Joseph M. Scheidler, âGodfatherâ of the Anti-Abortion Movement, Dies at 93
A former ad executive, he pioneered a militant style of direct-action protest during the 1980s before winning a decades-long lawsuit that accused him of racketeering and extortion.
Joseph Scheidler outside the Supreme Court building. The court ruled unanimously in his favor in 2006 in a case arising from his threatening to impede the work of abortion clinics.Credit.Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
Jan. 20, 2021
Joseph M. Scheidler, a former advertising executive who became a leading figure in the anti-abortion movement by marrying media savvy with confrontational tactics, died on Monday at his home in Chicago. He was 93.
C-SPAN screenshot of Joseph Scheidler, founder of the Pro-Life Action League
Joseph Scheidler, an early leader and icon of the pro-life movement, passed away on Monday at the age of 93. He began the fight against abortion shortly after the
Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 and founded the Pro-Life Action League in 1980 to recruit and equip pro-life Americans to speak out for unborn children. Yet Scheidler also fought a decades-long court battle for his right to free speech in opposition to the abortion industry, a battle that birthed the Thomas More Society.
“My father’s proudest accomplishment was the pro-life work of those he inspired to take an active role in the fight against abortion, the greatest injustice of our time,” Eric Scheidler, Joe’s oldest son and executive director of the Pro-Life Action League, said in a statement Monday. “For years, people have been telling me about the talk or protest where they met my father, and how his words and example prompted them t