Longtime pro-life champion Joe Scheidler dies

Joe Scheidler decided to leave his career and become a full-time worker for the pro-life cause shortly after the Supreme Court legalized abortion with its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. The veteran pro-lifer died on Monday at the age of 93, according to a spokesperson for the Pro-Life Action League.

What is his legacy? Scheidler used sit-ins, protests, and other means of direct action to advocate for babies in and around abortion facilities. He fought a legal battle that lasted almost two decades and came before the Supreme Court three times when a pro-abortion group tried to pin him with racketeering charges for his pro-life campaigning. In the end, NOW v. Scheidler assured that advocates for the unborn have the right to protest and witness outside of abortion facilities. Scheidler’s attorney, Tom Brejcha, founded the pro-life legal group The Thomas More Society to keep pursuing the long-running case. Scheidler and his wife Ann founded the Pro-Life Action League in 1980.

Dig deeper: Read WORLD’s Q&A with Scheidler marking his 90th birthday.