CHICAGO, May 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In response to the University of Notre Dame’s invitation to President Barack Obama to deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary degree on May 17, the Pro-Life Action League has erected two large billboards located near the South Bend, Ind., campus.
The billboards, to go up May 4 on the Indiana Toll Road, Interstate 80/90, will read, “NOTRE DAME: Obama is pro abortion. How dare you honor him,” along with a picture of a baby in utero sucking its thumb. They also will list a Web address, NotreDameProtest.com, where visitors can get information on the protests planned during the graduation weekend at Notre Dame.
“These billboards will be seen by hundreds of thousands of motorists, including most of the families coming to Notre Dame for the graduation exercises,” said Eric Scheidler, the League’s communications director. “They will help make the direct and irrefutable connection between Barack Obama and abortion.”
The League and its national director Joe Scheidler, a Notre Dame alumnus and former teacher there, already have called on the university’s president, Rev. John Jenkins, to rescind his invitation to Obama. They have protested at the university, and have said they will return to decry Obama’s appearance on May 17 if Jenkins’ invite stands. Nearly 60 Catholic bishops and scores of pro-life leaders have written Jenkins, urging him to cancel Obama’s talk, or otherwise protested his decision.
“As scandalous as the Obama invitation is, it presents us with a welcome opportunity to highlight Barack Obama’s pro-abortion record—something which was largely concealed by the Obama campaign and the media during last year’s campaign,” Scheidler said. “Obama’s extreme pro-abortion agenda is out of step with the majority of Americans, and that news is finally getting out, thanks to this controversy.”
One of the League’s billboards will be located on Interstate 80/90 east, half a mile east of the Elkhart exit No. 92, about 15 miles east of the Notre Dame exit, and the other on Interstate 80/90 west near Rolling Prairie, about 25 miles west of the Notre Dame exit. The League has rented the two billboards for 30 days each, so they will be in place for two weeks leading up to the Notre Dame commencement, as well as two weeks afterward.
The Michigan-based pro-life group, Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, also contributed to the cost of the billboards.