Memorial crosses placed in the public area outside Bakersfield’s FPA abortion chamber were confiscated by a Bakersfield code enforcement officer last Wednesday, while the code enforcement office continues to allow memorial crosses to remain in other public areas.

Code Enforcement Officer Dave Paquette stated that memorial crosses are allowed in public areas, but only for short amounts of time.  Memorials are specifically exempted from the City sign ordinance under Chapter 17.60.080.

The crosses which memorialize the specific babies killed each week in Bakersfield are taken down every week, and are much smaller than the other crosses in the Bakersfield area which have been allowed to remain in the public area for months after the deaths occurred.  In addition, the crosses outside the abortion center have always been attended while memorial crosses in other parts of town are usually unattended.

Please join us at the Bakersfield City Council meeting on Wednesday October 7 at 5 to let the Council know that you stand with us as we seek to keep posting crosses outside the abortion center.

Compare photos of local memorial crosses (ours and others)…

Posted: October 5th, 2009 under Action needed, News.
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As we have done for the past several months, we visited the Bakersfield City Council on September 9, sharing our concerns about how new parking restrictions impact our ministry activities and possible new efforts to interfere with our First Amendment rights . After we spoke, Councilmember Jacquie Sullivan spoke of her intention to send the issue to a committee.

As you listen to this video and realize what has happened over the past few weeks (with Sullivan claiming on September 23 that the Council would not be able to consider the issue, crosses being confiscated on September 30 and 40 Days for Life signs being called "illegal" on October 2), please consider joining us at the next City Council meeting , Wednesday, October 7, to make the Council aware that this is not only a concern of a few individuals.
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Posted: October 3rd, 2009 under Action needed, News.
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Dozens of 40 Days for Life supporters attended Wednesday night’s Bakersfield City Council meeting, hoping to hear Council Member Jacquie Sullivan move to send the parking controversy outside Bakersfield’s FPA abortion chamber to a committee, which Sullivan had promised on the record to do at the last Council meeting.

Tim and Terri Palmquist spoke during the public comment time, encouraging the Council members to pray during the 40 Days for Life.  Tim emphasized that abortion not only kills our community’s children but also brings serious harm on women in our community, giving the example of a woman whose post-abortion anguish caused her to jump to her death off the high bridge at the 58-99 interchange.

When Sullivan began to speak, it was clear that something had changed. Read more »

Posted: September 25th, 2009 under Action needed, News.
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Tonight at 5:00 pm sharp we will meet in front of City Hall (Truxtun Ave. at Eye St.) as we prepare to share our concerns with the City Council regarding the new parking restrictions. We will speak during the public comment time at the start of the meeting, so if you need to go to church you should be able to leave the meeting by 6:00 pm. Some people will stay outside to pray on the street during the meeting.

If you cannot attend the meeting, it is available for viewing or listening online. If you wish to send an e-mail message to Council members, please let me know and I will send you the addresses of some of the Council members.

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Posted: June 10th, 2009 under Action needed.
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"The public will not be impacted by these new parking restrictions," Bakersfield’s Public Works Director Raul Rojas told me mockingly on Wednesday. "This only affects you and your RV" (referring to our new Traveling Life Center mobile pregnancy help center).

Moments earlier, City Attorney Ginny Gennaro had told me, "this is not a controversial situation. I have only received one e-mail from a Council member about it." She was responding to my comment that in controversial situations, the City should study the situation more carefully before granting one party’s request for a parking restriction.

Early last Saturday morning, a Bakersfield City crew snuck in to install 30 minute parking signs outside the abortion center at 25th and H when we weren’t watching. Read more »

Posted: June 5th, 2009 under Action needed.
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At the request of Bakersfield’s Family Planning Associates abortion business, signs have now been erected on the public streets outside the abortion chamber restricting parking to 30 minutes.  Although most of the City Council members have expressed opposition to these parking restrictions, many of the Council members believe that they have no power to change the situation, because the City staff has told them so.

More details on this situation were provided in a previous entry , but the essential point which the Council needs to understand is that decisions regarding parking on public streets should be based upon the interest of the public, not just the interest of one party.  But City staff members told me yesterday that there has not been a public outcry against these parking restrictions, so they don’t believe that this seriously impacts the public.

If you have participated in any prayer vigils in the past, or if you intend to participate in any prayer vigils in the future, chances are that you will need to park in this area for more than 30 minutes at a time.  If so, the Council needs to know that you are a member of the public who is impacted by this decision.

The Council needs to understand that it is not just a few individuals who are concerned about this parking situation, so we need your help to print out this petition , Read more »

Posted: June 4th, 2009 under Action needed.
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I am writing to ask that you not allow the restricted parking signs in front of the family planning clinic per their request.  I am an avid supporter of Life Savers Ministries … my son was saved from abortion through that ministry. Read more »

Posted: May 26th, 2009 under Action needed.
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Yesterday morning a Bakersfield City crew began erecting new signs outside the FPA abortion chamber limiting parking to 30 minutes.  The new restrictions appear to be aimed at preventing us from parking the new Traveling Life Center RV outside FPA on abortion days.

Apparently FPA staff became upset at the effectiveness of the new Traveling Life Center at helping women decide not to abort their babies, so Aimee, the FPA manager (a relative of FPA owner Bud Feldkamp), contacted the City requesting the parking changes.  The City has no obligation to comply with FPA’s request, but according to City engineer Ryan Starbuck, the City tends to grant the requests of business owners in situations like this, assuming that they know their own parking needs best. Read more »

Posted: May 21st, 2009 under Action needed.
Comments: 1