Your appearance at CCHL sponsored demonstrations is a wonderful affirmation of Life and exercise of your constitutional right. Let us hope your presence and actions will move minds and hearts. To maximize the effectiveness of our efforts, we have formulated these guidelines and observations.
All CCHL sponsored demonstrations are conducted peacefully and lawfully in accordance with existing laws and statutes. At no time will CCHL direct, encourage or assist in any illegal action or activity.
At each CCHL sponsored demonstration, CCHL will provide a Picket Captain, who will be responsible for seeing that the demonstration is conducted within the framework of these guidelines. At demonstrations at UHPP facilities, the Picket Captain will take steps to see that the terms of the Stipulation of Settlement are followed. At all times, you should follow the directives of the Picket Captain.
Picketing is a form of communication. We are not "talking to ourselves." We are demonstrating to the public; we are making a statement to the passerby. Every demonstrator has a responsibility to CCHL and to each picketer attending. With this in mind, please consider the merit of the following directives.
Carry the suggested signs. We have designed signs with legible big print so that they can be read at a distance. We carry signs with the same message so that the person in motion can get the whole message by viewing portions on succeeding signs while passing.
Show Your Sign to the Street. If you carry it in front of you, the only thing visible to the passerby is the edge. No message gets across.
Stay Within the Proper Zone. The Picket Captain will designate the area in which you should walk or stand. Zones may be designated by road cones.
March in Single File. If you want to talk to someone, do not walk side by side. Instead, step out of the march and talk on the sidelines.
Keep A Steady Pace. Stay approximately 35 feet behind the person in front of you. Fill in gaps when necessary.
When acting as a Sidewalk Counselor, always approach people in a considerate, respectful manner. Hand them literature and speak your message in a normal tone of voice. Even if provoked, do not raise your voice. If a Sidewalk Counseling area has been designated, stay within that area while acting as a Sidewalk Counselor.
Refer Media to the designated spokesperson.
Refer any problems to the Picket Captain; do not attempt to resolve problems yourself.
Do Not Respond to Hecklers. Hysteria is definitely out. It signifies loss, and we are anything but losers. As Hugh Carey indicated at the 1990 March for Life in Washington, D.C., "the Politics of Life Always Defeat the Politics of Death".
It Is Good For Us To Be Here. Let's Keep Everything About Our Being Here Good!
CCHL Picket Guidelines February 1997
CCHL Picket Guidelines. These guidelines were approved and issued in the Winter 1996 CCHL Newsletter.