June 1, 2001

Demonstrations - If Abortion Comes to Erie

There will be a demonstration this evening, from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM, at 1611 Peach St., the site of Erie's pending abortion facility. There will also be a demonstration tomorrow, Saturday, from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM, as usual.

We cannot say that Erie will never have an abortion facility, but we can say with a great deal of confidence that if abortion comes to Erie, it will never become an ordinary or taken-for-granted activity. The ongoing series of public demonstrations which began in October 1999 should make this quite apparent.

If a facility opens, public demonstrations are very likely to be augmented with some form of sidewalk counseling. In sidewalk counseling, the abortion minded woman who is on her way into an abortion facility is given individualized attention in an effort to interest her in abortion alternatives and to make her aware of the various kinds of assistance which are available if she decides not to end the life of her unborn daughter or son. When sidewalk counseling is being conducted, efforts are usually made to limit or restrict public demonstrations so as not to create a distraction while the sidewalk counseling is underway.

If, however, access to patrons of an abortion facility is in any way limited to such an extent that personalized sidewalk counseling becomes difficult or impossible, there is no sufficient reason to limit peaceful and lawful demonstrations on the public rights of way. In fact, demonstrations then become a kind of sidewalk counseling method of last resort.

If this were to be the case here in Erie, it would be necessary to increase the frequency and length of the demonstrations well beyond their present scope. The demonstrations would take place, for the most part, while the facility was in the actual process of terminating lives. Demonstrations would not frequently take place on, say, Saturday or Sunday afternoon, unless the facility would be killing at those times. As per common practice across the United States, enlarged pictures of first and second trimester aborted babies would probably be a part of the information being conveyed during these demonstrations. The size of the pictures would depend on the distance at which they would need to be displayed.

People for Life, Inc. is an all-volunteer, non-profit, citizen's organization committed to affirming the intrinsic value of human life. People for Life is dedicated to advancing true justice by working for the protection of all innocent human lives, whatever the age, race, sex, physical condition, economic status, or place of residence (including the womb). People for Life encourages local involvement through education, political awareness, and the promotion of loving alternatives to the primitive and violent "solutions" of abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. Together, we can create a society in which all human lives are held sacred.