Graphic Anti-Abortion Fliers Upset Some Lake Forest Residents

An Ohio-based anti-abortion group has been exercising its First Amendment rights in Lake Forest by canvasing homes with fliers showing graphic photos of aborted fetuses.

The fliers that were distributed by Created Equal this week accuse Stericycle, a Lake Forest-based medical waste disposal company, of handling aborted fetuses, the Daily North Shore reports. They include a photo of what is described as an aborted 15-week-old fetus, according to the report.

That kind of graphic imagery has upset some Lake Forest residents who don't think the fliers are appropriate, especially if they get in the hands of children.

Lake Forest resident Michelle Horner told the Daily North Shore:

“I approached [the canvassers] and told them whether or not I agreed with the ‘point,’ it was wrong to put graphic pictures and leave them for my 7- and 4-year-olds to see at the front door. The three were maybe 16 to 18 years old. They felt proud about what they were doing, but I explained this was going about it the wrong way!”

A Stericycle representative told the Daily North Shore that company's contracts prohibit customers for using their service to dispose of aborted fetuses. However, an investigation by Ohio's attorney general found the Stericycle had disposed of fetuses that were in containers from Planned Parenthood. Stericycle claims they did not do so intentionally and that the company was unaware the containers contained aborted fetuses.

Created Equal posted photos of canvassers on its Twitter account, claiming to show people passing out fliers in the neighborhood where Stericycle President-CEO Charles Alutto lives. Posts on the account also describe Stericycle as a "main enabler of Planned Parenthood."

While it's legal for the group to distribute fliers, Lake Forest police have received complaints from residents, as well as canvassers who didn't like how they were treated.

More via the Daily North Shore

PHOTO: A Created Equal canvasser passes out a graphic anti-abortion flier in Lake Forest. (From Created Equal's Twitter account)