By Liz Townsend
Once discarded like trash in a California field, 54 aborted babies received names and proper burials during a weekend dedicated to their memories October 9-11. Churches and pro-life groups in the Chino Hills area joined together in an organization called Cradles of Love to bring dignity to the tiny children.
Marie Widmann of Pro-Life Catholic Ministries, a member organization of Cradles of Love, told NRL News that a total of 1,300 people attended the weekend's events. "All the events were beautiful," she said.
Widmann added that even reporters covering the services seemed affected by the babies. "They didn't know how to speak about it," she said. "One started to say 'fetus,' but the reporter couldn't help himself and said 'baby' instead."
The babies were buried in Crestlawn Memorial Park in Riverside in an emotional service October 11. They were each carried in a handcrafted casket by a pallbearer and laid to rest under a granite monument stone that lists each baby's name with a quote from the Bible: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I consecrated you."
The babies' names reflect the interests and histories of the groups. Pro-Life Catholic Ministries chose Juan Diego, the loyal servant to Our Lady of Guadalupe. First Baptist Church chose Christopher, which is Greek for Christbearer. Project Rachel chose Susan Rachel, in honor of Susan Kleszewski, its former director. San Secondo d'Asti chose John Paul, after the Pope. Alive Now Christian Center chose Kieran, which means little one in Gaelic. Crusade for Life chose Unknown Joy.
About 600 mourners attended the burial service, according to local journalist Marianne Napoles. Napoles reported that a woman mourning her own two abortions came to the burial after hearing about the event on television and sobbed throughout the service. "We sat together while the dirt was being placed over the graves," Cradles of Love member Judy DeVries told Napoles. "She was all cried out by then. It was time for her to let it go."
Cradles of Love was formed when members of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church and Alive Now Christian Center gathered at the home of Bob and June Shelly in Chino Hills after two little boys discovered the babies in March 1997. A criminal investigation revealed that the babies were killed at a Los Angeles abortion clinic, according to the Press-Enterprise.
The bodies were placed in boxes and loaded onto a truck driven by Douglas Figueroa, who dumped his cargo in a field. Figueroa served 71 days in jail for "illegal disposal of medical waste."
Soon after the gruesome discovery, the Shellys, on behalf of Cradles of Love, asked San Bernardino County Coroner Brian McCormick to release the bodies to their group for burial. McCormick finally granted the request in early September 1998.
The group then began planning a weekend of memorial events, including a memorial service, a prayer vigil, a Catholic Mass, and a burial service. On October 9, two days before the babies were to be buried, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California announced in a press release that it threatened to sue San Bernardino County for violating the separation of church and state "if the fetuses are released to the church groups for the express purpose of holding religious services."
"People with different beliefs have different views on whether or not this fetal material is a person," Southern California ACLU associate director Elizabeth Schroeder told the Daily Bulletin. " By making this determination the coroner's office sides with the view of some religious groups that these are in fact babies." Schroeder said the "fetal material" should be incinerated rather than buried.
Pro-lifers dismissed the ACLU's threats. "The ACLU has had 18 months to do what they wanted to do," Bob Shelly told the Daily Bulletin. "They are very disturbed that the remains of these babies are being treated as humans and not as medical waste. When people think of the life of these children, they know that abortion is wrong. The ACLU wants to keep that a secret."
The coroner released the bodies without responding to the threats, and the ACLU has taken no action.
Members of Cradles of Love said they are hopeful the memories of the 54 abortion victims will bring greater awareness of the reality of abortion and the sanctity of life. The memorial weekend directly saved some lives when the abortion clinic where a prayer vigil was held the morning of October 10 closed for the day.
"God has used this far beyond our wildest dreams," DeVries told Napoles. "Those babies were instrumental in closing the clinic, giving healing and hope for post-abortive women at the funeral, and who knows how many pastors will speak out against abortion, in love."