Bill Diss was a high
school teacher in Portland, Oregon, one who consistently went the extra mile to
help students succeed. He also publicly objected when Planned Parenthood built
a large abortion facility in northeast Portland. When his activities became
public there was a dramatic shift in how he was treated at school; administrators
called him in for questioning regarding his activities and subjected him to
heightened scrutiny in the classroom.
In September 2012,
Planned Parenthood employees came into Diss’ classroom as he was handing back a
math quiz. They were there to recruit for their Teen Outreach Program (TOP).
When Diss objected and asked to be excused from participating with Planned
Parenthood. Administrators not only denied his request they systematically
subjected him to unwarranted review and harassment. Despite a wave of community
support, including letters from students, parents and fellow teachers, Diss was
fired andhis contract was terminated.
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Dana Cody |
Last week Dana Cody, president and executive director
of Life Legal Defense Foundation, filed suit on Bill’s behalf against Portland
Public Schools for violations of his civil rights and employment
discrimination.
Dana has been
championing the rights of women and the unborn for over twenty years. She
started as a lay-counselor to women in crisis pregnancies, and then fulfilled
her passion to protect women and children victimized by abortion by obtaining
her law degree. In 1996, she accepted the invitation to serve as a board member
of Life Legal Defense Foundation and later accepted the position as executive director.
Dana has been a
frequent guest on Faith On Trial and she will join us Tuesday morning for a
discussion of the Diss case and other activities of Life Legal Defense
Foundation which has just celebrated its 25th Anniversary fulfilling
its mission to give innocent and helpless human beings of any age, particularly
unborn children, a trained and committed defense against the threat of death,
and to support their advocates in the nation’s courtrooms. One of the cases
Life Legal has been involved in was that of Terri Schiavo.
