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Wednesday STOPP Report - July 29, 2009
by Marie Hahnenberg
Released July 29, 2009
In this issue:
Defunding PP: Pence Amendment passes Rules Committee but falls short on floor vote
PP promotes “Sex. Really.”
PP gains more access to most vulnerable children
PP investigated again for lawbreaking: Failed El Paso affiliate audited by state inspector general
Over 36,000 pro-lifers participate in historic webcast to stop abortion mandate in health care plan
Fighting PP in Austin, TX
Defunding PP: Pence Amendment passes Rules Committee but falls short on House floor vote
In a courageous attempt to strip Planned Parenthood of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, U.S. House Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) last week proposed an amendment to the Labor/Health and Human Services appropriations bill that stated, "None of the funds made available under this Act shall be available to Planned Parenthood for any purpose under Title X of the Public Health Services Act."
Pence pointed out that PP is the largest purveyor of abortion in the U.S. and, as such, should not be the largest recipient of Title X family planning money. He also alluded to the fact that PP continues to face allegations of fraud and failure to report sexual abuse.
Though the amendment was not expected to make it past the Rules Committee, Pence received word on Thursday evening that it had indeed passed through the Committee and would head to the floor for an up or down vote the next day.
American Life League, the Susan B. Anthony List, and other pro-life groups began mobilizing voters to call their representatives and ask them to vote for the amendment. Unfortunately, the amendment failed by a vote of 183 to 247. However, since the amendment went to a roll call vote on the floor of the House, we now have a record of how each representative voted. To see whether your representative took a stand to defund PP, click here.
Your STOPP team worked hand-in-hand with Rep. Pence’s office on the amendment to strip PP of its funding. Thank you for your support, which enables us to work at every level to stop PP in its tracks.
PP promotes “Sex. Really.”
The home page of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America features a link to a web site that it bills as, “A sex site for the brain. Really.” The site is called “Sex. Really.”
Clicking on this feature on the PP home page brings up a disclaimer that says, “You are being redirected to a website not affiliated with Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood has not necessarily reviewed and does not endorse the material you are about to view.”
Well, the web site, www.sexreally.com, is owned by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, and PPFA vice president for medical affairs, Vanessa Cullins, M.D., is on the campaign’s board of directors. So much for the disclaimer.
Once you get to the web site, you find that PP has a podcast posted there. This web site is filled with immoral, sexual propaganda. Some of the titles of the articles, videos and podcasts are shocking—definitely intended to grab the attention of anyone who may stumble onto the web site. The home page of the “Sex. Really.” web site says, “Sex Ed doesn't always cover everything when it comes to learning about relationships and sex. Where do we get the information to fill in the gaps?” It then links to “special guest Chia Schonberg of ‘Getting Kinky w/Chia.’”
What a way to fill in the gaps! As if PP doesn’t have enough perversity on its own web sites, it links to outside web sites to finish what it started in its immoral sex education classes and web sites. If you needed one more reason why PP should not be receiving our hard-earned tax dollars to curb teen pregnancy, now you have it. PP promotes “Sex. Really.”
PP gains more access to most vulnerable children
PP has found an open door to grab the hearts and minds of some of the most vulnerable children in the nation, those in foster care.
Partnering with PP on the “new working group on teen pregnancy and foster care” are the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and the National Foster Care Coalition.
Delegating PP, the anything-goes sex education/contraceptive/abortion mogul, to work to reduce teen pregnancies among vulnerable populations is like delegating the fox to guard the hen house. A recent article on LifeSiteNews.com cites studies showing that increased contraceptive availability results in increased promiscuity and abortions:
[I]nternational studies have found that greater access to contraception fails to reduce unintended pregnancies and abortions, and even leads to their increase. The causal relation is particularly evident in the U.K., where several studies have shown aggressive contraceptive and sex education campaigns have only led to a worsening of the country's teen pregnancy epidemic. Similarly, Swedish researcher Karin Edgardh found that despite the broad contraceptive availability and education in Sweden between 1995-2001, the country experienced a 33% increase in teen abortions.
The surveys suggest that encouraging contraceptive use facilitates sexual promiscuity, which leads to higher pregnancy rates, as contraceptives have a significant risk of failure, particularly with extended use. Ultimately, abortion rates rise as a necessary fallback.
PP investigated again for lawbreaking: Failed El Paso affiliate audited by state inspector general
It appears that PP of El Paso, Texas, which recently closed all seven of its facilities, is now being audited due to possible illegal financial activity. According to KFOX, the Department of State Health Services, along with the state inspector general, is conducting an audit of the organization’s financial handlings.
Breaking the law appears to be a pattern with Planned Parenthood. PP organizations across the country are being, or have been, investigated in California, Indiana, Arizona, Tennessee, Ohio, Alabama and Texas, among others, on allegations of fraud or covering up rape.
Over 36,000 pro-lifers participate in historic webcast to stop abortion mandate in health care plan
On Thursday, July 23, 2009, American Life League joined 70 pro-life and pro-family organizations in a webcast that attracted 36,187 participants. This was the largest pro-life webcast in history.
The purpose of the web seminar was to mobilize people of conscience to fight the mandate for abortion in the Obama administration’s health care plan. If you were unable to listen to the web conference, it is available at http://www.stoptheabortionmandate.com/.
The webcast included five urgent action items: 1. Pray; 2. E-mail and write letters to your Representative and two Senators; 3. Call the offices of your Representative and two Senators; 4. Spread the word to everyone you know; and 5. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Click on the link above for more details.
By doing these 5 simple things, you can help make a powerful difference that could stop this abortion mandate. ACT NOW!
Jim Sedlak, vice president of ALL, was one of the featured speakers on the web conference. He emphasized that PP is now in a fight for its survival, and that if it doesn’t get the money it wants through the health care plan, the organization is in serious trouble.
He told listeners that 34% of PP’s money comes from the government and it is desperate to get more. He noted that in mid-July, PP brought supporters to Washington and spoke with 250 lawmakers, pushing inclusion in the health care plan, and were able to get Planned Parenthood funding written into the Senate bill.
PP is sending frantic e-mails, trying to rally supporters to contact their legislators to insist PP receive funding through the health care plan, making it even more urgent that our legislators hear from thousands of people who oppose giving our hard-earned tax dollars to the largest purveyor of abortions in our nation.
Sedlak also spoke about the importance of the Pence Amendment, written specifically to exclude PP from all Title X Funding.
Fighting PP in Austin, TX
Hats off to Cam O’Keefe, Parish Pro-Life Coordinator from an Austin, Texas parish, who has been working with our STOPP team to implement a plan that can be a model for other churches.
After reading the handout from STOPP’s national director, Rita Diller, that was distributed at the Texas Knights of Columbus Convention about how 19 Amarillo area PP facilities fell, Cam ordered the Stop Planned Parenthood DVD from American Life League and studied it carefully. Using the DVD, she has rallied her pastors, her pro-life team and the Knights of Columbus to assist her in the fight against PP.
Cam writes:
We are going to attack it on 3 levels.
1) Expose PP to the parents in our parish. We will present the info on Margaret Sanger, the history of PP, and the Coalition of Ministers segments from the video. In addition, we will present info on teenwire (PP’s teen website). Like you told me, the best ammo is from their own info.
2) Looking into teacher-resource material to determine if PP is in our ISD curriculum.
3) Research, determine and tackle the local funding.
In addition to working within her parish, the local schools, and on stopping local funding of PP, Cam is in touch with the hierarchy of other churches in her area, and is sharing our video with them.
Is God calling you to start or step up the fight against Planned Parenthood in your area? STOPP has a proven plan to defeat Planned Parenthood and plenty of resources to help you. Please give us a call at 540-659-4171 and ask to speak with someone in the STOPP Department. Jim, Rita and Marie are waiting to help. You can also e-mail us at stopp@all.org.
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