Respect Life Group: Live Fetus Banner A Principled Stand

Palatine Area Catholics Respect Life will not be in the July 2 parade after refusing to drop a that includes a picture of a live fetus.

The Palatine Jaycees have said that the group has refused to work with volunteers and festival organizers. The Jaycees issued a Thursday on the issue. In response, Respect Life co-founders Lisa Moran and Martin Kelley issued the following statement:

The PACRL is a group of individuals that gathered last year to walk in the Palatine 4th of July Parade, to promote a Respect for all LIFE, from conception til natural death. We are a group with a positive message and have kept controversial images/wording out of our group.

2010: We sent in our application for the 2010 parade and included pictures of the banner we would be carrying and literature we would be distributing.

We were approved for our banner, along with balloons, t-shirts and candy with the words “Choose Life” on them (We have the emails to prove this).

We were asked not to hand out a pamphlet which showcases the stages of life from conception until birth and agreed to adhere to the Jaycees stipulations and did not hand it out. The day of the 2010 parade we gathered and when it was time to walk, a person from the Jaycees organization tried to infer that our banner was not approved. We informed her that she was mistaken and that everything was legitimately approved by the Parade Committee over a month before the parade. We then walked in the parade and received an enthusiastic/positive response from the parade crowd.

2011:  We once again applied using the same banner as last year. We received correspondence back from the 2011 Parade Committee that due to “the graphic detail on the banner” they could not accept it. We were directly told that if we replaced the picture of the fetus (an ultrasound photo of a baby) with a “picture of a pregnant woman or newborn child” they would accept our application. After informing them that we stand by our banner, the Jaycees President emailed our parade denial.

Our group has chosen to take a principled stand and not replace that ultrasound picture on the banner. We firmly believe that there is nothing “graphic” about that picture. We have pointed out the double standard in not allowing our group, while still allowing a controversial group PFLAG (Parents of Friends, Lesbians, and Gays) which could be deemed ill-suited for a family-oriented 4th of July parade. If the Parade Committee would have disallowed both groups, we would not be arguing the unjustness and would have accepted that decision. But it is quite clear to fair-minded people that there is indeed a double standard here and that our group is being unfairly targeted for exclusion.

We have also pointed out that similar groups walk in the Arlington Heights parade, Lake County parade and other parades in nearby areas, and without any controversy. In fact the Arlington Heights Respect Life parade group walk with an identical banner to the one we use (which yes, includes an ultrasound picture).

Our group is now being portrayed by the Palatine Jaycees as disrespectful and not willing to budge. Their representatives have stated that our group’s banner was not approved with our application. All of these accusations are misplaced and are completely false. Unfortunately it is their group that has been disrespectful to us and our freedoms. It’s quite obvious the Jaycees have chosen to discriminate against the Palatine Area Catholics Respect Life group because of the personal agendas of some on their current Parade Committee.

It saddens us that a fine community organization like the Palatine Jaycees’ could allow its President to deny our group the right to celebrate LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness at this 4th of July Parade.