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Every Tuesday for the past 10 years, Dolores Trefelner holds onto her rosary beads outside the ACU Health Center and prays.
The Willowbrook resident hopes one day the Hinsdale clinic will put an end to its abortion practices.
Trefelner’s protests every Tuesday — rain or shine — are her battle. But her war is to end abortion altogether. It’s a fight she said she has been waging for 37 years — since Roe v. Wade.
“We’re hoping to close this and all abortion clinics all over the world,” Trefelner said outside the clinic March 3. Bundled up for the cold weather, Trefelner clenched onto rosary beads. Beside her stood a propped-up picture of the Virgin Mary.
Trefelner is one of a group protesters — sometimes more than a dozen — who gather outside the ACU Health Center each week.
The clinic, 736 North York Road, offers the RU486 pill along with other abortion procedures, according to its website, www.acuhealthcenter.com.
Protests’ different themes
Anti-abortion advocates, some from St. Isaac Church in Hinsdale, surround the health center in even bigger numbers on Saturdays, according to Hinsdale resident Amy Keane, who also pickets in front of the ACU Health Center.
Yet, unlike protests of the past, they don’t shout, chant or march, she said.
“That attitude has totally changed over the years,” said Keane, who calls the protests “prayer vigils.” “People think that we’re condemning — that’s not what we’re doing.”
Instead, Keane said, they pray and offer information to women thinking about getting abortions.
Linda Lofgren, of Countryside, takes part in the movement by offering information to women outside the clinic on Fridays. But growing up in the 1960s, she remembers the days when protests were far less peaceful.
“It was the beginning of knowing you have to stand up for what you believe,” she said of the ’60s.
While Lofgren began picketing at the Hinsdale clinic five years ago, her first protest took place decades earlier in Chicago when marching in support of equal rights for women.
She spoke of why she felt the motivation to protest at the clinic each week.
“My faith started to grow,” Lofgren said.
Women approaching clinics
Keane was one of the first people to offer information outside the Hinsdale clinic when it opened 12 years ago, just three blocks from her house. Over the years, the number of protesters has grown, Keane said.
“I don’t know how everyone finds their way here,” Keane said.
Every Tuesday for the past 10 years, Dolores Trefelner holds onto her rosary beads outside the ACU Health Center and prays.
The Willowbrook resident hopes one day the Hinsdale clinic will put an end to its abortion practices.
Trefelner’s protests every Tuesday — rain or shine — are her battle. But her war is to end abortion altogether. It’s a fight she said she has been waging for 37 years — since Roe v. Wade.
“We’re hoping to close this and all abortion clinics all over the world,” Trefelner said outside the clinic March 3. Bundled up for the cold weather, Trefelner clenched onto rosary beads. Beside her stood a propped-up picture of the Virgin Mary.
Trefelner is one of a group protesters — sometimes more than a dozen — who gather outside the ACU Health Center each week.
The clinic, 736 North York Road, offers the RU486 pill along with other abortion procedures, according to its website, www.acuhealthcenter.com.
Protests’ different themes
Anti-abortion advocates, some from St. Isaac Church in Hinsdale, surround the health center in even bigger numbers on Saturdays, according to Hinsdale resident Amy Keane, who also pickets in front of the ACU Health Center.
Yet, unlike protests of the past, they don’t shout, chant or march, she said.
“That attitude has totally changed over the years,” said Keane, who calls the protests “prayer vigils.” “People think that we’re condemning — that’s not what we’re doing.”
Instead, Keane said, they pray and offer information to women thinking about getting abortions.
Linda Lofgren, of Countryside, takes part in the movement by offering information to women outside the clinic on Fridays. But growing up in the 1960s, she remembers the days when protests were far less peaceful.
“It was the beginning of knowing you have to stand up for what you believe,” she said of the ’60s.
While Lofgren began picketing at the Hinsdale clinic five years ago, her first protest took place decades earlier in Chicago when marching in support of equal rights for women.
She spoke of why she felt the motivation to protest at the clinic each week.
“My faith started to grow,” Lofgren said.
Women approaching clinics
Keane was one of the first people to offer information outside the Hinsdale clinic when it opened 12 years ago, just three blocks from her house. Over the years, the number of protesters has grown, Keane said.
“I don’t know how everyone finds their way here,” Keane said.
Before the ACU Health Center opened, Keane and Trefelner gathered at an abortion clinic in Westmont. But after it closed in Sept. 2001, they and others moved to the Hinsdale clinic.
While the protests in Westmont during the 1980s were much more dramatic, Keane said, rarely do the anti-abortion advocates in Hinsdale have to deal with police. Trefelner said during her 37 years protesting against abortion, police have intervened just twice.
“We try to be mindful of what the law is,” Lofgren said.
Hinsdale Deputy Police Chief Mark Wodka said police generally have not needed to intervene with the protests.
“They’re respective of the private property,” Wodka added.
According to Wodka, police were called to the site once in April 2010 for a noise violation complaint. Wodka said there were about 20 protestors who were reportedly praying too loudly in the early daytime hours, he said. The protestors left shortly after the complaint, Wodka said.
There have been occasions where the anti-abortion advocates have convinced women to avoid abortions, Lofgren said, adding that the women approaching the clinic are often “very conflicted.”
“We don’t say anything to anyone unless they come up to us,” Lofgren said. “Some people who come are undecided and think (abortion) is the only option.”
Trefelner said once or twice a year, while demonstrating, she is approached by a mother and their child.
“A mother will tell us she was on her way (to have an abortion) and stopped because she saw us praying,” she said. “That thrills us.”
Keane had similar accounts.
Recently, she and other anti-abortion advocates spoke with a boyfriend of a woman who was thinking about getting an abortion, she said. Weeks after, he returned to tell them his girlfriend changed her mind and thanked them, Keane said.
“We’ve had a lot of stories through the years,” she said.
String of Lenten protests
Beginning Ash Wednesday, a variety of Christian churches nationwide planned to protest outside abortion clinics in more than 247 cities, including Hinsdale, Trefelner said.
The vigils will continue during Lent for 40 days until April 17.
According to Trefelner, a vigil will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily March 23 to 30 at the ACU Health Center in Hinsdale.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Officials from ACU Health Center did not respond to requests for interviews.
