Pro-life Hero Joe Scheidler's Home Vandalized by Anti-Life Activists

Joe Scheidler told LifeSiteNews.com that the vandal who threw the two bricks and a threatening note through his window is already forgiven, "because she must be in great pain." Scheidler also told LifeSiteNews.com that he had gotten wind of a low-profile meeting of abortion activists in the vicinity last night, which he speculated could be linked to the vandalism.

P>CHICAGO, IL (LifeSiteNews.com) - The home of long-time pro-life leaders Joseph and Ann Scheidler was attacked in the middle of the night on Wednesday, Dec 1, 2010 with bricks of asphalt being thrown through two front windows.

One of the bricks contained a threatening note from an obvious abortion supporter. The attack occurred around 2 am.

The note read: "We are crazy feminist bi***es who will destroy your sexist ideas."

"P.S. I've had an abortion and no laws could ever stop me," it continued. "You can't make Queen Anne's lace illegal, a******." The seeds of the Queen Anne's lace flower are traditionally believed to be effective as an early abortifacient.

Joseph and his wife Ann Scheidler are among the most respected pioneers of the pro-life movement, and have been active on behalf of the unborn for decades. Scheidler is the head of the Pro-Life Action League.

Scheidler told LifeSiteNews.com that he had gotten wind of a low-profile meeting of abortion activists in the vicinity last night, which he speculated could be linked to the vandalism.

While the first time his windows have been smashed, Scheidler said he was not new to such tactics.

"We've had spraypaint all over the columns, spraypaint on the garage, and of course when we're out on the streets ... we've had knives thrown at us, metal and eggs, I got a bucket of paint on me one time," he said. "So we're used to hatred."

A police report has been filed and a handyman scheduled for a separate repair was replacing the windows.

There has been a recent increase in violence against peaceful pro-lifers. In September, 2009, activist Jim Pouillon was brutally murdered as he stood with a pro-life sign in front of a high school in Owosso, Michigan. The pro-life group Operation Rescue's headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, has been repeatedly vandalized, and staff threatened in recent months. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, sidewalk counselors were threatened by a man at gunpoint and police later discovered a cache of weapons in the man's vehicle.

Operation Rescue president Troy Newman called on US Attorney General Eric Holder to "launch an immediate investigation into this violent hate crime," on a par with the special attention accorded to abortionists faced with pro-life opposition.

Asked what he would say to the vandal, Scheidler said that, "She's forgiven because she must be in great pain."

"What is there about abortion that is so good, so necessary? ... you probably needed real help rather than aborting your baby," he said. "I would also ask her pay for breaking the windows and not to do it again."

Cards and letters can be sent to:
Joe and Ann Scheidler
Pro-Life Action League
6160 N. Cicero Ave.
Chicago, IL 60646

---

LifeSiteNews.com is a non-profit Internet service dedicated to issues of culture, life, and family. It was launched in September 1997. LifeSiteNews Daily News reports and information pages are used by numerous organizations and publications, educators, professionals and political, religious and life and family organization leaders and grassroots people across North America and internationally.