How To Build Abortion Clinics HOW TO BUILD ABORTION CLINICS Editorial Opinion by Jayne Schindler After much prayer and agonizing over the most recent efforts of many
well-meaning pro-life people to resort to civil disobedience, I would offer the following words of caution.
An example is the fellow in New York who trespassed at a Planned Parenthood clinic, and was then sued by the clinic, found guilty and assessed $50,000 to pay to *PLANNED PARENTHOOD*! The operators of the clinic plan to use the $50,000 to build another abortion mill.
The old saying of “he who controls the purse string *controls*” appears very true in this case (or we bought the rope to hang ourselves with).
The next step was a threat by a U.S. District Judge to issue fines of $25,000 per day to any pro-lifers who violated trespassing laws. Regardless, 170 pro-life people in New York demonstrated anyway, and were arrested. Fines at the rate of 170 x $25,000 come to *$4,250,000.00 per day*! I wonder who will pay these fines.
Four million plus dollars could have gone a long way to pay for political campaigns of pro-life people in being elected to change or prevent passage of objectionable laws (or to build homes for pregnant women).
It has been said, “it looks real good” on a candidate’s resume that they have been arrested at an abortion clinic. I just can’t help remembering Douglas Ginsburg, a judge nominated by President Reagan to be a United States Supreme Court Justice. He was not acceptable because he had followed the crowd in his youth and had broken the law by smoking marijuana. He was viewed as one who had no respect for the law.
Will we eliminate many future pro-life candidates because they may be viewed as having similar disrespect for the law?
An overriding concern that must be addressed: who is going to pay the fines, attorneys’ fees, court costs, loss of work, possible medical bills, and counter suits? Human nature tells me those arrested, although they were supposed to have understood the ground rules going in, believed their actions were to close clinics, not help build them for more abortions.
But once the excitement and glory is gone, they will be come angry with paying fines and attorneys and turn on those who encouraged them to get into trouble , and break the law initially.
How must Christian police officers feel about being forced to arrest their friends and relatives? Roles have been switched when police officers are forced to become the enemy! Former law-abiding Christians are taking the law into their own hands, creating their own persecution! No matter how well intended, trespassing while demonstrating is still breaking the law.
Trespassing laws are not bad laws. How would we like to have proabortionists handcuff themselves to our churches (or our front doors)? Will we expect them to obey the law when Roe v. Wade is overturned?
The media in foreign countries are running nightly newscasts showing how the American system of government must not be working, if everyday citizens are being dragged to jail.
How does the freedom of the ballot box in other countries allow pro-life people to voice their objections to abortion?
With the recent observance of Martin Luther King Day, many people surely must have heard our media expound on the bravery of “The King” to break the law, as his cause was “just.” Our media has not been so kind to Lt. Col. Oliver North. He is supposed to have broken the law although his cause was “just.” But Col. North has had to raise millions of dollars for his defense, and the media continues to beat the drum as to his disrespect for the law.
Christians do not want babies to die, old people euthanised, or parents going to jail. The message, the media is heeding from pro-death people, is given credibility when a mother sits in jail objecting to abortions, while someone else is caring for her children. Are we giving consideration to the living?
Already the fund-raising letters are being cranked out with the “send money now” message. This one or that one is going to be a martyr and be arrested, resulting in appeal money being siphoned off from the local community. The local right-to-life group won’t even be financially able to send out newsletters alerting their community to pro-abortion legislation, Planned Parenthood funding or euthanasia bills.
I imagine the people who run the abortion mills must be laughing all the way to the bank.
We are taught to be good stewards of the blessings our Lord has given to us as individuals and as a country. God gave us this country and those in authority over us. He gave us a peaceful, orderly manner in our system of laws to live by. We can change those man-made laws with the ballot box. Let’s be good stewards.
Reprinted by permission from “The Eagle Forum”, February 1989, Volume 10, Number 1, published by Eagle Education Fund of Colorado. Subscriptions are $10/yr from Eagle Education Fund, 1823 W. 102 Avenue, Denver, CO 80221.