the girls that anyone over the age of 18 could simply go to a drug store and buy the Morning After Pill for them, giving the girls' rapists a tool to further cover their crime of rape.

SFLA's Executive Director, Kristan Hawkins commented on the videos today saying, "These videos are simply shocking. That Planned Parenthood staffers acknowledged the girls were being raped and then did not report the crime is horrific. They allowed these girls to go home to their rapists and even confirmed that their rapists could get the Morning After Pill for them to cover their crimes."

Tom McClusky, Vice President of Government Affairs for the Family Research Council, responded to the investigation, "As long as Planned Parenthood puts their fealty to abortion on demand above protecting young girls from statutory rapists then investigations such as the ones done by SFL will be needed."

To view the video, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkakpcWSyWY

Scheidler v. Trombley

A few weeks ago I wrote about a court hearing in our libel case against Planned Parenthood.

On Tuesday, the judge in the case handed down her ruling [PDF], and we (most especially my co-worker, Eric Scheidler) took it on the chin.

My co-worker, Matt Yonke, sums up the ruling here.

Here's the press release we issued:

Kane County, Ill., Court Grants Planned Parenthood License to Lie

Pro-Life Group Files Amended Complaint

GENEVA, Ill., Sept. 3 /Christian Newswire/ -- A Kane County, Ill., circuit court's decision yesterday to dismiss a libelous ad and letter in a lawsuit filed against Planned Parenthood of Illinois and Director Steve Trombley could have far-reaching consequences for free speech rights throughout the state.

"Planned Parenthood has been granted a license to lie," said Eric Scheidler, communications director for the Pro-Life Action League and one of the Aurora, Ill., residents who brought the libel suit. "This ruling gives Planned Parenthood, and any other organization with deep pockets, total immunity for making false, defamatory statements against private citizens."

Aurora residents who had been protesting the opening of a Planned Parenthood abortion facility in their city filed the suit on October 1, 2007, saying a letter from Steve Trombley to the Aurora City Council and a full-page Planned Parenthood ad in The Beacon News that accused them of violence was maliciously false and libelous. In response, Planned Parenthood filed a motion to dismiss the suit based on Illinois' newly enacted Citizen Participation Act.

The Citizen Participation Act was established in 2007 to protect small grassroots organizations lobbying for government action against large corporations who want to scare them into silence with the threat of a frivolous and costly lawsuit. In this case, it is the multi-million-dollar company, Planned Parenthood, that claims it is being intimidated by the small group of Aurorans. Because the ad it ran against pro-lifers contained a line urging readers to call their local alderman in support of the new clinic, Judge Judith Brawka interpreted it and the letter to City Council as being protected under the Citizen Participation Act.

"The judge didn't decide Steve Trombley is innocent of libeling us, but that it didn't matter even if he were guilty," said Scheidler.

Brawka did allow Scheidler to file an amended complaint based on four other items in which Planned Parenthood made defamatory statements about his group. It is possible that these new items, including an open letter in The Daily Herald, may not fall under the protection of the Act as interpreted in yesterday's ruling because they didn't include the line urging readers to contact their alderman.

Scheidler also is planning to appeal the ruling if necessary.

"Illinois lawmakers drafted the Citizen Participation Act to protect people's freedom to speak their minds, not to keep citizens from defending their good names," said Scheidler. "If this ruling stands, anyone can spread deliberate, malicious lies about another person, as long as their statements can be construed as seeking action from any unit of government, including voters. That should scare all Illinoisans who care about honesty and accountability."

Scheidler could be forced to pay all of Planned Parenthood's legal costs associated with the libel suit, which he estimates could be more than $50,000. That would mean bankruptcy for him and his family, but he says that's a price he's willing to pay.

"No matter what lies Steve Trombley and Planned Parenthood may tell about us, pro-lifers in Aurora are peacefully saving babies from abortion at Planned Parenthood every week," he said.

A status hearing on the four additional counts of libel and slander will take place October 1.

In Court Friday

My co-worker Eric Scheidler and one of our attorneys, Peter Breen, just issued this press release:

Planned Parenthood Plays Dirty with Legal Battle Against Aurora Pro-Life Citizens

Billion-Dollar Abortion Giant Abuses Law, Verdict Could Have Major Implications for Political Action Groups

AURORA, Ill., Aug. 20 /Christian Newswire/ -- Planned Parenthood of Illinois is filing a motion in Kane County Circuit Court, alleging a small group of pro-life citizens is trying to squelch its right to free speech. Planned Parenthood is filing the motion based on an Anti-SLAPP law that originally was intended to protect small organizations or citizens against large corporations. On August 22, Judge Judith Brawka will decide on the motion put forward by Planned Parenthood. If the judge rules in favor of Planned Parenthood, it could open the door for other large corporations around the country to use Anti-SLAPP laws to silence any political action group that speaks out against corruption.

WHO:
Eric Scheidler, plaintiff and Communications Director, Pro-Life Action League, and
Peter Breen of the Thomas More Society, attorney for the plaintiffs

WHAT:
Available for media interviews after Kane County Circuit Court hearing

WHEN:
Friday, August 22, immediately following hearing, which begins at 1 p.m.

WHERE:
Kane County Circuit Court, 100 Third St., Geneva, Ill., Courtroom 350

SLAPP, which stands for "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation," is a lawsuit or a threat of lawsuit that is intended to intimidate and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition. Many states have enacted anti-SLAPP laws in order to protect small grassroots organizations from having their First Amendment rights trampled by large corporations. In Illinois, the Anti-SLAPP law is called the Citizen Participation Act and was enacted in August 2007.

"The billion-dollar Goliath is trying to misuse a law intended to protect David," says Eric Scheidler, lawsuit plaintiff and communications director for the Pro-Life Action League. "If this motion stands, Planned Parenthood would be getting away with labeling peaceful citizens as domestic terrorists. It would give them a license to lie."

The libel lawsuit against Planned Parenthood of Illinois and Director Steve Trombley was filed on October 1, 2007, in response to a letter by Trombley to the mayor and city council of Aurora, Ill., stating that local citizens who opposed the opening of their Aurora facility had "a well-documented history of advocating violence against both persons and property as well as other related criminal activity." These claims were repeated in a full-page ad in The Aurora Beacon News and Planned Parenthood press releases.

The suit filed by the Aurora residents who protested the clinic said the ad against them was maliciously false and libelous. In the anti-SLAPP motion, Planned Parenthood (whose affiliates nationwide earned more than $1 billion last year) is claiming that the small group of local citizens is trying to intimidate the corporation into backing down from its claims in the ad.

"Planned Parenthood's interpretation of this act is a 'SLAPP' in the face of the First Amendment in the United States," says Peter Breen, attorney for the Thomas More Society of Chicago, which filed the original libel suit. "This law is meant to protect the little guy who speaks out against big business wrongs and political corruption. If Planned Parenthood is able to twist it to its means, it would set a precedent that could be used by corporations to slander into silence anyone who opposes them."

The aforementioned full-page ad—which includes a picture of a bombed abortion clinic and the words "Joe Scheidler and his Pro-Life Action League have a well-documented history of advocating violence against both persons and property, as well as other related criminal activity"—can be seen here [PDF].

White People Like Being Offended

Watching this:

...when she said this:

It's very, very shocking and very unsettling and one of those moments where, you know, as like a female, you're not sure if you want to cry, if you want to get really mad.

...I couldn't help but call to mind Example #101 of Stuff White People Like—Being Offended:

To be offended is usually a rather unpleasant experience, one that can expose a person to intolerance, cultural misunderstandings, and even evoke the scars of the past. This is such an unpleasant experience that many people develop a thick skin and try to only be offended in the most egregious and awful situations. In many circumstances, they can allow smaller offenses to slip by as fighting them is a waste of time and energy. But white people, blessed with both time and energy, are not these kind of people. In fact there are few things white people love more than being offended. ...

White people also get excited at the opportunity to be offended at things that are sexist and/or homophobic. Both cases offering ample opportunities for lectures, complaints, graduate classes, lengthy discussions and workshops.

And then, of course, there's the reporter's transparently patronizing tone about the pharmacist and his wife having—gasp!—nine children!

I mean, like, doesn't it make you want to cry, or get really mad at them, for exercising their freedom of choice to have nine kids?

[HT: Newsbusters via Jill Stanek]