Tuesday April 6, 2010
Abortion Mailing Hoax Victimizes Pro-Life Action League
By Peter J. Smith
CHICAGO, April 6, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League says that has become the victim of mail fraud, with an anonymous group sending out flyers for a “Home Abortion Kit” and listing the pro-life organization’s address and telephone number as the contact information for the kit.
The Pro-Life Action League learned about the mail fraud when a Minnesota woman and a member of Kentucky Right to Life told them that they had received the flyers from a fake organization calling itself “American Women’s Health.”
Packaged in the form of snake-oil advertizing, the flyer says its Home Abortion Kit uses an E-Z applicator to break down an unborn child in the womb into “bio waste in a mere ten minutes,” which then can be removed with “no mess, no hassle, no fuss” by using a vaginal pump.
It says the Home Abortion Kit is “completely legal in all 50 states” and can be used until the eighth month of pregnancy.
On the flyer and envelopes was the name “American Women’s health,” but the phone number listed for inquiries, return address, and address for payments in fact belong to the Pro-Life Action League.
“In our 30 years working to help abortion-bound mothers and their unborn children, we have seen it all – from signs prohibiting protest activity, to lawsuits infringing upon our free speech, to baseless attacks in the media, and now targeted mail fraud,” said Ann Scheidler, vice president of the Pro-Life Action League.
The Pro-Life Action League on their website noted that do-it-at home abortion “is a blatantly illegal procedure in almost every state in the country.”
The pro-life group said they have made contact with the US Postal Service, the Chicago Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations to track down the perpetrators of the mail fraud.
“We know we’re not alone in experiencing these attacks on our reputation, but there are things organizations such as ours can do in these crises, in both the short- and long-term,” said Scheidler.
In a press release, the Pro-Life Action League recommended that all pro-life groups monitor what is being said about them, adding “it’s essential to keep your fingers on the pulse of your reputation.” They said pro-life organizations experiencing this kind of fraud and attack on their reputation should “share your own bad news” since getting the word out to friends, fans, and followers about what is happening can help bring in information that may lead to a perpetrator.
“This attack on our organization hasn’t slowed us down; it has only reinvigorated our fight to end all types of abortion – even the disgusting, largely illegal ‘at-home’ kind purported in this bogus advertisement,” said Scheidler.