Posted by father john george
on November 6, 2009, 2:26 pm
Lynn Benz, who has been a sidewalk counselor at the Hinsdale clinic for nine years, had a very different account of the scene at the Hinsdale clinic, however.
Benz explained to LSN that, because the pro-life counselors are not allowed onto the clinic property, they cannot contact customers unless the customers themselves choose to approach them. Benz says she usually stands in the middle of the driveway, which allows cars to drive by on either side or stop if they wish to speak to her.
"They can choose to talk to me, or they can pull in," said Benz. "We don't enter the property. How would we physically threaten them? And why? It would probably make them run faster for the door."
The other 25-45 people who regularly pray at the clinic, said Benz, peacefully pray the rosary off clinic property, and do not engage in shouting or protesting. She called Sr. Quinn's statements accusing the group of intimidation tactics "unbelievable."
"There are protests, there are different forms [of pro-life activism]," she said. "We are not out there protesting. We are out their praying and counseling - that's it. It's not a protest forum. That's not what we're about there. "
John Bray, another regular pro-lifer at the clinic, agreed that "there's no way anybody has physically assaulted anybody going into the clinic," and called Quinn's claims "quite frankly without basis."
"We are there to pray in a peaceful manner, which we do," he said.
In terms of violence, Bray said that police have been involved, but not because of the pro-lifers' activities. "About a year ago, we did call the police on one guy who got in my face and told me how many times he could kill me," he noted.
Bray says he considers his and other pro-lifers' presence as the true source of help for women, who often feel forced into abortions by their circumstances, or even by other people. "We have witnessed some pretty sad situations over the years of the women crying and literally being dragged into the clinic by those who brought her," he said.
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