Some months ago, pro-lifers were shocked on receiving the news from the U.S. that Joan Andrews Bell, the heroic young woman who served a long prison sentence some 12 years ago, had again been sentenced to an unspecified prison term.

We are now faced with another shock. The great Joe Scheidler, probably the most effective pro-lifer in the United States, is being charged by the pro-abortion National Organization of Women (NOW) for his pro-life work. The case was to begin on March 4, and will probably continue for months. Taking into account the blatant pro-abortion sentiments of the American courts, it is almost certain that Joe will not receive justice and he may suffer physically and certainly financially from the whole procedure.

Who is Joe Scheidler?

While those who have been connected with the pro-life movement here in Canada for some years certainly have met Joe or know about him, I imagine that more recent activists may be unaware of the almost incredible activities of this pro-life hero. And so I thought that, rather than try to express myself in my less-than-Shakespearean prose, I would give the readers some quotations from the foreword to Joe’s wonderful book, Closed - 99 Ways to Stop Abortion. The forward was written by Frank Schaeffer.

Having lamented the tragic lack of leadership in America in the present age, the writer says, “Thank God that in our day of inhumanity and spiritual lifelessness, the Lord has raised up heroes, leaders and saints to step forward into the breach. Joseph Scheidler is such a man. He has seen the sorrow, suffering and wickedness of abortion and has accepted the challenge to stop this evil trade in human flesh, this resurrection of the spirit of Nazism, this ‘liberal’ fascism. Joseph Scheidler has been unwilling, in this age of genocide and eugenics, to sit back and wait for either changing political climates or Supreme Court reversals. Every day that passes more babies are murdered within their mothers’ wombs.

“The abortion business is a soul-destroying evil, paralleled only in the darkest moments of history, and Joseph Scheidler has stepped forward to lead the fight against abortion, not by word alone but also by deed.”

UnChristlike?

In a later paragraph, Mr. Schaeffer refers to the people who say that any direct action, such as picketing outside abortuaries, incites violence and is “Un-Christlike.”  He answers these objections in the following words: “Yet, Christ took direct action against the hypocrisy and wickedness of the age in which He lived. He drove the money changers out of the Temple. He took direct action against disease by healing the sick. He accused the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin, to their faces, of wickedness and deceit. Love must not be confused with timidity and compromise. True compassionate, loving, Christ-like behavior is often tough. To remain silent in the midst of evil is to side with that evil. To do nothing, to say nothing, is to allow the dead and the dying to lie unattended on the roadside.”

New shepherd

In his final paragraph, the writer states, “With deep gratitude, therefore, I commend Joe Scheidler for the personal price he has paid, as evident in this moving and inspiring book. In this misguided generation, God raises up shepherds to do the work of those leaders who have abdicated their responsibility to lead His people.

“When apparent shepherds show themselves to be hirelings fleeing before the wolves - the Lord raises up men like Joe Scheidler to show the way.”

Having known Joe personally and followed his pro-life work for more than 20 years, I would like to add a personal “Amen” to what Mr. Schaeffer has written in the foreword to Joe’s book, Closed - 99 Ways to Stop Abortion.

(Ed. note: Anyone wishing to support Joe Scheidler, or other pro-life legal defence funds, can send their contributions to Campaign Life Coalition, 53 Dundas Street East, Suite 305, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 1C6.)