Crusade for Life's President, Beverly Cielnicky

Crusade for Life’s President, Beverly Cielnicky
In pursuit of the truth - cinops be gone - Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013

Excerpts from the Orange County Register, Ca., Sat. Jan. 19/13- A Steadfast Crusader

“Beverly is an unassuming, soft-spoken woman who has spent four decades making her voice resound.

“The sweater-clad, bespectacled 74year-old is a mother, a grandmother, a recreational gardener, a scrap booking hobbyist, and a retired fourth-grade teacher. But she is also the president of Crusade for Life, a grassroots organization opposed to abortion that was first incorporated in 1971, two years before the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade.

“Cielnicky has spent 42 years in the movement trying to educate people - mainly young women - about what she views as the atrocities of abortion, and with the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade on Jan. 22, she is as steadfast as ever in her pursuit to outlaw abortions.

“Crusade for Life’s mission is to make abortion illegal in America,” the Fountain Valley resident said, “We believe that as long as we’re killing babies, America wont be blessed. Steeped in Scripture Crusade for Life’s views on abortion fall in line with those of the larger movements- namely, that life begins at conception and that the unborn child has as much right to life as the mother. Cielnicky is unequivocal in her support for the national effort to make abortion illegal.

“Yet, when she speaks about her goal of education and ultimately persuading young women from getting an abortion, as well as her reasoning for doing so, she does it with little of the aggression and fist waving that has often defined the public debate from both sides over the years. She is firm yet compassionate.

“Beverley Cielnicky was born in 1937 in Berkeley. Her family was Christian but did not raise her in an overly religious household. When the time came for college, she chose Berkeley - a place known for churning out liberal activists, not conservative ones. But during that time, she said, she became more devoutly Christian….

“Cielnicky initially became aware of the debate in 1967, when-then California Gov. Ronald Reagan signed the Therapeutic Abortion Act, easing abortion restrictions. She began answering phone for a crisis hotline.

“Then, in the fall of 1971, she went with friends to a Crusade for Life rally in Whittier and met the organization’s founder, Don Smith… Compelled by a religious conviction that life is sacred, as well as the moral imperative of preserving future generations, Cielnicky began working for Crusade for Life. For the next 40-plus years (and counting) she volunteered with the non-profit group, eventually ascending to its presidency.

“Crusade for Life is small. It has not employees, just volunteers. It wasn’t until eight years ago it settled one a permanent location for its headquarters on Tustin Ave. in Orange, Ca. It is a fraction of the size of Planned Parenthood across the street, reflective of Crusade for Life’s sizable financial disadvantage….

“The more you show that’s it human baby, the more people appreciate that it is made in God’s image,” Cielnicky said, citing a 2011 Gallup poll stating that a majority of Americans view abortion as immoral. “If something wrong, it is wrong.”

Roe v. Wade events in Orange County

1) Tuesday, Jan. 22nd: Crusade for Life is hosting a protest to end abortion from 8:30-10 a.m. at Planned Parenthood on Tustin Avenue in Orange, Ca. Five representatives for various anti-abortion groups are scheduled to speak. Pastors and anti-abortion activists will speak at the rally at 700 S. Tustin Ave., Orange. Info: 714-963-4753 or email prolife@crusadeforlife.org

2) Tues, Jan. 22nd Prayer for Life Service at 7 P.M. at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange, Ca. with Bishop Kevin W. Vann. Reception to follow. 714-639-2900