McHenry County Blog

Thought you might be interested on what 8th congresional candidate Bill Scheurer has to say on abortion:

Scheurer “Moderates” Abortion Extremes

It is Sunday morning, and Bill Scheurer, independent Moderate Party candidate for the IL-8th Congressional District, is in church. We will not say what church, but it is one known for taking a strong stand against abortion.

The speaker announces that a “nonpartisan voters guide” is available in the lobby. After the service, Scheurer picks up a copy of this “nonpartisan” guide.

It is actually not from the church at all but from Illinois Citizens for Life (ICL), an active lobbying group that also does electioneering and endorses candidates. The guide includes the following: “THIS SHEET MAY BE TAKEN INTO THE VOTING BOOTH.”

Out in the parking lot, all the windshields including Scheurer’s have a pro-McSweeney (Republican candidate), anti-Bean (Democratic candidate) flyer from the National Right to Life PAC (NRLPAC), with a Biblical quote: “I set before you life and death ... Choose Life then, that you and your descendants may live.”

Elsewhere, this NRLPAC flyer says, “Vote like life depends on it ... it does.” It also shows a baby photo with a large caption next to him: “This little guy wants you to help elect a Pro-Life Congress!”

Back to the ICL guide -- its ratings include, among others, the following: 1 - Fully Pro-Life; 4 = Totally opposed to Pro-Life issues; and U = Unknown (Did not answer or complete survey. The text claims these ratings were arrived at “through surveys, public statements, and/or voting records.”

Scheurer, who is widely known and on public record as opposing abortion as a method of birth control, receives a “U” rating. McSweeney has a “1” and Bean has a “4” rating.

Scheurer had in fact declined repeated solicitations to fill out ICL’s candidate questionnaire. “Like so many of these groups on either side of these polarized issues, the questions were all framed in the most extreme positions,” he explains. He also declined to fill out questionnaires from abortion-on-demand groups that endorse Democrat Bean.

His campaign had contacted ICL several times asking if they would accept a letter statement on his abortion stand instead of the survey. ICL never answered.

One can only guess that this experience -- both the ICL “guide” and NRLPAC flyer -- was repeated in many churches throughout the district and the land.

“How can people ever come together to find common ground,” Scheurer asks. “when our churches allow themselves to be used by these groups for such partisan extremes?”

“The noise volume from extremist groups like ICL and NRLPAC on the one side, and NARAL and EMILY’s List on the other, drown out the moderate voices like mine,” he adds, “which is what the mainstream majority really wants to hear.”