Juli Loesch (born 1951) (akas: Julianne Wiley, Julie Loesch Wiley, Juli Loesch Wiley) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

activist and former media coordinator for Operation Rescue in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. Born in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

, in 1951, Loesch attended Antioch College, where, as an anti-war advocate, she pursued an education in non-violent social change. Within 3 months she was in Delano, California, working for

Cesar Chavez Cesar Chavez (born Cesario Estrada Chavez ; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged ...

of the

United Farm Workers The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the Agricultural Workers Organizing ...

(UFW). She later worked in organizing grape and lettuce boycotts in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

and

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

in support of agricultural labor strikes in California. In 1972 Loesch became one of the founding members of the Pax (Peace) Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, joining Sr. Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB, in forming a Catholic feminist peace community. This group, comprising Benedictine Sisters and lay associates, was organized more or less on the

Catholic Worker ''Catholic Worker'' is a newspaper published seven times a year by the flagship Catholic Worker community in New York City. The newspaper was started by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin to make people aware of church teaching on social justice. Hist ...

model, combining activism with the Works of Mercy (soup kitchen, homeless shelter work. etc.) The Pax Center, together with other Catholic antiwar activist groups, soon morphed into Pax Christi USA, the American affiliate of Pax Christi, an international Catholic peace movement. In the late 1970s, Loesch became an activist associated with the "Mobilization for Survival", a coalition which opposed

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

. She became convinced that

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

and the nuclear arms race were moral equivalents, and advocated partnership between the peace and

movements. In 1979, she founded the "bridge" organization Prolifers for Survival, which operated until 1987. She has written extensively on these and related subjects. The larger

Consistent Life Ethic The consistent life ethic, also known as the consistent ethic of life or whole life ethic, is an ideology that opposes abortion, capital punishment, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. Adherents oppose war, or at the very least, unjust war; some adh ...

movement grew partly out of her writing and activism. Her articles or essays (many searchable via "Juli Loesch" or "Juli Loesch Wiley") have appeared in, among other publications, the ''

New Oxford Review The ''New Oxford Review'' is a magazine of Catholic cultural and theological commentary.Ronald Lora, William Henry Longton, ''The conservative press in twentieth-century America'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, p. 20/ref>Mary Jo Weaver, ''Bein ...

'', the '' National Catholic Reporter'', the '' National Catholic Register'', ''Consistent Life'', ''

Commonweal Commonweal or common weal may refer to: * Common good, what is shared and beneficial for members of a given community * Common Weal, a Scottish think tank and advocacy group * Commonweal (magazine), ''Commonweal'' (magazine), an American lay-Cath ...

'', ''

Sojourners ''Sojourners'' is a progressive monthly magazine and daily online publication of the American Christian social justice organization Sojourners, which arose out of the Sojourners Community. It was first published in 1971 under the original titl ...

'', ''Caelum et Terra'', and ''

Touchstone Touchstone may refer to: * Touchstone (assaying tool), a stone used to identify precious metals * Touchstone (metaphor), a means of assaying relative merits of a concept Entertainment * ''Touchstone'' (album), a 1982 album by Chick Corea * T ...

''. Loesch is married to Donald Wiley, with whom she has two grown sons, and is a Contributing Editor to Women for Faith and Family's "Voices"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loesch, Juli 1951 births Living people People from Erie, Pennsylvania American pacifists American anti-abortion activists People from Yellow Springs, Ohio Roman Catholic activists Catholic feminists Antioch College alumni Activists from Pennsylvania Activists from Ohio