Pro-life group takes to the streets

A large group of pro-life supporters from churches in four counties lined Western Boulevard during lunch hour traffic Friday in an attempt to shame Jacksonville residents into closing clinics that perform abortions.

“We want to put an ugly face on the murder of babies,” said Christopher Jude Crowley II, of New Bern, who spoke for the group of about 35 protesters.

With a city-approved permit, the group assembled at 1 p.m. at the intersection of Western and Memorial Drive, an area where several prenatal clinics are located.

The clinic featured in many of the protestors’ signs was closed for Labor Day weekend.

The loosely-organized group made of members from several different denomination churches in Duplin, Jones, Craven and Onslow counties picked Jacksonville because they knew they would get their message to the most people on Western Boulevard. While it was the first time this particular group has demonstrated, Crowley said he hopes the protest is the first of many more to come.

“We’d like to be out here every week,” he said as he clutched his 11-month-old daughter, Elizabeth, with one arm and held a pro-life sign with the other.

He said he feels the growing number of abortions performed each day in the U.S. is a result of “apathy within the church.”

As the protestors waved posters at passing motorists, many drivers gestured in affirmation and some honked their car horns, while a few flashed obscene hand gestures.

Walter Camp, a patron at a nearby business, said he agreed with the protestors’ right to do what they were doing, even if he didn’t agree with their message.

“It’s mighty hot out here for this kind of stuff,” he said, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead and shaking his head.

Daily News columnist Mike McHugh contributed to this report.