Because we earnestly wish all our supporters and correspondents to have a thorough understanding of what we do, I want to highlight a case that exemplifies a good portion of our regular work. There’s nothing glamorous about it.
It’s not the public revelation of a gigantic and illegal market for aborted baby body parts. It’s not a brutal attack on a lifesaving sidewalk counselor. It’s not exposing a murder mill that covered up the sex abuse of a minor girl. We’ve handled all these kinds of cases – and we are not afraid to engage in litigation when it makes sense and furthers pro-life efforts.
The sidewalk counseling matter below is the kind of work that we at Life Legal tend to day in and day out. But don’t stop reading! This is exactly the kind of work that saves lives every day from the abortion juggernaut.
Rescue the Preborn is a ministry of Faith Bible Church in Sharpsburg, Georgia. Members profess a powerful commitment to preaching the gospel while they intervene, by means of First Amendment activities, to save children’s lives at local abortion mills. They also offer a whole array of support services for mothers who choose life and for mothers seeking healing from abortion.
Their intervention is effective and, like many such ministries around the country, they have a brag book of babies saved and happy mothers. Not so long ago, they confirmed 101 lives saved at a single mill.
Rescue the Preborn’s preaching is real preaching. Don’t think here of the addled prelate in the wedding scene of The Princess Bride. Think instead of the thunderous speaker in “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show” – though with a much higher and more intense biblical content. The prayer warriors of Rescue the Preborn are not timid – and they have used megaphones and amplifiers to get their message across.
On that instrumentality, in part, depends on Life Legal’s involvement.
Rescue the Preborn regularly intervenes at an abortion mill in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Members use amplification of various sorts to reach abortion-minded mothers in front of the mill and in the parking lot to the rear.
The abortion mill doesn’t like that. Its operatives regularly call the police, invoking a somewhat nebulous local noise ordinance. And the police respond.
This pattern became a significant hindrance to the ministry through most of last year. Eventually, Life Legal was called in.
We investigated the ordinance, looked into local politics, communicated with pro-lifers and police, and advised Rescue the Preborn on how to maintain the ministry, revivalist zeal and all, while avoiding arrest.
The issue of amplification is a tricky one. It is established in federal case law that an abortion mill has the right to be free of intrusive noise that disrupts operation.
Because of this precedent, it would have been the height of irresponsibility to sue the city and its officials. It would have been a waste of our supporters’ donations – and it would have failed in its object.
But that doesn’t mean that amplification of the pro-life message is completely out of the question. Our extensive guidance to Rescue the Preborn allowed its leaders to navigate this difficult passage. And the results? No arrests, continued pro-life ministry, and more babies saved.
We’ve addressed other challenges to Rescue the Preborn in the same way – trying to avoid pointless antagonism while not retreating one inch from effective pro-life witness. And we do the same thing routinely for similar ministries throughout the U.S.
At Life Legal, we don’t hesitate to fight – and fight hard – when determined litigation is called for. But we also don’t rush into court to make a sensational point. Our objective is ensuring that pro-lifers continue their life-saving work rescuing babies and women from abortion.
Over 35 years of pursuing our mission, we’ve learned that, more often than not, sensible action is the most effective aid we can offer. Sometimes no news – no confrontation, no arrests – is truly the best pro-life news.