July 23, 2024
Students for Life Action (SFLAction) hit the road last week, starting Sunday, July 14, as a part of The Defund Planned Parenthood Truck Tour through the Abortion Capital of the Midwest. Stopping by Chicago, Illinois, SFLAction made a massive impact with different events highlighting the truth of abortion and educating people who may not know otherwise.
Join us on a journey breaking down our many impactful events, including counseling, Cemetry of the Innocents, movie screenings, and colorful interactions.
Sunday: Unplanned Screening at St. Cyril and Methodius
For our first event, St. Cyril and Methodius Church kindly hosted the billboard truck in the parking lot across from the church grotto.
About halfway through the Unplanned movie, about a former abortion worker, a young college student who lived in a neighboring house heard the movie and came to ask what the event was. He was so excited to attend that he asked if he could bring his family. Shortly after, it started to rain and storm, and though the movie ended early, the donations didn’t, as people continued to bring baby items.
Even though the movie ended early, people left informed, emotionally moved, and their hearts pricked for action on behalf of the preborn.
Monday: Aurora Planned Parenthood Sidewalk Counseling
A good billboard truck tour wouldn’t be complete without a trip to a local Planned Parenthood.
So, we circled the block countless times and passed by the Aurora Planned Parenthood and a busy grocery store. While the billboard truck was on a mission, Northern Regional Coordinator Tom Usle and Upper Midwest Field Operations Coordinator Veronica Janiszewski joined the sidewalk counselors from the Pregnancy Resource Center (PRC) at the Waterleaf Center.
Many people drove by, and some said how wonderful it was to have the truck focusing on Planned Parenthood and showing advertisements for Standing with You. Those from across the street for Waterleaf were seen by thousands, at least during that time. We had planned to have our second Unplanned screening later that evening at Village Bible Church, but thunderstorms and tornados with 75mph winds forced us to cancel for everyone’s safety. But don’t worry, we’ll be back!
Tuesday: Flossmoor Abortion Free Cities Sidewalk Counseling and Summer of Service Door-Knocking
With the help of some volunteer sidewalk counselors, Usle and Janiszewski talked to at least a dozen people driving into the Flossmoor Planned Parenthood parking lot. Most of those who talked to us accepted our literature on SWY and Aid for Women Flossmoor. While some drivers were glad to see us, many others were not. However, the billboard truck especially drew a lot of attention.
SFLAction reached almost 100 homes in the Flossmoor area, with a person answering the door more than 25% of the time. We were first stopped on the street by a man and woman who came out to see the billboard truck, which drove around the neighborhood for hours promoting SWY. The man was more middle of the road and ended up agreeing with much of what we told him about post-abortive trauma for women and the importance of fathers stepping up to support their children and their mothers.
The items donated from the week will be gifted to Aid for Women Flossmoor and the St Thomas More Church Pantry.
Wednesday: Cemetery of the Innocents at the University of Illinois Chicago and Unplanned Screening at St. Thomas More
Next up, SFLAction visited the University of Illinois Chicago to set up our Cemetery of the Innocents COI display. At the same time, Mark drove the billboard truck around the campus and parked next to our display for a while. We had a lot of conversations with passersby going to summer classes on the topic of how extreme Illinois abortion laws are and the catastrophic number of preborn lives taken every day by Planned Parenthood. We spoke with many residents of the state and many international folks from all over the world.
One professor, originally from Montenegro, was walking by with her son when she saw our display and was glad we were raising awareness of the subject. She told us about the travesty that in her country, despite having been banned for more than a decade, gender-selective abortions are still being performed on preborn girls, leading to a drastic disparity in the rate of boys versus girls being born.
After some opposition from angry women, a young man was interested in SFLAction who had been pro-life most of his life but never felt confident expressing that as a man. He was amazed to learn how corrupt Planned Parenthood is, and he felt much more assertive about standing for life. Later that evening, we hosted our final Unplanned Screening at St. Thomas More Church in Chicago. People donated even more items to the church’s pantry, where volunteers distributed baby and food items to local families and residents in need. None of the students and parishioners who came to the event had seen Unplanned before, but all of them were so incredibly moved by the story they asked where they might buy the movie for themselves to show others.
SFLAction staff and volunteers keep busy educating and raising awareness in many ways, and this concentrated effort in Chicago, IL, is just one successful example of that. As abortion becomes more contentious in the political and public square, SFLAction and its sister organization, Students for Life of America (SFLA), will be boots on the ground, ready.
READ: Does Door Knocking Change Minds AGAINST Abortion Extremism? We KNOW It Does
