THE RYAN REPORT

Get news on Planned Parenthood as it happens

We live in an ever-changing world with ever-faster communications. In our early years, we would write The Ryan Report and the printing and mailing process would take 45-60 days, yet when it reached our mailing list it was still "new" information. After coming to American Life League we were able to cut the lead time to 20-30 days and give our subscribers “fresher” information. In October 2002, we switched The Ryan Report from print to e-mail to get you the news on Planned Parenthood quicker. Now, just two years later, there is yet another new technology available.

Web search engine Google.com is now offering a web clipping service that you can use to get information on what Planned Parenthood is doing the same day it is reported in the media. To use this FREE service, simply go to Google Alerts and under search terms, type the following, including the quotation marks: “Planned Parenthood”

Under "Type," select “News & Web,” and then select the frequency you want the items delivered to your e-mail inbox.

Finally, just type in your e-mail address, click “create alert” and you will start receiving the alerts.

HINT: If you only want to be notified of Planned Parenthood’s activities in a particular state, then just add the state name to your search terms.

• For example, if you want info on California only, you type: “Planned Parenthood” California
• If you just want information on PP in New Mexico, you type: “Planned Parenthood” “New Mexico”

Now that this new technology is available, we will need less space in The Ryan Report to cover WHAT Planned Parenthood is doing and have more space to provide you with the unique view STOPP has of PP’s activities. This will include:

• Putting what PP is doing in historical perspective. STOPP has been fighting PP for 20 years and we have a wealth of information that will help you understand PP’s current activity. For example, PP now says it has “nearly 850 clinics” across the United States. We can tell you that PP had 938 clinics in 1995 and the last time it reported less than 850 clinics was in 1986.
• Reporting on trends in PP activities. For example, since last fall we have been reporting how PP is increasingly trying to justify abortion from a religious perspective and that you should expect more of that approach in your town.
• Details on HOW to fight PP. STOPP has always been a grassroots group encouraging people to fight PP in their own towns. Each month we will bring you information on the latest stories from the people who are actually engaging Planned Parenthood and winning. By sharing strategies and success stories, we can all learn to fight PP smarter.

As the Ryan Report makes this transition, your comments are encouraged. Tell us how you like the new format and let us know if we are meeting your needs.

Employees charge PP with racism

Whether it is Houston, Los Angeles or Lubbock, employees at Planned Parenthood are claiming the nation’s most aggressive abortionist runs a workplace that is not nice to its employees. Read the following three items:

• Federal regulators are suing Planned Parenthood, alleging the organization failed to act when a physician sexually harassed one of its employees. The Houston Planned Parenthood office also retaliated against the employee, Aymara Castro, by pressuring her to resign after she filed a discrimination charge, according to Rudy Sustaita, a senior trial attorney with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (Houston Chronicle, 10/1/04)

• Several black and Hispanic male employees of Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles have filed multiple complaints of racism against the organization, charging they were the subject of constant slurs in a hostile, anti-male environment controlled by white women. The employees made the allegations in sworn affidavits filed with California's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, and Fair Employment and Housing Administration, or FEHA. According to an EEOC affidavit filed by employee Nnamdi Nkwuda, a member of Planned Parenthood's management "used the word nigger directed to me." Another sworn statement from the female PPLA contractor, whose name was withheld, said Planned Parenthood "posters showing males as irresponsible are prominently displayed throughout headquarters; one shows an African American leaving his child abandoned in the middle of an apartment; another shows all male US Supreme Court justices beating down on women's rights...." Another female employee, reacting to knowledge of racism at Planned Parenthood, said, under oath, "There was a sense that any employee who was not a white female was going to be carefully watched… I am an African-American who witnessed and experienced it," she said. "It upset me because if they allowed her to call him one, they were probably calling all of the African-American[s] nigger too." The employee also corroborated the claim that Planned Parenthood prominently displayed anti-male propaganda throughout the office. (World Net Daily, 8/19/04)

• On November 11, 1998, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of appeals handed down a decision in Fadeyi v. Planned Parenthood Association of Lubbock, Inc. The court ruled that Lamarilyn Fadeyi, an employee of Planned Parenthood, did have standing to file complaints against Planned Parenthood for racial discrimination. Fadeyi was an African-American woman who was employed by Planned Parenthood Association of Lubbock, Inc., for seven years. She alleged that Planned Parenthood engaged in various acts of racial discrimination against her during the course of her employment, ranging from discriminatory scheduling and distribution of office resources to the executive director's giving her and another black employee an application for membership in the Ku Klux Klan. Fadeyi filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Texas Commission on Human Rights.

ACTION: Note these cases the next time someone tells you about Planned Parenthood’s wonderful work environment.

Planned Parenthood volunteer arrested for sex with minors

A South Toledo man who police say is HIV-positive was charged yesterday with unlawful sexual conduct with a minor after police found videotapes of him allegedly having sex with boys. Jerry Steven Gonzales pleaded guilty to a similar, misdemeanor charge in Michigan in 1989. Mr. Gonzales has been a volunteer for Planned Parenthood of Northwest Ohio's HIV outreach center since 1997, the organization said.

Bren Blaine, executive director of Planned Parenthood, said Mr. Gonzales was a volunteer for Planned Parenthood, talking to patrons of gay bars about unprotected sex. Mr. Blaine said he did not know that Mr. Gonzales was HIV-positive. He said Mr. Gonzales received a small stipend that he used to pay for cover charges at the bars. Mr. Blaine said his organization had not received any complaints about Mr. Gonzales and he faithfully attended monthly peer-education meetings and training sessions. Blaine said he was shocked by the news. He said Mr. Gonzales was placed on indefinite leave. "We're very concerned about what's going on, and I'm not very happy about it," Mr. Blaine said. "We had no idea what's been going on. This is something we certainly won't tolerate." Mr. Blaine said he learned of Mr. Gonzales' arrest through media reports.

STOPP comment: Clearly any organization can be surprised by the private activities of its employees and volunteers, but you would think that an organization as large and well funded as Planned Parenthood would have discovered that Mr. Gonzales pled guilty to a similar charge in 1989.

Calling all Stoppers

What is a Stopper? A Stopper is a person who leads, or is a major part of, the fight against Planned Parenthood in his or her community.

Through the years we have worked with a number of Stoppers including (in alphabetical order):

• Patti Adami in Denison
  
• Mary Amiot in Rochester
  
• David Bereit in Bryan
  
• Chris Danze in Austin
  
• Robert Dickens in Lufkin
  
• Rita Diller in Amarillo
  
• Lorenzo Espinoza in Albuquerque
  
• Ruth Ewig in Fairbanks
  
• Cordelia Flores in Laredo
  
• Bart Gaffney in Plattsburg
  
• Lorraine Garibaldi in Long Island
  
• Rosalie Gross in Lancaster
  
• Peggy Hamill in Brookfield
  
• Aaron Hartman in Columbus
  
• Bernadine Hess in Beaufort
  
• Vickie Kreeger in Boonesville
  
• John Lightner in Sarasota
  
• Alan Mehldau in Putnam/Westchester
  
• Myrna Shaneyfelt in Grants Pass
  
• Patty Sherrod in Dallas
  
• Dawn Slike in Cleveland
  
• Eva Small in Juneau
  
• John O’Neill in Monrovia
  
• John Pisciotta in Waco
  
• Helen Posvar in Houston
  
• Joan Scalia in Downingtown
  
• Leasha Scheel in Huntsville
  
• Tom Scibetta in Baldwinsville
  
• Fr. Rick Thomas in El Paso
  
• David Vinzant in Dallas
  
• Tim Von Dohlen in Austin
  
• Helen Westover in Poughkeepsie
  
• John Williamson in West Chester
  
• Steve Zack in Omaha
  
• …and many, many more.

ACTION: We are planning special training and other activities for Stoppers all across the country. We would like you to send us the names, addresses and e-mail addresses of all those fighting Planned Parenthood in your community. That way we can add them all to our list and make sure they are invited to our events. Send the information to stopp@all.org or by mail to Stoppers, American Life League, PO Box 1350, Stafford, VA 22555. Thank you.

STOPP gets separate listing on PP’s ‘Eye on Extremism’ web page

Planned Parenthood Federation of America has a web page tilted “Eye on Extremism.” Part of this page has been, for years, a list of “Profiles of 14 Anti-Choice Organizations.” This month, it added a 15th organization to the list – STOPP International. Apparently in recognition of our stepped-up activity all across the country, and particularly in Texas and Indiana, PPFA wants people to know who we are.

We thank God for this confirmation of the effectiveness of our work and we thank all of you for your dedicated struggles against Planned Parenthood.

ACTION: Read what what PP has to say about us and the other organizations listed. Please note that we are part of American Life League, so we actually have the first and last positions on the list.

Waco Chamber of Commerce nixes PP discount offer

We received the following note from John Pisciotta, our Stopper in Waco, Texas:

The Waco Chamber of Commerce has rescinded an astonishing offer of a 10% discount on abortions provided by Planned Parenthood of Central Texas.

At the July Second Sunday meeting of Pro-Life Waco, a woman who works for a chamber member brought the discount to the attention of Waco pro-lifers. The Waco Chamber has a special discount program called Chamber XChange. In this program, members can offer discounts to other members and their employees. All the available discounts are posted on the Waco Chamber web site. Chamber members give special Chamber XChange discount cards to their employees.

Sadly, Planned Parenthood of Central Texas is a member of the Waco Chamber of Commerce. PPCT offered a discount 10% off for all services provided at its Columbus Avenue “health clinic.” This discount applied to abortifacient birth control, surgical abortions and RU-486 abortions!!

The Pro-Life Waco Second Sunday meetings in August and September spread the word about the Planned Parenthood offer of “10% off your next abortion.”

A wonderful pro-lifer, who works for a chamber member, made a couple calls to persons at the Waco Chamber of Commerce to express concern. On September 27, John Pisciotta, co-director of Pro-Life Waco, called the Waco Chamber of Commerce to object to the offer of discount on sin. John was informed that the entire Planned Parenthood discount offer had been removed from Chamber XChange.

Praise God! Congratulations to all the pro-lifers in Waco who fight Planned Parenthood so vigilantly.

ACTION: We invite all our readers to check on any relationships between Planned Parenthood and the Chamber of Commerce in your area and insist the ties be broken. Write and let us know what you find and what happens.

New York school district drops out of PP teen conference

For the last 18 years, Planned Parenthood has been sponsoring a teen health conference in Suffolk County, New York. The conference includes, of course, sessions on contraception, teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

For many years, the King Park school district has sent the largest number of teen attendees to the conference. But, on October 4, 2004, the school district superintendent, Mary DeRose, announced that the district would no longer officially participate in the conference. In announcing that the school district will “no longer bring students to the conference,” DeRose stated that the school district wants to promote a message of sexual abstinence and dropping out of this conference is a step in the direction of an abstinence policy.

Pro-lifers in Suffolk County have been fighting against the PP conference for years and encouraging the King Park school district to stop supporting the conference. STOPP’s executive director spoke in Suffolk County on October 3 and pro-lifers in the area gave a great deal of credit to Fr. Joseph Davanzo, associate pastor of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, for his outstanding pro-life work and for leading the fight against the school district’s involvement in the PP conference.

Despite the withdrawal of this school district, Planned Parenthood intends to continue the conference. Therefore, pro-lifers intend to continue their active opposition.

ACTION: Find out if there is any involvement by your local schools and Planned Parenthood and do what is necessary to put an end to it. STOPP has a book, Parent Power!!, that will help you in the fight.

Another PP clinic closes in Texas Panhandle

Our final item for this month is the latest news from Stopper Rita Diller in Amarillo, Texas. Rita sent us the following exciting news:

Dear Friends,

For quite some time now, Planned Parenthood in Tulia has been dying a slow death. This was a full time facility that cut back its hours dramatically within the past year or so. First it appeared to be shut down completely, then it was open once a month, then once a week. On last night's Channel 10 News, Claudia Stravato, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle, announced that the facility is closed. The cause stated was low patient load and not enough government funding to reimburse Planned Parenthood for their expense at the facility. It was stated on the news report that they were only seeing 2 or 3 patients per week at the facility.

The statement was made by the newscaster that the remaining three facilities in the Texas Panhandle could close within the year barring an increase in government funding.

However, as usual there was conflicting information in the report, with Claudia Stravato stating that both the Borger and Dumas facilities have moved into new buildings and that with the closing of Tulia, the rest of the Planned Parenthood "clinics" should be able to continue.

It was stated on the news that this is the 14th closing of a Planned Parenthood facility in the Texas Panhandle. However, in 1997 Planned Parenthood listed 19 facilities on its web page. Today, with the closing of the Tulia facility, only 3 remain: Borger, Dumas and Amarillo.

Local Catholics, including Bishop John W. Yanta, Fr. Fern Couture, and Fr. John Hickey, have kept a prayer vigil at the facility in Tulia for a number of years. It would appear that the people of Tulia have said NO to Planned Parenthood by boycotting their "services." Thanks be to God!

In Christ,
Rita Diller, Coordinator
Respect Life Ministries
Diocese of Amarillo

The pro-lifers in the Texas Panhandle have been a real inspiration for the entire country. They have taught us that prayer and action, when joined together in a peaceful and persistent manner, can overcome tremendous odds.

ACTION: Please say prayers of thanks to God for all the successes in Texas and elsewhere and ask God to keep every Stopper motivated and supported for the eventual victory of His kingdom.

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