Sometimes there are moments when we all need to just take a step back to listen and observe – so we can gain perspective on an issue.
This happens to be one of those moments.
On August 26th, a rally was held at Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago by Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and other pro-choice feminist groups seeking to protest the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. This was but one week after we joined a rally in the same place, calling for his confirmation.
To counter the pro-abortion rally and shed some love for innocent humanity on the hostile atmosphere, the Crusaders for Life, Students for Life of America, students from Benet Academy’s S.A.L.T. Life group, and Mary Kate Knorr, executive director of Illinois Right to Life, came together, with joyful faces and yellow balloons.
It’s incredible to see how willing and dedicated pro-lifers are when it comes to standing up for human life (even at a moment’s notice) – and in this case, the pro-lifers were young, enthusiastic, and beyond passionate for life.
“Are you ready? Let’s go!” they said.
But as the happy, cheering pro-life youth approached the Plaza – the scene was unlike any other (and we’re hoping all the media that showed up got this on camera too.)
Watch the video below, and you’ll see what we mean.
The pro-choice protesters immediately went after the small but lively group of pro-lifers with anger, yelling, vulgarity, in-your face confrontations, and rather frightening looking signs. They even followed them across the street.
But the vigilant pro-life group kept their cool, kept their joy, and you could tell they were not looking for a fight. They only wanted to celebrate the truth that life is precious, even in the womb.
Our executive director, Mary Kate Knorr, had an encounter with a man who seemed to be angered by the fact that many of the pro-lifers on our side were young people (not four years-old as he claims, by the way).
The truth is, young people today live in a generation where science and medical technology prove the humanity of the unborn child, prove that unborn babies feel pain, prove that unborn children can survive outside the womb at earlier and earlier stages, prove that a unique human life begins at conception, and prove that abortion violently ends the life of another human being
…and young people get it.
In fact, this generation is more pro-life than generations prior.
Student’s for Life of America put it this way:
“Chicago’s Pro-Life Gen might just take the prize for the most hyped contingent (we think everyone needs their own drumline) and it was amazing to see the disparity between our happy, young pro-lifers versus their angry, crotchety, “flip us off” geezers. Oh, don’t get us wrong, we saw a few young pro-abortion people there. They felt threatened enough to follow us around, chanting, “A baby’s not a baby ‘til it comes out – that’s what birthdays are all about!” And however can we argue with that logic?”
The counter-protest was a great success. We even had a few people join us from the street.
But most importantly, we could not be more proud of the pro-lifers who came that day (on a moment’s notice) to speak for the voiceless, in the face of such anger and vulgarity from the other side.
The contrast could not be starker.
It’s times like these we can ask ourselves, whose side do I want to be on?
We’re proud to be on the side of life.