An anti-abortion group in Chicago is advertising its 11th annual "Empty Manger Christmas Caroling Day" this year by posing the question, "Would Planned Parenthood have aborted Jesus?"
In an email to supporters and news outlets, the Pro-Life Action League said it will bring its caroling protest to Chicago-area abortion and family planning clinics in an effort to remind pregnant women of the story of Mary and the baby Jesus. Protesters will sing Christmas carols around an empty manger as they move from clinic to clinic, hoping to change women's minds about abortion.
"It has happened before," said the group's executive director Eric Scheidler in a statement. "We were singing 'Silent Night' outside of a Chicago abortion clinic when a young woman came out, approached one of our carolers, and said that our singing made her think about Mary and Baby Jesus and she just couldn't go through with her abortion."
"The empty manger has been a symbol of hope through the centuries, placed in the Christmas crèche in anticipation of the birth of the Christ child celebrated at Christmas," added Scheidler. "But the empty manger also represents the emptiness left behind by abortion -- the emotional and spiritual vacuum where a baby once was. We don't want any woman to experience that, and that's why we'll be there to offer our message of hope."
Planned Parenthood of Illinois provides pap tests, condoms, birth control, breast cancer screenings, sex education and abortion services to more than 65,000 patients a year. The organization said it did not wish to comment on the protest.