OPINION: Protesters hope for Supreme Court action as abortions increase in Illinois

Jun. 24—The annual Pro-Life Action League protests rolled through the south and southwest suburbs this week, offering fresh opportunities to examine the abortion debate in the context of political activism, religious beliefs and wealth disparity.

The group has mounted its Face the Truth tour for about 20 years, shocking suburban motorists and passersby with oversized posters showing graphic images of aborted fetuses.

Demonstrators visited Flossmoor, Orland Park and Mokena Wednesday and are scheduled to be in Oak Lawn and Chicago Ridge Friday. The group typically stages the tour in July.

Eric Scheidler, executive director of the Pro Life Action League, told me this year's action was moved up because his mother plans to visit a new grandchild in London next month.

Scheidler's father, Joseph Scheidler, founded the group and used his advertising skills to devise the campaign that often prompts complaints from people repulsed by pictures of tiny faces, hands and feet. Joseph Scheidler died Jan. 18 at age 93. This year's tour is being held in his memory.

I first met Joseph Scheidler in 2017 during a protest in Crestwood. I always appreciated how he answered any question and engaged in authentic discussion of the abortion issue without falling back on canned talking points.

Eric Scheidler and I chatted about a looming Supreme Court ruling in a case about a restrictive Mississippi law, controversy over U.S. Catholic Bishops potentially denying communion to Democratic politicians and how abortion often seems to be debated in the context of religion and morality instead of in terms of health, wealth and class.

Abortions increased 10% in Illinois in 2019, he said, driven by a 33% increase in abortions for women from out of state. The Illinois Department of Public Health reported the data in May.

Scheidler attributed to increase to the Reproductive Health Act of 2019, a state law that established abortion as a fundamental right. Meanwhile, Indiana and other neighboring states have adopted legislation that further restrict access to abortion.

"Illinois has become the abortion dumping ground of the Midwest," he said.

It seems like red states are becoming redder and blue states are getting more blue, I told Scheidler. The more Indiana and other states restrict access to abortion, the more likely it seems Illinois and other states will remove barriers to access. In that respect, abortion seems like a zero-sum game, a theory that suggests all the wins and all the losses incurred by two opposing sides add up to nothing.

I also reached out to Planned Parenthood of Illinois, for balance. Jennifer Welch, president and CEO, responded with a statement.

"In recent years, the abortion landscape has grown increasingly restrictive nationwide as more states enact draconian anti-abortion laws, including many of Illinois' neighbors," Welch wrote. "These barriers to abortion don't actually lower the abortion rate. Instead, these restrictions simply make it more difficult for those seeking an abortion to access health care."

I asked Scheidler about abortion as a political issue. The prospect of appointing a conservative justice to the Supreme Court likely drove turnout and propelled Donald Trump to the presidency in 2016, I said.

"Abortion has been an important issue that keeps coming up but it doesn't seem to motivate voters very much," he said.

I pushed back, pointing out that in the 3rd Congressional District abortion was key to progressive Marie Newman's defeat of former Rep. Dan Lipinski in the March 2020 Democratic primary.

"They had to fight really hard on just the issue of abortion," Scheidler said. "It took them two cycles, trying to cast Dan Lipinski as some kind of radical. I think progressives vote on the issue but more moderate voters don't."

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving a Mississippi law, and the court's 6-3 conservative majority could pave the way for states to ban abortion, The Associated Press reported.

Some activists seek to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that affirmed women can legally access abortion services.

Planned Parenthood opened a center in Flossmoor in 2019. I asked the organization to what extent the Flossmoor facility contributed to the increase in abortions on out-of-state women that year.

"A single health center does not impact abortion rates as much as neighboring states enacting harmful policies that restrict access to abortion, birth control and other essential health care," Welch wrote.

"Right now, Illinois serves as a safe haven for surrounding states, many of which have increasingly restrictive laws that create medically unnecessary barriers for people seeking abortions and other essential health care," she replied.

I asked Scheidler, who said he is Catholic, about the controversy surrounding U.S. Catholic bishops, who recently voted to draft a document that could rebuke Catholic politicians, including President Joe Biden, for receiving Communion despite their support for abortion rights.

"What really bothers me about that issue is that Democratic Catholic politicians are telling lies about what Catholic teaching really is," he said. "It's a tremendous hypocrisy."

There was dissent among bishops, I said, and the Vatican warned U.S. bishops not to politicize the sacrament. Pope Francis preached that Communion "is not the reward of saints, but the bread of sinners," The New York Times reported.

"You're supposed to go to confession and confess your sins," Scheidler said. "The sinners have to acknowledge they are sinners. I don't know what the Holy Father is talking about on that. He hardly ever says anything clear."

I posed a question on the topic to Planned Parenthood of Illinois.

"While PPIL has not taken a position on this specific debate, if it comes to pass it could have repercussions beyond denying the President the opportunity to take communion," Welch responded. "The reality is that support for safe, legal abortion is at a record high. More than seven in 10 Americans support abortion rights."

Scheidler expressed the view that abortion was an issue of morality.

"It's a moral imperative that we not kill our children, he said. "The sanctity of life is fundamental."

The pope and others seem to encourage a more holistic approach to the notion of morality, one that considers social justice issues, poverty and other concerns in addition to abortion.

"My mission is to fight for the lives of these unborn children, that's what I'm called to do," Scheidler said.

I asked Scheidler about concerns for the health and safety of women if states are allowed to ban abortions. Some are concerned that if states criminalize abortion, women will die while undergoing procedures in secret.

Economics often drive abortion considerations. A woman may feel she cannot afford the expense of raising a child. How does the abortion debate change when viewed through the lens or wealth disparity?

He agreed wealth inequality was a serious concern.

"The middle class has stayed still," he said. "The poor have gotten a little better off, the rich have gotten a lot better off and the very rich have gotten incredibly, insanely better off."

I think I fell short in my attempt to ask Scheidler how political support for restrictions on abortion was directly tied to tax cuts for rich individuals and corporations, but I appreciated his willingness to respond.

"I think too often we're willing to foist upon the middle class and the poor the negative externalities, the bad things that happen when more privileged people go and do what they want," he said. "It's not solving wealth inequality to kill innocent children."

Ted Slowik is a columnist at the Daily Southtown.

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