Northeast Philadelphia's First Life Chain Held on Pentecost Sunday, May 1991
Below is an article sent to me by long-time friend and pro-life activist, Terry Noble. Terry who was one of the organizers of this Life Chain found it while doing a search on the internet.
This was our first life chain and as you can see by the article, we started planning it 6 months in advance.
For those who are not familiar with the Philadelphia area, Roosevelt Boulevard is one of the major roads in Northeast Philadelphia. It has 12 lanes for traffic, 6 going either way. We lined it for 10 miles on both sides of the road and in the middle lanes in some places. We estimated 100,000 people in attendance, while the police estimated 2500. I believe our numbers were more factual. (Ten miles on either side is a long distance).
It is so sad to read the statements from the handful of counter-protesters, particularly the statement of Janice Saltenberger. Hopefully, by now she realizes that the only difference between a 'fetus' and a 'baby' is location!
And while these anti-lifers boasted of pledges that day, we actually had people stop and give us actual donations which we sent to our CPCs.
Hope you all enjoy a little bit of history from Pro-Life Philly!
Abortion Foes Line Boulevard
By Richard Burke, Inquirer Staff Writer
POSTED: May 20, 1991
Philly.com
Abortion protesters lined both sides of Roosevelt Boulevard yesterday in a 10-mile "life chain" that organizers said was a powerful statement against abortion on demand.
Standing side by side carrying signs that read "Abortion Kills Children," protesters from scores of area churches, youth organizations, schools and other groups stood along the boulevard from Byberry Road in the Far Northeast to Front Street in the Feltonville section.
They waved at passing cars and urged motorists to honk their horns to demonstrate their support in an hour-long protest marking the celebration of the Pentecost, a Christian festival regarded as the birth of the Catholic Church.
"We see the birthday of the church as the rebirth of the pro-life movement," said Patricia Ann Dowling, chairwoman of the Delaware Valley Inter-Faith Prayer Community, which sponsored the protest. "We want people to realize that this issue affects everybody."
Dowling said 10,000 men, women and children had participated in the life chain. Police estimated the crowd at 2,500. The protesters stood shoulder to shoulder in some places, 10 yards apart in others.
There were no reports of violence or heated arguments that have marred similar anti-abortion rallies in the past, although some insults were traded when several abortion-rights advocates showed up at one intersection with their own signs.
"We're just here to let people know there's another side. It's not a one- sided issue," said Jennifer Giordano, who stood with several other counter-demonstrators holding signs that said: "Keep Abortion Legal."
Giordano and others supporting abortion rights waded into an area that held one of the thickest sections of abortion opponents, which by no coincidence was just yards from the Northeast Women's Center, site of past abortion demonstrations.
Barbara Thomas, president of the Northeast Philadelphia chapter of the National Organization for Women, said her group had received pledges of several hundred dollars at the event yesterday from pedestrians, motorists and others who oppose outlawing abortion.
"We think it's really sad that they don't know the difference between a fetus and a baby," said Janice Saltenberger, a volunteer at the Northeast Women's Center who joined the counter-demonstrators.
Organizers began planning the event in October, and invitations were sent to 350 churches in Northeast Philadelphia and Bucks and Montgomery Counties.
"We were getting calls from churches that weren't even contacted," said Terry Noble, one of the organizers.
Gail Pedrick of New Hope said this was her first demonstration against abortion.
"People are killing people," she said. "You can call it any name you want, but human beings are being killed and I feel sorry for the girls who have abortions and who find out later what they really did.
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