Why it's important to picket homes

On Sept. 2, the editors of this newspaper opined it "would not be a wise move" for "abortion opponents" to picket the homes of Planned Parenthood employees "in an attempt to bring shame on those who work in a facility that performs abortions."

The day we start accepting advice from a newspaper that refuses to even call us by our correct title, pro-life, we are doomed to failure.

The opinion piece fails to note that protesting in front of abortionist's house is nothing new. Since 2002 I personally have led more than four dozen pickets in front of the Inverness house of an abortionist. In fact, on June 4, 2004 this newspaper ran a story headlined "It's peaceful, but protesters out of place at doc's home," which reported that the police "have not made (any) arrests nor have they received complaints from neighbors."

So what exactly happens when we picket in front of an abortionist's house?

We line the road (staying on the public right-of-way) holding bright yellow and black signs warning that an abortionist lives in this neighborhood. We hold large posters showing stages of fetal development as well as a smiling baby captioned LIFE. While standing (for two hours) we silently pray for the abortionist to use his God-given talents to save lives instead of ending them. We end with Bible readings and a group prayer.

That's it. No crazed anarchists, no ugly confrontations, no violence. We are pro-life, and we respect and follows God's laws, including "Thou shalt not kill. "It goes without saying that a five-year record without a single arrest for any reason, not even a single parking ticket, belies the hyped up editorial fears.

Chapter 37 of Joseph Scheidler's landmark book, "CLOSED: 99 Ways to Stop Abortion" is titled "Picket the Abortionist's Homes." Scheidler states, "If it were widely known that they are abortionists they night be very uncomfortable in their communities, and their communities might be uncomfortable with them."

Thanks to our continuing efforts, all of the abortionist's neighbors know how he earns a living and, judging from the large number of positive comments I have received, most of them are not comfortable having someone in his profession living in their million dollar plus subdivision. We will never stop praying that he will adopt a more honorable profession, one which allows him to hold himself proud before his fellow man.

Dan Gura

Lake Zurich