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Wednesday STOPP Report - September 23, 2009
by Rita Diller
Released September 23, 2009
In this issue:
PP’s president continues crusade against abstinence
Another elderly pro-life man violently attacked for his pro-life witness
40 Days for Life to kick off today
Showing the truth to PP construction workers in Portland, Oregon
Good riddance to Kirksville, Missouri, PP
Pasco, Washington, planning commission says ‘NO’ to PP
PP’s president continues crusade against abstinence
On September 14, Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, continued her crusade against abstinence education when she participated in the Faith and Freedom Speakers series in San Antonio, Texas – an event that is cosponsored by the Texas Freedom Network and PP.
She laid the blame for high teen pregnancy rates at the feet of what PP calls “abstinence-only education,” meaning education that encourages young people to remain sexually abstinent and does not promote PP-style immorality and contraception. She referred to abstinence-only education as a “political program.”
Richards rejoiced that the Obama budget eliminates funding for abstinence education. She said that PP is collaborating with MTV and the Centers for Disease Control “to provide teens with access to information that they might not have access to at school or at home.”
Richards founded the Texas Freedom Network in 1995 to “promote public education and religious freedom in a way that counters religious conservatism.”
Another elderly pro-life man violently attacked for his pro-life witness
A week after the murder of 63-year-old pro-life activist James Pouillon, a 69-year-old man was attacked by two younger women. Johnny Wallace was holding a nongraphic sign as he stood alone near City Hall in Flagstaff, Arizona, on Saturday, September 19. At the time of the assault, he was displaying signs that read, “Abortion kills more black Americans in four days than the Klan killed in 150 years” and “Life begins at conception and ends at Planned Parenthood.”
In light of the escalating violence against pro-life activists, Operation Rescue leader Troy Newman is calling on local Christian communities to join pro-life advocates who witness on public streets and sidewalks to ensure that they are not left alone. “There is truly safety in numbers,” Newman said.
STOPP joins in that admonition. Our web site provides guidelines for successful public pro-life witness. We do not recommend that anyone conduct protests outside PP facilities alone. Always bring at least one other person with you so that there will be a witness of whatever may occur. Those who are upset by our message are much more hesitant to become violent if there are a number of people present.
40 Days for Life to kick off today
Conceived in 2004 as a local effort to oppose Planned Parenthood’s killing center in College Station, Texas, 40 Days for Life has become the “largest, most widespread coordinated pro-life event ever.”
It incorporates around-the-clock prayer and intense fasting over a 40-day period outside PP and other abortion facilities.
The fall 2009 campaign begins on September 23 at 212 locations – in more than 200 cities in 45 American states, in five Canadian provinces and in Denmark.
Ninety-one percent of the participants in the spring campaign reported spiritual growth as a result of their participation. And three abortion mills closed following the campaign.
The Bulletin, a Philadelphia newspaper, ran a lengthy article on September 20, tracing the history of 40 Days for Life and noting the campaign’s effectiveness in energizing pro-life advocates and impacting abortion in local communities.
To find the nearest 40 Days for Life vigil, go to www.40daysforlife.com/location.cfm.
Showing the truth to PP construction workers in Portland, Oregon
In the September 17 Catholic Sentinel, the official newspaper for the Archdiocese of Portland and the Diocese of Baker, guest columnist Nina Rhea reported, “Show The Truth-Washington members traveled in three vehicles from Olympia, Wash., bringing 18 pro-lifers, mostly Catholic youths” to Portland to display the truth about abortion to construction workers who are building a new Planned Parenthood abortion facility.
In collaboration with STOPP, Nina has led the charge to educate the construction workers at the site about PP’s agenda, in an attempt to dissuade them from working there. As she began prayer vigils outside the construction zone to witness to and interact with the workers, she was shocked to find that they were unaware, or in denial, that they were building a PP killing center.
The Truth Tour was an innovative way to inform the workers of the horrors that will be committed inside the facility they are building.
Nina described the action:
Tour members stood peacefully beside 4-foot signs of aborted babies. A second truck with photographs was driven by Darius Hardwick of the Center for Bioethical Reform Northwest, located in Salem.
A Show the Truth truck displayed two large color photographs depicting a baby and a woman with the caption, “Abortion: one killed, one wounded.” The “one wounded” refers to post-abortive women.
Good riddance to Kirksville, Missouri, PP
Planned Parenthood will end a 38-year run in Kirksville on November 14, when the facility will permanently shut down. PP officials blamed declining client numbers, lack of donations and a lack of rural nurse practitioners for the closure.
Truman State University’s campus newspaper, the Index, broke the story in an article that relied heavily on Students for Choice (formerly known as Vox, PP’s youth activism effort) for comment. Of course, this group lamented the facility’s closure.
The newspaper failed to query the campus pro-life group, Students for Life, to get its views. STOPP contacted SFL and found it jubilant. President Jacqueline Ross and Vice President Lauren Dowdy released the following statement:
Students for Life at Truman State University does not support Planned Parenthood and its pro-choice views, so we were very excited to hear about its upcoming local closing here in Kirksville. Our group promotes the respect of life at all stages; therefore, we do not support an organization that is responsible for over 5,000 deaths a week nationwide. It is our hope that more women dealing with unplanned pregnancies in the Kirksville area will now turn to Lifeline Pregnancy Resource Center, where they can receive counseling [and] support, and learn about pro-life options.
The Kirksville PP facility operates under the umbrella of Tri-Rivers Planned Parenthood. TRPP says it is focusing its “limited resources” on two other facilities it operates – one in Lake of the Ozarks and the other in Rolla – in an attempt to keep them open.
Pasco, Washington, planning commission says ‘NO’ to PP
Following months of deliberation, on September 17, after six deadlocked votes, the Pasco, Washington, planning commission decided to recommend denial of a permit to Planned Parenthood to build a facility adjacent to Mark Twain Elementary School. The denial recommendation will now go to the city council.
Pro-life advocates actively opposed the permit throughout the process.
According to an e-mail received by STOPP from pro-life advocate Jim Toth, PP has announced its decision to appeal the decision. Toth says that the next city council meeting is scheduled for October 5, but the appeal process could run into early November.
He emphasized the importance of maintaining pressure to oppose granting the permit, and asked that Pasco residents call the city planning commissioner and their council members. “The permit appeal process begins at almost the very same time the 40 Days for Life campaign begins [September 23],” Toth said. He urged everyone to join in 40 days of prayer for the final rejection of PP’s application.
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