Be careful with those protest descriptions
I just read the Aug. 25 article by Rupa Shenoy regarding the pro-life/anti-abortion protest that happened in Aurora and it was fairly accurate except for two things that I can personally address.
1. I heard the chanting. I heard the singing, I heard a LOT of praying for the unborn, mothers in crisis and even for employees of Planned Parenthood. But I didn't once hear the words "baby killer" spoken, much less "screamed."
I'd really hate to think that the long-perpetrated and erroneous image of so-called "raging" pro-lifers be injected into this newest campaign to save defenseless lives. The love and charity of all I've encountered since this protest started about two weeks ago has truly impressed me and is what is encouraging me to remain in a more active role than I've taken in any other cause in my 53 years on Earth.
2. Most of the almost 1,000 people who were there, I believe, are more local residents than Bonnie Grabenhofer (Illinois NOW president) would like to think. Her comment that "the hundreds of pro-life protesters didn't represent the community because they were brought in from as far away as other states" is possibly wishful thinking.
Many of the faces I saw in the picket lines were the same ones I've seen at the ongoing 40-day prayer vigil and the Aug. 16 community meeting. The church parking lot where I got on the shuttle bus had a lot of cars in it, but I honestly didn't see a whole lot of out-of-state license plates.
If Grabenhofer meant that a lot of the people there are not strictly from Aurora, she probably is correct. But I'm sure that Planned Parenthood is planning on providing their services to people of the surrounding communities. I'm sure if you are from St. Charles, Hinsdale, Oswego or even Chicago, they will not bar you at the door because you're not from Aurora.
In that case, Planned Parenthood is also adversely affecting those communities, and that means protesters can come from those communities as well. Like a pebble in a lake, the ripples from this facility are going to reach out in ever-widening circles than just Aurora.
But I, like Grabenhofer, am not privy to any individual participant's information to confirm or deny these speculations on protester residency, and so, they are just observations.
Catherine Illyes
South Elgin