{"id":47856,"date":"2016-12-08T16:18:47","date_gmt":"2016-12-08T22:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=47856"},"modified":"2016-12-08T16:18:47","modified_gmt":"2016-12-08T22:18:47","slug":"anti-abortion-protesters-sing-holiday-songs-outside-clinics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/anti-abortion-protesters-sing-holiday-songs-outside-clinics\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-abortion protesters sing holiday songs outside clinics"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Carolyn Talya Cakir<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s 9 a.m. on a Saturday. Most young adults would be sleeping in, enjoying their weekend. Not the members of Pro-Life Future, who gathered outside Family Planning Associates Medical Group to protest abortion through song.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, we\u2019re Christmas caroling for babies,\u201d says Pro-Life Future-Chicago leader Meghan Meehan.<\/p>\n

Family Planning Associates is a reproductive health facility that performs abortions in Chicago\u2019s West Loop.<\/p>\n

Decked in Santa hats, the dozen or so anti-abortion activists sang popular holiday songs as a \u201creminder to abortion-bound mothers that the salvation of the world came through an unplanned pregnancy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy Christmas caroling? Cause it\u2019s beautiful, it\u2019s just happy and joyous,\u201d says protester Meghan Meehan. \u201cThis is no one\u2019s favorite place to be on a Saturday whether you\u2019re in the clinic seeking treatment for an abortion or whether you\u2019re an escort. But we bring joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old nursing student is president of the Chicago chapter of Pro-Life Future, a national anti-abortion organization for young adults. She is sweet and soft-spoken, choosing to \u201coffer hope\u201d to women seeking abortion rather than hate.<\/p>\n

There are women who regret their abortions, says Meehan. She mentions a friend from the East Coast who had an abortion and told Meehan afterwards that she wished there had been \u201cat least one person outside the clinic who told her that she didn\u2019t have to go through with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s event is a far cry from some anti-abortion protests, where activists have been known to accost patients and providers outside of clinics, holding signs with images of fetuses. The stark difference between the two is a signature of Meehan\u2019s brand of anti-abortion activism.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a kid, I went to a planned parenthood protest, and there were people screaming and people being peaceful,\u201d explains Meehan. \u201cSo I decided which group I wanted to be in. \u2018That\u2019s how I want to protest,\u2019 I said to myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Standing along the same wall as the singing activists are a dozen volunteers in neon pink vests emblazoned with the words \u201cPro-Choice Clinic Escort,\u201d who ready to help any woman approaching the building for services.<\/p>\n

Benita Ulisano, founder of The Clinic Vest Project, organizes these clinic escorts for the Illinois Choice Action Team, a pro-abortion organization. She has spent 20 years in the reproductive rights movement, since Bill Clinton came into office.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe help people who are exercising their right to choose and their freedom to access reproductive health services,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s important for patients to know that we are here to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the peaceful nature of Pro-Life Future\u2019s protest, Ulisano says it is still a form of intimidation. The protesters are there to change women\u2019s minds and their presence can be frightening for patients.<\/p>\n

But Meehan explains that this is not her group\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201cIt\u2019s Christmas time, and people are supposed to be joyous and there\u2019s supposed to be peace and happiness,\u201d she says. \u201cSo we bring the Christmas spirit to a place that really needs it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA baby is conceived at conception,\u201d says Meehan. \u201cA child has a completely different set of DNA from its mother. So why do we treat this new life as if it doesn\u2019t matter?\u201d<\/p>\n

This is why Meehan and her fellow protesters brave the cold to spread their message.<\/p>\n

The election of Donald Drumpf has emboldened many of these so-called \u201cpro-life\u201d activists, who believe that his presidency will push forward their cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly do believe that Drumpf will elect the pro-life supreme court judges,\u201d says Meehan. \u201cAnd I truly do believe that they will overturn Roe versus Wade and, as Drumpf said, it will go down to the state levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ulisano was quick to point out that the protesters presence outside the clinic was a constant even before November 9.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is nothing new. Donald Drumpf\u2019s election hasn\u2019t changed anything. [Anti-abortion protesters] are here every weekend,\u201d she says. \u201cThe only difference is that after the election, we\u2019ve seen more volunteers sign up to be escorts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ulisano adds: \u201cI will say that his election has me very scared. I\u2019m worried that legal and safe access to abortion will banned, and women will seek out illegal alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n

How will anti-abortion groups respond if Roe v Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court? Meehan says they will move their entire focus to state legislatures and changed laws there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the states, according to research, it says that the emails are good, but [members] don\u2019t really look at them that well. The signatures are great but, again, they don\u2019t really do too much,\u201d Meehan explains. \u201cThe main thing to get your voices heard is make phone calls. So any time that a bill is on the table, we will make sure to send out email blasts and Facebook blasts requesting that people make phone calls.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo far it\u2019s been pretty effective,\u201d she adds. \u201cBut it is hard in the state of Illinois because there\u2019s mainly Democrat people, but we still try.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Pro-Life Future members sing Christmas songs outside of Family Planning Associates in Chicago. December 3, 2016 (Carolyn Talya Cakir\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Carolyn Talya Cakir It\u2019s 9 a.m. on a Saturday. Most young adults would be sleeping in, enjoying their weekend. Not the members of Pro-Life Future, who gathered outside Family Planning Associates Medical Group to protest abortion through song. \u201cToday, we\u2019re Christmas caroling for babies,\u201d says Pro-Life Future-Chicago leader Meghan Meehan. Family Planning Associates is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":306,"featured_media":47868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2582],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spring-2016"],"yoast_head":"\nAnti-abortion protesters sing holiday songs outside clinics - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/anti-abortion-protesters-sing-holiday-songs-outside-clinics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Anti-abortion protesters sing holiday songs outside clinics - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Carolyn Talya Cakir It\u2019s 9 a.m. on a Saturday. Most young adults would be sleeping in, enjoying their weekend. Not the members of Pro-Life Future, who gathered outside Family Planning Associates Medical Group to protest abortion through song. \u201cToday, we\u2019re Christmas caroling for babies,\u201d says Pro-Life Future-Chicago leader Meghan Meehan. 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