CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Office Depot officials have apologized to a pro-life Catholic woman in Illinois after their store refused to print her pro-life flier on fetal organ harvesting and prayer for the conversion of the Planned Parenthood abortion provider.<\/p>\n\tThe apology followed company officials\u2019 claims that the flier was \u201chate material,\u201d \u201cgraphic,\u201d or advocated \u201cpersecution of people who support abortion rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI am grateful that God has used this situation to unite countless people in prayer for the conversion of Planned Parenthood,\u201d Catholic pro-life advocate Maria Goldstein said Sept. 11.<\/p>\n
\tOffice Depot chairman Roland Smith had issued an apology earlier that day for the store\u2019s refusal to print her fliers.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe sincerely apologize to Ms. Goldstein for her experience and our initial reaction was not at all related to her religious beliefs,\u201d he said, inviting her to return to Office Depot to have her fliers printed.<\/p>\n
\tThe Chicago-based legal group The Thomas More Society represented the 42-year-old Goldstein, who wanted to print 500 of the fliers to distribute at her parish.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe are grateful that Office Depot has apologized for discriminating against Maria Goldstein based on the content of her flyers,\u201d Tom Olp, an attorney with the Thomas More Society, said Sept. 11.
\n\t\u201cThis situation is a reminder that religious liberty is increasingly under attack today, but it is a fundamental American right that every one of us should value and defend.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tGoldstein\u2019s flier included a prayer for the conversion of Planned Parenthood published by Priests for Life, a Catholic pro-life organization. The prayer asked God to \u201cbring an end to the killing of children in the womb\u201d and an end to the sale of their body parts.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cBring conversion to all who do this, and enlightenment to all who advocate it,\u201d the prayer continued.<\/p>\n
\tThe flier cited reports from the Center for Medical Progress, a pro-life citizen journalism organization that has now released ten videos of Planned Parenthood officials and others discussing how fetal organs and tissues are harvested from aborted babies.<\/p>\n
\tThe flier also cited statistics about the more than 300,000 abortions that Planned Parenthood committed in 2013, the millions of dollars in federal funding for Planned Parenthood, and the decline in the number of its cancer prevention services.<\/p>\n
\tEmployees at the Office Depot in Schaumburg, Ill., a suburb located 35 miles northwest of Chicago, told Goldstein during a an August visit to their store that copying the prayer would violate company policy, the Chicago Tribune reported. The employees told her she could use the self-serve copiers, which Goldstein said would have inconvenienced her. She instead went to a different print shop.<\/p>\n
\tBefore the apology, Office Depot spokeswoman Karen Denning had said company policy bars \u201cthe copying of any type of material that advocates any form of racial or religious discrimination or the persecution of certain groups of people.\u201d She said the flier had material that \u201cadvocates the persecution of people who support abortion rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tIn a Sept. 11 letter to the Thomas More Society, Office Depot assistant general counsel Robert A. Amicone justified the store\u2019s initial response.<\/p>\n
\tHe said the flyer discussed \u201cthe killing of children in the womb\u201d and \u201cthe grisly trade in baby body parts.\u201d He said that the prayer on the flyer had \u201cstrong language presumably condemning those who perform or obtain abortions.\u201d Amicone contended that the prayer characterizes such individuals as evil and he objected to its description of abortion clinics as \u201cdeath camps in our midst.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt is this type of language that led to the decision to refuse your client\u2019s copying request,\u201d he said, saying the material fell under prohibited \u201cgraphic material\u201d and\/or \u201chate material.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAmicone also suggested the employees were also unsure whether the material was subject to copyright protection. He rejected claims that the refusal was based on Goldstein\u2019s religious beliefs.<\/p>\n
\tThe Thomas More Society in a Sept. 10 letter had asked the company to reconsider its policy and print the fliers. Olp had said that if the company did not respond he would file complaints with the Cook County Human Rights Commission and Illinois Department of Human Rights. Olp argues that the refusal to print the fliers may have been an act of illegal religious discrimination.<\/p>\n
\tOn Sept. 11 the Thomas More Society said its attorneys and Goldstein are still in discussion regarding Office Depot\u2019s alleged discrimination against her.<\/p>\n
\tGoldstein said that because of the help of the Thomas More Society \u201cI was able to stand up for my rights as a Christian, and I hope other people are empowered to stand up for their religious freedom, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Chicago, Ill., Sep 17, 2015 \/ 12:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Office Depot officials have apologized to a pro-life Catholic woman in Illinois after their store refused to print her pro-life flier on fetal organ harvesting and prayer for the conversion of th…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\n
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