THE RYAN REPORT

Planned Parenthood Pushing Emergency Contraception

Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups are hard at work at the state and federal levels promoting emergency contraception (EC), commonly referred to as “the morning after pill.”

Attempts to expand EC use include legislation that allows pharmacists to dispense EC without a patient specific prescription from a doctor. Washington and California already enacted such legislation into law. At least one state, New York, has legislation (A.888) that would extend EC dispensing privileges to nurses as well. The FDA is contemplating a petition from Planned Parenthood, The American Public Health Association, and others, which asks that Preven and Plan B be exempt from prescription-dispensing requirements all over the U.S. The American Medical Association even has a policy (D-75.997) supporting such “over the counter” status for EC.

Planned Parenthood is also pushing the Emergency Contraception Education Act (H.R. 1812 & S.896), which was introduced in the U.S. Congress in April 2003. This bill would provide $10,000,000 per year for fiscal years 2004 through 2008 just to educate people about EC. This Act claims 9 in 10 women of reproductive age remain unaware of the EC method. The Act also incorrectly states that EC “prevents pregnancy, by preventing …implantation of an egg in a uterus.” Eggs don’t implant! Living human embryos implant! This bill should be called the EC Mis-education Act.

The growing threat from EC must be taken seriously by all pro-lifers. If we do not stop the EC movement, more and more children will be killed chemically with these drugs. Groups such as Planned Parenthood will continue to claim that declining surgical abortion numbers and rates are due to more effective contraception. If such a claim is even partly true, the replacement of post-implantation surgical abortions by pre-implantation EC-induced killings is nothing for pro-lifers to cheer about, and certainly nothing they can, in good conscience, ignore.

American Life League’s American Bioethics Advisory Commission has extensive material that you can read and forward to your pro-life groups, friends and churches at its Morning After Pill website at www.morningafterpill.org. Contact your legislators today and let them know that you want them to defeat any legislation that promotes EC.

Planned Parenthood’s Deadly Invasion By Magaly Llaguno

Unborn Americans who die at Planned Parenthood’s “health clinics” and their mothers, who suffer abortion’s after effects and sometimes also die at these killing centers, are not the only victims of this evil organization. Planned Parenthood crossed over the border and invaded Mexico and other Latin American countries, over 30 years ago.

The Family Planning International Assistance Program (FPIA) was started in 1972 by Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), U.S. associate member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation\Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF\WHR), which has affiliates in every Latin American country. FPIA’s objective is “to increase access to reproductive health services and strengthen support for reproductive rights in strategically selected countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean." 1 It supports those organizations that promote "sexuality education and contraceptive services among adolescents" and "safe abortion services." 2

In 1994, FPIA assisted 25 projects in 17 countries, including Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador and Mexico. The Nicaragua project according to PPFA, also provided "abortion and MR [menstrual regulation, early abortion] services." By 1994, PPFA had already poured more than $285 million into FPIA, its international service arm. 3 A report on Family Planning International Assistance which accompanied a letter from FPIA dated July 10, 1995, states that Si Mujer clinic in Managua, Nicaragua, included “the provision of induced abortion services.” FPIA also supported “menstrual regulation services” in the “Sacaba health post” in Bolivia.

Through the Global Partners program, PPFA’s “international public service policy and service initiative,” "partnerships” between PPFA affiliates in the U.S. and “family planning” organizations in other countries were established. 4

For example, the Tampico branch of IPPF's Mexico affiliate, MEXFAM, is receiving assistance from Planned Parenthood of Houston & Southeast Texas (PPHSET). When MEXFAM officials visited Houston, PPHSET threw a party attended by “the offices of several legislators and the mayor,” and the Houston Chronicle devoted “important space…to coverage of MEXFAM’s first visit to Houston.” “PPHSET, with the assistance of MEXFAM Tampico, has initiated its own “promotoras” program in Houston’s low-income, largely Hispanic East End neighborhood.” In Mexico and other Latin American countries, “Promotoras…go door to door in their own neighborhoods to offer family planning information, contraceptives and clinic referrals.” 5

These are some of the other Planned Parenthood “partners” in Latin America:

• Planned Parenthood of Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle and MEXFAM, IPPF affiliate in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. 6
• Planned Parenthood of Palm Beach and Treasure Coast Area in Florida, and APROFAM, IPPF affiliate in Guatemala. 7
• Planned Parenthood of Columbia/Willamette and Asociación Demográfica Costarricense, IPPF affiliate in Costa Rica. 8
• Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona and Asociación Demográfica Salvadoreña, IPPF affiliate in El Salvador. 9
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Sí Mujer’s “reproductive health clinic” in Nicaragua. Sí Mujer is that country’s main feminist pro-abortion group. 10 “Over 80 % of the FPIA-funded projects are with women organizations or women’s leaders.” 11

Youth partnerships have also been established. 12 Planned Parenthood’s interest in reaching Hispanic youth is obvious when you see its very sexually explicit “Teenwire” website, which has an entire section in Spanish.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America has complained that “countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have the strictest abortion laws in the world.” 13 So through its international arm FPIA, it is promoting the legalization of abortion in Latin American countries, where for the most part it is illegal. In its 1991 Annual Report FPIA stated: “Abortion services became an increasingly important component of the FPIA program last year,” and it boasted that it had completed “abortion related projects” in Mexico and Peru, where laws still protect most unborn babies. 14 FPIA also works in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua, as well as Asia and Africa, “to increase access to safe quality abortion services.” 15

What Planned Parenthood lost in U.S.A.I.D. funds because of the Mexico City Policy and Planned Parenthood’s refusal to stop promoting and/or practicing abortions was replaced in part by increased donations from the following foundations; the Erik E. & Edith H. Bergstrom Foundation, the Wallace Global Fund, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Westwind Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, according to International Planned Parenthood Federation's 2002 Financial Statement (p.20). The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation gave PPFA $2,750,000 between 1999 and 2002 for its FPIA international program. 16

Between 1999 and 2000, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation provided almost nine million dollars to anti-life groups and organizations in Mexico. Among them, GIRE (Mexico's main pro-abortion feminist organization) and the so-called Catholics for a Free Choice, which got 3 million of those funds "to develop a long-term regional plan for improving reproductive rights in Latin America" and $655,000 for a "collaborative reproductive rights initiative focusing on Catholic communities in Mexico." The MacArthur Foundation and the Ford Foundation have also given a great deal of financial help to the pro-abortion movement in Mexico. 17

FPIA was among the organizers and co-sponsors of a pro-abortion conference in Cuernavaca, Mexico, in November 2001, called "Unwanted Pregnancy and Abortion: Public Health Challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean."18 The program for the conference was painstakingly detailed, as if to design a how-to manual to procure legal abortion in the countries where it is illegal. Laws were reviewed, attitudes were researched and the use of surgical and chemical abortion methods were discussed. Some of the talks given during this three day conference included: "How to manage pain after D&C abortions,” "Cost of maintaining abortion illegal in Chile," "Investigation as a strategy to improve abortion politics in Nicaragua" and "Talking about abortion to diverse audiences" by Frances Kissling, president of so-called “Catholics” for a Free Choice, which is another Planned Parenthood ally.19

The efforts of Planned Parenthood and its cohorts have paid off in one of Mexico’s states. In January 2002, seven of the eleven members of Mexico's Supreme Court, voted in favor of legalizing abortion in cases of rape and fetal malformation or disease, by declaring the pro-abortion Robles Reform, which had been approved the previous year, constitutional.20 Pro-abortion legislator Rosario Robles (the reform is named after her), claimed: "It is a triumph of the women's movement and an advance of the right to choose."21 Planned Parenthood Federation of America and American foundations helped achieve that tragic triumph of the pro-death forces in Mexico and are active in other countries too.

If you would like to help the pro-life movement in Latin America fight Planned Parenthood’s deadly invasion, please contact Vida Humana Internacional: 45 S.W. 71 Ave., Miami, FL 33144. Phone: 305-260-0525. Fax: 305-260-0595.

NOTE: The author is Executive Director of Vida Humana International (VHI), the Hispanic Division of Human Life International in Miami. This article is based on a talk given by Mrs. Llaguno at the American Life League World Conference in New Orleans, July 14, 2002, titled "IPPF in Latin America". Other data was added. For more information (in English) on IPPF and Planned Parenthood’s activities, visit http://www.vidahumana.org/english/family/ippf-pp_index.html. For a list of Founders of Planned Parenthood’s Activities in Latin America, go to the section on Planned Parenthood (in English) at http://www.vidahumana.org/english/family/ippf-us.html. If you want to download free materials you can use to educate Hispanics on this evil organization, visit the section on Planned Parenthood in Spanish: http://www.vidahumana.org/vidafam/ippf/ppfa_index.html. If you wish to contact VHI, please write: vhi@vidahumana.org.

Sources:

1. “Family Planning International Assistance – Investing in women, their families, and the future, About Us,” Planned Parenthood of America’s web site, downloaded 7/14/03.
2. “Family Planning International Assistance, The International Service Division of Planned Parenthood Federation of America”, Planned Parenthood of America’s web site, downloaded 7/14/03.
3. James Sedlak, "PPFA's International Program", in Deadly Deception (Front Royal, Virginia, USA: Human Life International, 1996), p. 12-13.
4. Planned Parenthood Global Partners, “The Partnerships”. Planned Parenthood of America’s web site, downloaded 7/14/01.
5. Planned Parenthood of America’s web site, section found with site’s search engine, key word: “MEXFAM”, downloaded 6/10/03.
6. Planned Parenthood of America’s web site, section found with site’s search engine, key word: “MEXFAM”, downloaded 6/10/03.
7. Planned Parenthood of America’s web site, section found with site’s search engine, key word: “MEXFAM”, downloaded 6/10/03.
8. Planned Parenthood Global Partners. The Partnerships, “Planned Parenthood of Columbia/Willamette Costa Rica, Asociación Demográfica Costarricense. Planned Parenthood of America’s web site, downloaded 07/14/01.
9. Planned Parenthood of America’s web site, section found with site’s search engine, key word: “MEXFAM”, downloaded 6/10/03.
10. Planned Parenthood of America’s web site, section found with site’s search engine, key word: “MEXFAM”, downloaded 6/10/03.
11. “2000 and Beyond”, Planned Parenthood of America’s web site, downloaded 7/14/01.
12. Planned Parenthood Global Partners, “Our Partnerships”, Planned Parenthood of America’s web site, downloaded 7/14/01.
13. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Family Planning Assistance, Latin America & the Caribbean, Planned Parenthood of America’s web site, downloaded, 1/11/03.
14. James Sedlak, "Planned Parenthood Federation of America", in Deadly Deception (Front Royal, Virginia, USA: Human Life International, 1996), 12.
15. Planned Parenthood of America’s web site, section found with site’s search engine, key word: “safe abortion”, downloaded 6/14/03.
16. William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s web site, downloaded 7/14/03.
17. Magaly Llaguno, "Who Funds the Pro-Abortion Movement in Latin America?", HLI Reports, May/June 2002, p. 16.
18. Jacqueline Debs, "Planned Parenthood Defies Sovereignty of Latin American Countries," HLI Reports, January 2002, p. 16.
19. Jacqueline Debs, "Planned Parenthood Defies Sovereignty of Latin American Countries," HLI Reports, January 2002, p. 16.
20. Magaly Llaguno, “Who Funds the Pro-Abortion Movement in Latin America?” HLI Reports, May/June 2002, p. 16.
21. Magaly Llaguno, “Who Funds the Pro-Abortion Movement in Latin America?” HLI Reports, May/June 2002, p. 16.

IPPF Financial Statement 2002

International Planned Parenthood Federation has its 2002 Financial Statement posted on the web at: www.ippf.org/about/financial/index.htm. Here are some highlights.

In 2002, IPPF consisted of 147 member Family Planning Associations (FPAs) working in over 180 countries. These FPAs are autonomous and report independently therefore their accounts are not incorporated in the IPPF Financial Report. In 2002, IPPF provided $44.5 million in grants to these FPAs and partner organizations. Although some of these groups do actually have the words “planned parenthood” as part of their name, many do not. An additional $15.5 million was provided by IPPF through its regional and central offices for direct technical and support which enhanced the services of all IPPF member associations. Here is IPPF’s total income for the past several years as reported in IPPF’s annual reports.

1993 — $104,815,000
1994 — $116,626,000
1995 — $125,014,000
1996 — $106,321,000
1997 — $92,268,000 (1998 update)
1998 — $90,656,000
1999 — $85,807,000
2000 — $73,102,000
2001 — $80,256,000
2002 — $93,409,000

IPPF’s total 2002 income was more than its 2001 income and well above the 2002 total expenditures of $73.1 million. Much of the 2002 income was from governments. The government grants are listed below in two categories, unrestricted and restricted. Restricted simply means that the donor has specified restrictions on how the money is used.

UNRESTRICTED (U.S. Dollars)

Japan - $14,708,000
Sweden - $7,719,000
United Kingdom - $6,938,000
The Netherlands - $6,515,000
Denmark - $5,885,000
Norway - $5,539,000
Canada - $2,790,000
Germany - $2,447,000
Australia - $852,000
Switzerland - $661,000
New Zealand - $402,000
Finland - $241,000
Belgium - $100,000
China - $100,000
New Zealand - $85,000
Korea - $50,000
Pakistan - $2,000
Thailand - $2,000

RESTRICTED (U.S. Dollars)

Germany - $2,540,000
The Netherlands - $1,509,000
Japan - $1,022,000
Finland - $88,000
United Kingdom - $41,000
States Of Jersey - $35,000

Total restricted and unrestricted 2002 grants from governments: $60,271,000.

Total restricted and unrestricted 2001 grants from governments: $67,748,000.

IPPF also got in grants from multilaterals and other sources in 2002 as listed below. One of the biggest donors on this list is Bill Gates. American Life League has an entire website devoted to educating Bill Gates about population issues at: http://www.all.org/gates/.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - $3,023,000
The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation - $2,550,000
United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) - $823,000
David & Lucile Packard Foundation - $800,000
Erik E & Edith H Bergstrom Foundation - $555,000
Community Fund - $545,000
European Commission - $343,000
Rockefeller Foundation - $332,000
Westwind Foundation - $175,000
Sergei S Zlinkoff Fund for Medical Education - $156,000
A & R Contorer - $104,000
The John D & Catherine T MacArthur Foundation - $78,000
Roger & Vicki Sant Fund - $70,000
Wallace Global Fund - $65,000
Gesellschaft f. Tech. Zusammenarbeit - $51,000
PATH - $33,000
Brown Foundation - $25,000
Ford Foundation - $20,000
Ernest Kleinwort Charitable Trust - $17,000
World Health Organisation - $11,000
Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation - $7,000
Legacies - $19,178,000
Other (Private Sector Fundraising Programme) - $2,214,000

Total grants from multilaterals and other sources in 2002: $31,175,000.

Total grants from multilaterals and other sources in 2001: $11,069,000.

Thus, while IPPF has seen a decrease in money from governments from 2001 to 2002, that decrease has been more than compensated for by the increase in money from multilaterals and other sources. You will also notice that the U.S. is not listed above as giving any grants to IPPF for 2002. The previous year, the USA gave IPPF grants totaling $5,898,000. The change is due to the reinstatement of the so-called “Mexico City Policy” by the U.S. Under this policy the U.S. will not give family planning money to any foreign family planning association that provides or promotes abortion. For more details on the Mexico City Policy see the May 2002 Ryan Report at http://www.all.org/stopp/rr0205.pdf. The Mexico City Policy was not extended to President Bush’s new AIDS initiative. It remains to be seen what impact that will have on future U.S. funding of IPPF for AIDS related activities. For more detail on the Bush AIDS initiative see the May 2003 Ryan Report at http://www.all.org/stopp/rr0305.htm as well as February 2003 Ryan Report at http://www.all.org/stopp/rr0302.htm.

Worldwide Call to Life and Conversion of Planned Parenthood

Father Thomas Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, has launched a "Worldwide Call to Life and Conversion" of Planned Parenthood and its ministers of death. It is scheduled to run to December 25, 2003. HLI will collect the pledges sent from all over the world, and will take them to Rome to be presented by Father Tom to the Holy Father. Father Tom will also tell the pope of the many prayer warriors that have joined the fight for the Culture of Life. This project needs a lot of prayers to be a powerful tool to defeat the Culture of Death. Father Tom is soliciting the collaboration of as many individuals and organizations as possible. The motto HLI has chosen for this campaign is "...for nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37). HLI has a flyer it has been sending out in English and Spanish, where the pledges can be registered and then sent back. It can also be found in its website at http://www.hli.org/prayer_pladges.html in English and at http://www.vidahumana.org/news/formulario_ippf.html in Spanish.

Planned Parenthood Closes in Houghton, Michigan

Praise God, the Planned Parenthood facility in Houghton, Michigan has closed. Congratulations are in order to Rev. Keith Snyder and Copper Country Pro-Life for the prayerful, persistent and legal opposition they carried out against the evil in their own community. See the next article, “Victory in Houghton!” by Rev. Snyder for complete details.

Two years ago, just before the new facility opened, STOPP’s national director, Ed Szymkowiak, was invited to Houghton to give a series of talks and media interviews designed to motivate the region to oppose Planned Parenthood and to provide a wide range of legal tactics proven to be successful in closing Planned Parenthood facilities elsewhere.

The November 2001 Ryan Report http://www.all.org/stopp/rr0111.htm contains an article about Ed’s trip to the region 2 years ago. The May 2002 Ryan Report http://www.all.org/stopp/rr0205.pdf contains an update from Pastor Snyder. News reports about the closing appeared on August 22, 2003 in the Daily Mining Gazette http://www.mininggazette.com/Archives/astories.html and on August 27, 2003 in Focus on the Family’s Family News in Focus http://family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0027499.cfm.

STOPP International has a plan to defeat Planned Parenthood in local communities available on its website at www.stoppinternational.org. STOPP will help anybody in the country peacefully and legally fight Planned Parenthood. Contact STOPP at 540-659-4171.

Victory in Houghton! By Rev. Keith R. Snyder

Two days short of being open two years, the storefront home of the Planned Parenthood clinic on US-41 in downtown Houghton, MI, is vacant again. It stands as a mute testimony and monument to the dedicated efforts of a small group of people willing to take a stand for the preborn and against unrighteousness. Backed by the prayers of many in the community, a diverse front-line force of soldiers withstood the sticky summer and snowy winter weather of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula three to four times per week. Some occasionally met to pray in front of the clinic. Protesters held signs and passed out literature designed to educate passers-by and unmask the evil agenda of the organization within. The red-and-white signs declared, “Planned Parenthood is a Problem…Not a Solution,” while the full-color pictures changed the sterile eight-letter word abortion into images of the holocaust that it is.

Openly displaying pictures that graphically demonstrate the real effects of abortion was not popular, but the goal was not popularity. Twice per week during the lunch-time rush and twice during afternoon drive-home time, picket times were planned to coincide with vehicular traffic, since the amount of foot traffic in town is minimal. The Planned Parenthood affiliate’s director told a local radio station that the protesters had nothing to do with the clinic’s closing. However, in a remarkably honest statement, another representative admitted to the newspaper that the protesters were “a large factor initially,” and that “it was hard to tell if they had been the main cause of the lack of business.” Admission of a solid trouncing by our little rag-tag bunch would be too much to expect.

The effort against the clinic started two months before it opened, when job postings appeared on the Michigan Technological University website. That Planned Parenthood began publicizing its prospective presence at the school was not surprising. The Copper Country is a heartland-of-America sort of place, with a prominent Christian community. Undoubtedly the clinic’s parent affiliate was planning on a lot of business and certainly a sympathetic ear from the university community. Perhaps because of our long coastline they confused us with California?

Once the job posting was discovered, a flurry of e-mails and phone calls ensued. There was already a loose-but-active established communications network amongst many of the conservative Christians in the area because of earlier cooperative efforts. A few of us had been involved in pro-life activities to one extent or another, so there were ties to outside groups who were already veterans of this battle. We contacted several around the country to investigate what they were doing or had done, and what particularly worked. This meant we did not have to reinvent the wheel, and were able to put together a very involved program in just a short time. It is almost certain that the massive effort before the clinic even opened played a large role in the outcome.

The earliest goal was to educate the community. A frequent reaction to the news that Planned Parenthood was coming was, “Who?” Some people had a hard time understanding the magnitude of the problem represented by such organizations. There were many opportunities to explain to people the pervasive rot in our culture that enables that kind of group to make money and promote promiscuity. We wanted to bright spotlight to shine in the darkness, so we were not only bright, but vivid. This was not a time to tip-toe around the issues when the enemy was so openly depraved. A key tactic was to use the pro-abortionists’ own materials, statements, history, and other information against them so the charge could justifiably never be leveled against us that we just did not like them or were making things up.

Some of the initial activities included: organizing a letters-to-the-editor campaign; circulating petitions (1500+ signatures in an area of about 16,000 people); collecting many prominent local personalities’ signatures for a display ad protesting Planned Parenthood’s arrival, as well as for an ad that focused on local area churches; and ordering bumper stickers and pins. We brought in Ed Szymkowiak from STOPP International to speak to church and other community leaders, as well as at a large community rally. This was publicized by mailing over 500 invitations to school board members and the officials of local communities. Over 80 invitations were hand-delivered to the local downtown merchants, who would be most directly affected by the presence of the clinic. Of their own initiative, some local high school students organized a boycott of the property owner’s other business, a coffee house also located downtown. A website was developed. One energetic man approached on-campus organizations and some local personalities opposed to the effort about staging a public debate (there were no takers, however).

We did a lot with signage. Over 200 red-and-white yard signs were placed in front of homes and even a few churches all around the area. Many signs were vandalized. The owner of a billboard company in the area donated or provided at deep discounts many large signs for us. One noteworthy story involved a 4’x16’ white-on-blue banner placed on a lot facing the only bridge to the northern half of our peninsula, crossed by an estimated 20,000+ cars per day. The words, “Planned Parenthood Kills Babies,” could be clearly seen from several hundred feet as traffic drove right toward it. The opposition could not bear to let it stand, and it was stolen within a matter of hours. A more substantial sign replaced it, and was altered with spray paint within one day, then torn up the next. Not only did thousands see the message, but the violent heart of the opposition was displayed.

Another serendipitous development came when a concerned citizen wrote to her local school board member to ask that steps be taken to keep Planned Parenthood out of the school. Unfamiliar with the legalities, he contacted the law firm retained by the state school board organization. The response provided major ammunition in the battle. The attorneys said that the school should not have anything to do with Planned Parenthood or any organization that counsels abortion. Because of state law, to do so would be to jeopardize 5% of the state funding received by the district, this in a time of a severe budget crunch. She sent the letter to us, and copies were sent to other school boards. It was used to keep Planned Parenthood out of one school district that was considering retaining them to provide their warped version of abstinence education.

Close to the time the picketing began, we met with the police chief to talk about where protesters could stand and to assure him that any protests would be peaceful. This also served as a preemptive demonstration that we knew our rights. Local law enforcement was always very professional in dealing with us, in spite of receiving frequent calls falsely accusing us of disorderly conduct. On one occasion the police had to intervene when a mob of college-aged young people attempted to block the signs, but not before they heard a lot of truth and an invitation to repent.

City hall endured many, many calls complaining of our presence downtown. At one point, there was a change in the city ordinances being proposed that would limit the signs to an insignificant size. The Thomas More Center and others were contacted for advice. TMC stood ready to intervene if necessary. We understand that a local attorney visited city hall to explain just how badly the city would fare in the resulting lawsuit, and the proposed change was dropped.

A few people had the important task of scanning the paper for announcements of outreach events held by the clinic. The local community arts center hosted a benefit concert, much to the consternation of many of their supporters and board members. A local church on the main thoroughfare allowed their facility to be used for a seminar. A couple of seminars were held at the clinic. Most of the time there were more picketers outside than attendees inside.

Close ties to the media were maintained throughout, particularly to the local newspaper, which was quite supportive of our efforts. There were interviews by various school and community groups, such as the MTU student paper and the representative from an area church discussion group. Several times we were interviewed out on the street by TV stations. On one occasion, the reporter asked for my reaction to what she called “the growing body of scientific evidence that the fetus was not yet a baby.” After I responded, “What evidence?” she glanced to the side at the giant photo of an aborted baby about five feet from her shoulder. At that point, the expression on her face showed she experienced the fact that a scientist’s opinion does not a scientific opinion make!

The effort produced an immense stir in our area. A local councilwoman referred to us as “the local Taliban” (she lost her seat in the next election by just a few votes – a connection, maybe?). I received hate mail and harassing phone calls in the middle of the night, and a sign with an opposition message was taped to the door of the church I pastor. Picketers were threatened on various occasions, and sometimes unknown substances were thrown in our direction. Many made obscene gestures as they drove or walked by (they would not have done that if they realized it just turned the key in my ignition). The first year, the local paper listed the controversy as the second biggest story of the year – after the local effects of 9-11. Lots of ink was put to paper as people on both sides of the issue wrote many letters to the editor. It was very common for those walking by or into the clinic to challenge our motives and tactics, which gave us the opportunity to point out their wrong and/or unrighteous presuppositions. Every argument raised against us offered an opportunity to trumpet the truth. Abortion is only a symptom of the deeper disease of sin, and to only focus only on the surface leaves the fountain unaffected. Several times the call to repent sounded forth.

The most gratifying aspect of the effort has been to know that babies have been saved. One young woman’s father had made four different appointments for her to have an abortion, but partly because of having seen the pictures, she knew she couldn’t go through with it. Later she sent a picture of her new baby with a note: “Thanks for caring.” She also brought the little girl by when she saw us in front of the clinic so we could meet her. On another occasion we received a phone call from a volunteer at the local crisis pregnancy center to let us know someone had gone in there that day who had first was going to the clinic for an abortion referral. When she saw the signs held along the sidewalk, she realized that she couldn’t do that to her baby and went to the place she knew she would be offered real help.

The effort was a combination of deep conviction and sanctified bravado – and not without cost. It was unavoidable, but some friendships and business relationships were severed as a direct result of this issue. Several brave business people put out petitions or invitations to the rallies, or refused to do business with Planned Parenthood, and lost accounts. One local businessman, not even a Christian, for whom one of the protesters worked, refused to back down to a few major clients who disputed the pro-lifers’ claims. He even chided some of them for the hypocritical position of wanting to deny the protesters the opportunity they themselves insisted upon in the 60s! Many would say it shouldn’t matter that much. Many complain that pro-lifers tend to be single-issue people. This must be so, not because abortion is an important issue, but that it is a defining issue. Many choose to not stand up and be counted in this battle. This must not be so, because it is a battle we cannot afford not to fight.

There is too much that has transpired over the course of the past two years to include here. Some things cannot be made public to protect sources. This victory was not due to any brilliance on our part. Time after time the Lord just dropped things into our lap. God raised up people and resources with amazing timing – usually before it even occurred to us what we could use or do! To Him alone belongs the glory!

Back issues of the Ryan Report.