Abortion Protesters March to Springfield Planned Parenthood
by Molly Beck
The State Journal-Register
Singing “We Shall Overcome,” hundreds of people marched through the streets of downtown Springfield Friday afternoon led by an heir to the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.- not for race relations, but to protest what the walkers said they see as the U.S.
Alveda King, a niece of the slain civil rights leader and an anti-abortion activist, spent her second day in Springfield United States
“Will you be able to say that you defended life?” King asked during a prayer service Paprocki held at the cathedral. “Let our dream that every man, every woman, every girl…that we do all we can.”
Paprocki’s ecumenical service promoted a peaceful march to Planned Parenthood’s health clinic at 1000 E. Washington St. Marchers included groups from area parochial schools.
Charlie Brown, 17, one of four Sacred Heart-Griffin students asked to participate in the service, read a quote from Martin Luther King asking for those in attendance to be concerned with “the nonviolent affirmation of the sacredness of all human life.”
Brown, who is black, said the significance of the day’s event for him was the promotion of anti-abortion efforts, not Alveda King’s appearance.
King, who lives in Atlanta, GA, spoke about her uncle’s, father’s, and grandfather’s work as pastors and said she knew they would support her years of work to end abortion.
On Thursday, Planned Parenthood released a statement saying King is using her uncle’s name to “further her position in the anti-abortion movement to the detriment of the health and well-being of women.”
The walkers headed out on foot about 2 p.m., going east on Lawrence Avenue Cook Street, north 11th Street Washington Street
Paprocki and King addressed the crowd again, asking Planned Parenthood to “bear witness to the truth” and offer women who seek their services the option of seeing an ultrasound.
“You say you want to give (patients) a clear choice- let them see their babies,” Paprocki said.
Pam Sutherland, vice president for public policy for Planned Parenthood of Illinois, responded that the organization does just that.
“It just shows how clueless the bishop is and Alveda King is about medical services that we provide,” she said. “Any patient who is considering abortion gets an ultrasound, and we ask if they would like to see it.
“I ask (Paprocki) to work with us to help reduce the need for abortion by making sure women have access to comprehensive birth control,” she said.
Sutherland said she also was concerned that Springfield
“Ninety percent of our services are general health-care services, so I find it interesting that (protesters) would want to protest and block access to our patients,” Sutherland said. “They blocked women from getting good health care services today.”
Police deputy chief of criminal investigations Cliff Buscher said police are not obligated to notify businesses of protest marches, but to provide traffic control.
Blogger's note: If Ms. Sutherland's ultrasound practices are anything comparable to Hope abortion mill in Granite City, they ONLY show the mother the crown of the unborn baby's head in order to calculate how much to charge for the abortion and how many days it will take to kill the baby. They don't show little fingers, toes, or a profile view so the abortion-bound mother doesn't see the humanity and fall in love with her unborn baby and walk out. Also, abortion is not "health care;" it's the deliberate, violent destruction of a human being. It's the most unnatural act of a woman's reproductive and mental health. Go to your local courthouses where abortion mills exist and look up all the lawsuits filed against the facility or the abortionist. Safe & legal?
