Totally Chocolate at 800-255-5506 or 1855 Pipeline Road, Blaine, WA 98230. Let them know what you think about their business association with Planned Parenthood and their disgusting birth control chocolates, which will serve to help promote immoral behavior. Finally, if you own a business, let them know you will not be ordering any chocolates from them.
PP's Three Rivers Condom
Planned Parenthood marketing efforts read like a textbook on how to make money from sex. The latest example comes from Pittsburgh, where the Planned Parenthood Western Pennsylvania (PPWP) Action Fund recently held its third annual contest to produce unique local condom packaging. The 2001 first place design showed the demolition of Three Rivers Stadium. PPWP is now selling condoms in a package that says, "Three Rivers Stadium Condom—It Contains the Explosion!"
The cost is $1.00 each plus shipping. Proceeds will support the nefarious activities of PPWP Action Fund, including research and production of a Responsible Choices Voting Guide, grass roots organizing and education, and lobbying efforts on behalf of contraception, abortion and sex education.
In addition to online sales, PPWP's web site says the condoms will be sold at various local venues and health fairs. "We are pleased to bring a positive, humorous spin to the important message of condom usage," said PPWP Action Fund president, Kim Evert.
The name of PPWP's condom-naming contest is so vulgar we won't repeat it here. The same goes for some of the slogans on other winning entries this year and in years past, all of which are proudly displayed by PPWP on its web site.
In addition to being vulgar, this condom-promoting contest is also potentially deadly because condoms do not provide adequate protection against many sexually transmitted diseases. For example, they do not stop the human papillomavirus, the number one cause of cervical cancer in women.
On July 20, 2001 the National Institutes of Health released a study about condom effectiveness. In response, on July 24, in Washington, D.C., a coalition of physicians and medical groups representing 10,000 doctors called for the resignation of Dr. Jeffery Koplan, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The physicians claimed that the CDC has known for years about the lack of clinical proof for condom effectiveness, but has not released this information to the public. "This has all the earmarks of a good old-fashioned medical cover-up," said Dr. John R. Diggs, Jr., a spokesman for the Physicians Consortium (PR Newswire 7/23/01).
On July 27, during his national daily broadcast, Dr. James C. Dobson, president of Focus on the Family, said, "We now know that the CDC has had a scientific report in its possession for over a year which demonstrates convincingly that most sexually transmitted diseases are not prevented by condom usage. And yet, the CDC wouldn't release that report until a copy was leaked and the agency was forced to admit that it existed."
Dobson, who was joined on the broadcast by former Congressman Tom Coburn, M.D., added, "It now seems clear that there is an increasing amount of evidence proving that even those who rely on condoms and use them consistently and correctly are going to eventually wind up with at least one sexually transmitted disease. Some of those diseases are incurable and even deadly" (PR Newswire 7/27/01).
PP admits it's a business
When you run a huge organization and work very hard to deceive the public on the true intent of your operations, you have difficulty trying to ensure that the right words are used to hide the truth.
This is a real problem for Planned Parenthood. It continually portrays itself as an organization providing a public service and, therefore, entitled to taxpayer money.
STOPP maintains that PP is not a public service, but a business. And, we point out, PP is a very effective business—racking up profits every year and putting a whopping $415 million in profits into its coffers.
Well, the state of Colorado recently cut off all funds to Planned Parenthood in the state (see article below). PP was so upset about this that it dropped its language police and allowed the following statement to go public:
"We are in the business of health care, not politics," Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Ellen Brilliant said.
If you follow PP long enough, the truth finds a way of slipping out. Read it again. Planned Parenthood is a business. Isn't it obvious that all government money at all levels should be taken away from this business?
A preview of new PP numbers
As this issue was going to press, we received the just-issued Planned Parenthood Federation of America 2000-2001 Annual Report. We will be doing a full special report on all the data, but here are a few of the numbers that you can begin using immediately in talks and letters-to-the-editor:
PPFA 2000-2001 Income: $672.6 million
PPFA 2000-2001 Profit: $38.9 million
Surgical abortions in 2000: 197,070
Est. income from abortion: $69 million
Total surgical abortions committed in PPFA facilities (1977-2000): 2,805,951
Enlarged buffer zone struck down,
yet Fr. Weslin still in prison
In the December issue of the Ryan Report, we told you that longtime Planned Parenthood fighter, Fr. Norman Weslin, a Catholic priest, is in prison because he violated Judge Richard J. Arcara's enlarged buffer zone injunction which applied to clinics at Buffalo Gyn Woman's Services and Planned Parenthood of Rochester, N.Y. Fr. Weslin had been praying inside the enlarged buffer zone. Here's an update.
First, we thank all those STOPP supporters who responded to our call to write to Fr. Weslin in prison. Here's what Fr. Norman's friend, Mary Quinn, emailed to STOPP recently. "His mail is coming in regularly—and he received on Christmas Day alone over 100 letters! Thank you all for remembering Father. Please continue to write. He told me that he was receiving one-third of all mail sent there! It is good that the prison staff knows that Father's friends are keeping in touch with him and it is kind of a guarantee as well that even though he is alone—we are keeping tabs on him" (Rev. Norman U. Weslin #08149-055, McKean Federal Correctional Institution, PO Box 8000, Bradford, PA 16701).
Second, after Fr. Weslin began serving his sentence, the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a decision on November 26 that dealt with Judge Arcara's injunction. The court said, "we hold that the provision of the injunction that expands the buffer zones beyond fifteen feet at two clinics is unconstitutional... In the case of the enlarged buffer zones in the 2000 injunction, we need not engage in any sophisticated analysis of how the zones might chill protest activity on the public sidewalk... The new injunction does not chill this type of interaction, it effectively bans it."
What this means is that Fr. Weslin is now in prison because he violated an illegal part of an injunction! (He was well outside the 15-foot zone; the enlarged zone reached up to 60 feet.) This is an outrageous injustice! If anyone is the criminal in this case it would seem to be Judge Arcara, not Fr. Weslin. Fr. Weslin should have been immediately released after the 2nd Circuit decision, yet despite the best efforts of his friends, he remains imprisoned as of this writing (January 2002).
STOPP was contacted by a retired attorney recently about Fr. Weslin. This attorney said that in such a case clemency could be granted to the prisoner, or, after a writ of habeas corpus, there could be a declaration that he was unjustly imprisoned in the first place and thus must be released. Please contact pro-life U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft (U.S. Dept. of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20530) and ask that, in light of the 2nd Circuit decision, Fr. Weslin be immediately released from federal prison. And please keep Fr. Weslin in your prayers.
Russian population shrinking
In a peculiar way, we really owe a lot to the long-suffering people of the former Soviet Union. First of all, for 75 years they bore on their shoulders the brutal task of proving to the world that, no matter how hard you tried, it was impossible to make communism a success and no matter how many millions of your fellow citizens you exterminated, you couldn't extinguish the basic human desire for freedom. Our stoic comrades in Russia saved all the rest of us the misery of having to learn those hard lessons for ourselves.
But now our Russian friends are in the midst of a social experiment that is almost certain to make their earlier sacrifice pale in comparison. They have flung themselves headlong into the mushy-headed global movement to reduce population growth. Perhaps they figured there's no way they could possibly get snookered into choosing two disastrous social theories in a row. But whatever they're thinking, the fact is they have clearly bought the population control dogma hook, line and sinker. And sinking is just what they're doing—fast!
In 1990, Russia's population was 148,160,000 (UN), but due to astronomical 1,860 abortions for every 1,000 live births (1997, WHO) the Russian population is heading south faster than a Siberian goose. Compare that ratio to 306 abortions per 1,000 births in the US (1997, CDC). The 2001 UN estimate of the Russian population is 144,664,000. Some 2.3 million abortions are registered in Russia every year. Only 1,230,000 babies are born each year. In order to maintain the normal reproduction of the Russian population the country needs 750,000 new babies more every year (TASS, 10/26/00).
New births in Russia in 1999 occurred at a rate of only 8.4 per 1000 people, down from 13.4 in 1990. To put it another way, Russia's fertility rate—the average number of babies a woman is expected to have—was only 1.17, down from 1.89 in 1990 (2.1 is needed for replacement). The upshot of all these dismal statistics is that Russia's population will decline by tens of millions to 121 million by mid-century (New York Times, 12/28/00).
The potential economic, political and social problems to be caused by a declining and aging population are enormous and have been the source of some debate in the lower chamber of the Russian Parliament, the Duma. In the spring of 2001, the Duma's deputy speaker, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, proposed a new law entitled, "On Emergency Measures to Change the Demographic Situation." In order to stave off the demographic catastrophe, Zhirinovsky wanted to ban most abortions for a period of ten years and bar women of childbearing age from leaving the country. He also wanted, among other things, to increase the state subsidy for parents to 200 rubles from 58 rubles for each child under 14 (Zenit, 4/5/01).
Now Zhirinovsky's motivation seems to be simply pragmatic, rather than moral, in nature, as evidenced by the 10 year time limit and the exceptions he was willing to make for certain abortions. But even this pragmatic approach was rejected by the Duma. Apparently they are willing to sit by quietly while their country aborts and contracepts itself out of existence.
Planned Parenthood has a large part in this latest Russian tragedy as its affiliate, the Russian Family Planning Association serves as co-executor of the Russian Presidential Family Planning Programme.
STOPP debunks "contraception reduces abortion" study
STOPP was asked by Voice of America News to provide an analysis of a study which claims that "family planning" programs reduce abortion. But, when our analysis didn't fit its preconceived conclusion, it was largely ignored. Let me explain.
The study, "Do better family planning services reduce abortion in Bangladesh?" appeared in the Sept. 29, 2001 issue of The Lancet. The authors (Rahman, DaVanzo, Razzaque) compared two areas of Bangladesh, one with an intense "family planning" program (FP area) and the other with a far less intense program (comparison area). Married women in the comparison area were supposed to receive a standard visit every two months from a female government family planning welfare worker who counseled them and "supplied pills and condoms" (p. 1052).
In contrast, the married women in the FP area were visited every two weeks by community health workers who provided counseling and delivered "injectables, pills and condoms at the doorstop" (p. 1052). On the same page the authors note that contraception users in the FP area were "much more likely to use injectables such as depo-medroxyprogesterone acetate, or DMPA" which is known better by the name "Depo-Provera." The FP area has been the target of contraception programs since 1977.
The authors concluded "abortion of unintended pregnancies is similar in both areas, but the higher levels of contraceptive use in the treatment area have led to lower levels of unintended pregnancy and abortion. The likelihood that an unintended pregnancy will be aborted has increased in both areas but the decrease in unintended pregnancies was sufficiently large in the treatment area to offset this increase" (p.1051).
Well, first of all we have a very intense contraceptive program in the FP area. The manpower requirements to have bi-weekly visits and doorstop delivery of contraceptives to all married women must be enormous. More important, however, is the fact that Depo-Provera is highly abortifacient. Dr. Bogomir Kuhar, in "Infant Homicides Through Contraceptives," says that Depo-Provera has an estimated ovulation rate of 40-60% (p.44) compared to an ovulation rate of 2-10% (p.42) for oral contraceptives. Thus, while The Lancet study tries to make the standard Planned Parenthood claim that contraceptive use lowers abortion, it ignores the fact that would-be surgical abortions are simply being replaced by pre-implantation abortions caused by the much greater use of Depo-Provera in the FP area.
Unfortunately, the Voice of America report (10/2/01), by David McAlary, left out most of the important criticisms STOPP made about the study. Instead, McAlary used his report to echo the mantra that there are fewer abortions when "family planning services" are available. He also gave Margaret Greene, of Population Action International, an opportunity to use the study to stump for more government funding of population control programs. She was critical of President Bush's decision to reinstate the Mexico City policy that forbids U.S. government money for family planning groups that support abortion. Green argues that boosting U.S. assistance to family planning would be an effective anti-abortion policy.
The timing of The Lancet article and the Voice of America report was no coincidence either. It came out just exactly during the time Congress was making appropriations decisions for both foreign (USAID) and domestic (Title X) population control programs. STOPP e-mailed McAlary to ask him why he did not reflect STOPP's main point that contraceptives often cause pre-implantation abortions. He wrote, "I covered what I believed to be your main point—that NO form of contraception is acceptable." Certainly McAlary didn't misrepresent STOPP; he simply avoided that part of our analysis which undermined the conclusion he wanted to make.
The distortion of the facts in this case is particularly egregious when one looks at the actual data reported in The Lancet study on page 1055 and reproduced below:
Contraceptive use
| |
1984 |
1996 |
Change |
| Comparison area: |
15.8% |
46.9% |
31.1% |
| Intense FP area: |
46.4% |
68.1% |
21.7% |
General abortion rate per 1000 women
| |
1984-86 |
1996-98 |
| Comparison area: |
5.2 |
6.8 |
| Intense FP area: |
2.2 |
2.3 |
Although the comparison area had less contraceptive use both in 1984 and in 1996 than the intense FP area, the comparison area did see a significant 31.1% increase in contraceptive use. Yet, despite this huge increase in contraceptive use, the abortion rate increased from 5.2 to 6.8 per 1000 women! That's a 30.8% increase! Futhermore, in the intense FP area, contraceptive use increased 21.7% yet the abortion rate did not go down. Any reasonable researcher would have to conclude that increased contraceptive use does NOT lead to lower surgical abortions. Yet, this obvious fact was ignored by Voice of America and others.
What can explain the discrepancy between what the data actually shows and the authors' summary conclusions (which is all that some will bother reading)? Well, perhaps it is the fact that this study was funded by the United States Agency for International Development. That's the same agency that provides some $425 million of U.S. taxpayer money to fund overseas population control programs!
Obviously there is an underlying bias involved here because the funders of the study have financial incentive to promote contraception. If USAID can point to a study that supports its $425 million contraceptive program than that study can also be used to convince Congress to appropriate even more money for the USAID contraceptive program.
Finally, it should be emphasized that STOPP doesn't just oppose contraception because it is sometimes abortifacient. STOPP opposes all forms of contraception, even barrier methods that are not abortifacient. Contraception in and of itself is a grave moral evil for it contradicts the full truth of the sexual act as the proper expression of conjugal love. God alone is sovereign over life and death and contraception is an attempt to rob God of His sovereignty over when life begins.
STOPP in Pennsylvania
On December 12, STOPP's president, Jim Sedlak, gave talks at two different events in Media, Pa.
Jim spoke at a luncheon meeting of the Lawyers For Life group in Media. The event was attended by 15 local attorneys who gather each December to celebrate Christmas and discuss life topics.
Jim gave the group an outline of Planned Parenthood—its origins and philosophies. He traced the development of PP and discussed how lawyers from around the country are using innovative legal tactics to thwart PP's plans for our children.
In the evening, Jim spoke to the first ever St. Pius X Parish respect life dinner. Over 160 active pro-lifers gathered to honor local pro-life stalwarts and to hear an inspirational talk by Jim.
His main message to the group was that we need to fight Planned Parenthood by following the instructions of the Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 10. Jim gave examples of how the instructions in this chapter are directly applicable to the fight against PP. At the conclusion of his talk, Jim was humbled to receive two separate standing ovations.
In commenting later on the wonderful reaction to his talk, Jim said: "I do what I tell people to do. I give every talk to God and allow the Holy Spirit to determine the message that is to be conveyed. If the talk touched a special nerve, then all the credit goes to God."
STOPP in Florida
On December 8, 2001 STOPP's national director, Ed Szymkowiak was the guest speaker at St. Malachy Church's 10th annual Mary for Life Celebration dinner in Tamarac, Fla. Florence Morehead, a longtime friend of American Life League, invited Ed to the event.
The evening began with a Mass celebrated by Most Rev. Gilberto Fernandez, Auxiliary Bishop of Miami. Afterwards Bishop Fernandez and about 225 others gathered in St. Malachy's church hall for dinner. Then Jerry Fadgen, the master of ceremonies, guided the evening which included brief presentations about Florida's pro-life billboard campaign (call 561-219-1144 for more information) and the PROject LIFE music CD.
Ed's talk used Archbishop Patrick's Hayes' 1921 Christmas pastoral letter (see Ryan Report, December 2001) as a backdrop for comparing Margaret Sanger's vision for womanhood with that represented by Mary, the mother of Christ. He quoted from Sanger's writings about eugenics and birth control and focused on the close links between contraception and abortion. Ed urged listeners to pray and fast and to get out in front of their local PP clinics on a regular basis to say the rosary.
St. Malachy's pastor, Fr. Dominick O'Dwyer, then presented Ed with St. Malachy's Pope John Paul II Award which carries the inscriptions, "For outstanding contributions in defense of the faith and Catholic teachings," and "When a wise man walks in integrity and justice happy are his children after him" (Proverbs 20:7).
STOPP wishes to thank all those at St. Malachy Church, especially Fr. O'Dwyer and Florence Morehead, for their warm and generous hospitality. STOPP supporters visiting the Ft. Lauderdale region should consider visiting this beautiful church. You can't miss it while driving down the street because it has a HUGE pro-life sign right under its bell tower. It also has perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Next Ed traveled across the state to the Florida Panhandle to give a talk about sex education and Planned Parenthood at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Fort Walton Beach on December 10th. Ed's host was Fr. Michael Jordon, of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity. Fr. Michael is the spiritual leader at the Ark of the Covenant Retreat and Conference Center located in nearby Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.
Prior to his evening talk Ed met with several pro-lifers in the region during the day. These included Bob Brady, the president of Emerald Coast Right to Life, and Mark Farmer. Both these gentlemen regularly prayerfully protest at the two abortion facilities in Pensacola, Fla.
During his talk Ed ran through Planned Parenthood's long list of evils, especially regarding its attempts to pervert children through its sex education. As the antidote Ed focused upon the Pontifical Council for the Family's 1995 document entitled, "The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality: Guidelines for Education within the Family." Readers may obtain a free copy from the Vatican's web site.
This document points out that each child is unique and must receive individualized education about human sexuality. This is best given by the parents communicated in a personalized dialogue with love and trust. The moral dimension must always be part of such explanations. It is parents that are in the best position to decide what the appropriate time is for imparting such information, according to their children's physical and spiritual growth. "No one can take this capacity for discernment away from conscientious parents" (65).
Early the next morning Fr. Michael and Mark Farmer took Ed to WBZR Radio (1120 AM) so he could be on Ken "Grouchy" Walsh's morning drive time show. During the next hour both Ed and Ken blasted away at Planned Parenthood, ranging over a wide spectrum of topics. During the show Ken played the national anthem and right after that Ed told listeners about how Planned Parenthood has desecrated the national colors by offering red, white and blue condoms and how PP offered free abortions in New York City to those affected by the tragedy on Sept. 11 (see Ryan Report, November 2001).
Capping off a wonderful trip was a Mass celebrated by Fr. Michael at Ark of the Covenant Retreat and Conference Center located in a quiet, rustic, wooded setting. Afterward Ed met many wonderful people associated with the Ark. STOPP wishes to thank all the generous pro-lifers on the Emerald Coast who made this trip possible. STOPP supporters planning a trip to that region of Florida might consider giving the Ark a call at 805-622-4760.
Colorado de-funds PP for violating state law
Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains (PPRM) was caught red handed violating Colorado state law and now the state will withhold $381,956 of "family planning" funds from this death dealing organization. "This makes my weekend—it's terrific news," said Leslie Hanks, vice president of Colorado Right to Life (Rocky Mountain News 12/14/01).
In 1999, Governor Bill Owens implemented a ban on state funding for any group linked with abortion. To get around the law PPRM formed a separate corporation to operate abortion clinics in the state—Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains Services Corp. A recent audit by the accounting firm of Anderson & Whitney showed PPRM was illegally subsidizing rent payments for the new abortion corporation.
This is not the first time PP has been caught violating the law in order to soak the taxpayers for more money for abortion. In 2000, the U.S. Government Accounting Office caught International Planned Parenthood illegally giving $700,000 of US taxpayer money to affiliates engaged in abortion and abortion advocacy overseas (see Ryan Report, January 2001). It is obvious that Planned Parenthood just can't be trusted with any of our tax money. It's time for every state and the federal government to de-fund Planned Parenthood.
Denver Post editorial criticizes Planned Parenthood
Here is the text of the editorial from the Denver Post commenting on PP losing its state funding:
Planned Parenthood errs
Friday, December 28, 2001 - Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains has responded to an independent auditor's findings that it has illegally used state funds to subsidize abortion with a fiery political counterattack accusing Gov. Bill Owens of "bullying 13,000 of the state's most vulnerable citizens."
But Planned Parenthood's legal response to the state's cutoff of $382,000 in taxpayer funds is so weak that it evokes the lawyer's addage: "When you have the facts, argue the facts. When you have the law, argue the law. When you have neither, attack your accusers."
The law, in this case, is a 1984 state constitutional amendment forbidding the use of state dollars to subsidize abortion, directly or indirectly. The Denver Post opposed that amendment and supported a subsequent drive to repeal it. But the voters first passed the amendment, then upheld it.
Instead of complying with the letter of that law, Planned Parenthood's response to the Owens administration can be accurately paraphrased as saying: "Why don't you just ignore the law? Gov. Lamm and Gov. Romer did."
The fact is that the pro-choice lobby is so powerful within the Democratic party that any governor of that political faith who attempted to enforce the 1984 amendment would be ostracized within his party the way the late Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey was. The advent of a pro-life Republican, Bill Owens, to the governor's office obviously didn't change the law. But it did remove the political barriers to enforcing the law, a step the Owens administration took by hiring the Greeley-based firm of Anderson & Whitney to audit Planned Parenthood. The auditors concluded Planned Parenthood was renting facilities to abortion providers at below market rates, clearly violating the ban on indirect subsidies.
Lawyers supporting planned Parenthood fired back by basically conceding they were indeed providing subsidized facilities, protesting that "the fair market value rent rule interferes with Planned Parenthood's freedom to conduct its affairs, to use its property, or to deal with others on mutually agreeable terms."
The hard fact is that the agency has no legal right to thus subsidize abortions unless it eschews state funds. It may well be that Planned Parenthood has concluded that it is better off openly defying the Owens administration and relying wholly on private donations to fund its activities.
The agency has every right to make such a political decision. But until it truly builds a "Chinese wall" between its abortion services and other activities, it has no right to state funding.
PP funding threatened in Michigan
A funding bill has passed the Michigan House and will be taken up in the Michigan Senate in February or March. The bill, as written, requires that agencies and organizations that do not perform abortions, do not make abortion referrals, and do not advocate for continued legal abortion would get priority in any funding decisions.
If this passes the Senate and is signed into law, it would mean that many organizations would get priority in funding over PP and it would effectively reduce the funds going from Michigan to Planned Parenthood.
STOPP supporters are asked to pray for success in Michigan and to start similar activities to defund PP in their own states.
STOPP on Dr. Laura show
As readers of our STOPP Update already know, STOPP's president, Jim Sedlak, was a special guest for a full hour on the Dr. Laura Show in December. Jim was able to deliver the message against Planned Parenthood to an estimated 17 million listeners!
STOPP's Update is sent to all subscribers to the Ryan Report. If you want to see the complete Update about Jim's appearance, just send $25 for a subscription to the Ryan Report and ask for Update #40.
This month's action items
- Contact Totally Chocolate and let them know your displeasure at their chocolate pill case.
- Publicize PP's newest abortion and profit numbers.
- Write Fr. Weslin to let him know you are thinking of him.
- Contact Atty. Gen. Ashcroft and ask for Fr. Weslin's immediate release.
- Work to cut off funds to Planned Parenthood in your state.
- Send a tax deductible donation today to help us keep fighting PP and sex education.
- Pray that God will lead us in our work and that we will always have the courage to do His will.
