Behold the Lord, Jesus Christ, who tries so hard to get our attention
In this issue:
- Planned Parenthood and Hurricane Katrina
- Planned Parenthood still hiding records
- Planned Parenthood organizational and facility changes
- Recent Planned Parenthood news item links
- STOPP speaking engagements
- New protest sign for anti-PP events
- STOPP presentations in St. Augustine a tremendous success
- Planned Parenthood representative dumped from college panel
- Planned Parenthood closes two clinics
- REMINDER: Pro-Life Memorial Day at Planned Parenthood on October 3
Planned Parenthood and Hurricane Katrina
The entire nation has been suffering through the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. We have all seen the reports on the plight of evacuees from Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Evacuees from New Orleans and other areas have been streaming into Texas and other states. Everyone is trying to help with housing, food, water, clothing and the other essentials of life.
It has been amazing watching Planned Parenthood’s reaction to this tragedy. First, the Planned Parenthood affiliate in Houston, Texas offered a month’s supply of birth control pills and an emergency contraception kit to any woman who went to PP and showed a Louisiana or Mississippi drivers license. In these terrible days when people are fighting for their lives and trying to desperately find missing relatives, Planned Parenthood actually believes one of their “critical needs” is birth control. We have frequently commented that it seems like all PP thinks about is sex – this offer does nothing to dispel that.
As the week progressed, Planned Parenthood seemingly realized that free birth control and rebuilding its clinics damaged by the storm will cost money. Keep in mind that PP already has over a half a billion dollars in the bank and could easily take some of that money to repair its facilities. PP has seven clinics in the states directly affected by the hurricane. It has clinics in: New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and Huntsville, Montgomery, Mobile and Birmingham, Alabama. Not all clinics were damaged, but even if Planned Parenthood needed to pay a million dollars each to get these clinics back in business, that would be a total cost of $7 million. The free birth control being given away by PP costs PP $1.50 for the pills and $4.25 for the EC kits. Thus, it would be hard to imagine PP spending more than $1 million on these supplies. So, when you add everything up, the direct cost of the hurricane to PP would be something less than $10 million. With over $500 million in current assets, PP could easily cover these costs.
But, covering the costs strictly from its own resources was not in Planned Parenthood’s plans. Instead it posted on its web site, and still has posted as we write this, an appeal for donors to give to PP’s “Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund.” What is the money to be used for? Well, here is exactly what it said on the PP website: “Your tax-deductible contribution will help Planned Parenthood affiliates and health centers in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and in other affected areas. 100% of your gift will go directly to the Planned Parenthood affiliates and health centers in that region so that they can serve women and families who have nowhere else to turn.”
We checked on the PP clinics in that area. As far as we can determine, none of them are providing any “relief” services, only the standard fare of birth control and EC. So, in reality, PP is siphoning off hurricane relief dollars to fill its own coffers — instead of using its own, readily available funds, to provide its services.
Not content with skimming money from U.S. donors to hurricane relief, the International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region sent out an e-mail asking all its contacts to also donate to PP’s Katrina relief fund.
Then came the coupe de grace. The National Abortion Federation annual report states, “Our membership includes nonprofit and private clinics, women’s health centers, Planned Parenthood facilities, public and teaching hospitals, and private physicians’ offices throughout the U.S. and Canada.” NAF then posted the following on its web site: “Hurricane Katrina victims can call the NAF toll-free hotline to speak with professional hotline operators who can help with options counseling and with referrals to providers of quality reproductive health care services. On a limited basis, hotline staff also may be able to help raise the funds necessary to help cover the cost of quality abortion care.”
So, Planned Parenthood, through NAF, is offering FREE ABORTIONS to victims of Hurricane Katrina. What kind of an organization sees such a tragedy and follows it up with an offer to kill more people for free?
If you are outraged by all of this, we are ready to help you start — or expand — a fight against Planned Parenthood in your own community. Contact us at STOPP@ALL.org or go to our web site and read our Plan to Defeat Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood still hiding records
Investigating charges of fraud or legal violation by medical providers is a duty of states' attorneys general. Back in April, we told you about the attorneys general of Kansas, Indiana and Ohio who are trying to investigate serious charges against Planned Parenthood in those states. Planned Parenthood continues to stonewall the investigations. It filed its latest lawsuit in Ohio on August 22, claiming that providing the information would violate confidentiality of its customers. This claim is a sham and the Ohio Attorney General’s office stated: “We handle confidential medical information on a routine basis.”
If any of you want to investigate your local Planned Parenthood affiliate to determine if they are following the laws, we have a well-respected researcher who would be available to undertake the effort for you. The investigation can be tailored to fit whatever budget you have for the effort. Please contact us by e-mail at STOPP@ALL.org and we’ll fill you in on the details.
Planned Parenthood organizational and facility changes
Recent Planned Parenthood news item links
Each month we present links to recent stories about Planned Parenthood. (Note that many newspapers move web pages. The links below were working at the time this report was initially sent.)
STOPP speaking engagements
STOPP’s directors, Jim Sedlak and David Bereit, give talks around the country on Planned Parenthood. Our current schedule is always posted on our web site. To schedule a talk in your area, please call our offices at 540-659-4171 or e-mail us at STOPP@ALL.org. We have the following talks coming up; please say ‘hello’ if you attend any of these presentations:
- October 4, 2005 – David Bereit, Healthy Beginnings, Cincinnati, Ohio
- October 13, 2005 – David Bereit, New Hope Pregnancy Support Center, Butte, Montana
- October 17-18, 2005 – David Bereit, Pregnancy Care Center, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
- October 23, 2005 – Jim Sedlak, Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Lexington Park, Maryland
- October 24-25, 2005 – David Bereit, Pregnancy Help Center, Staunton, Virginia
- October 27, 2005 – David Bereit, Crisis Pregnancy Center of Grand Prairie, Grand Prairie, Texas
New protest sign for anti-PP events
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American Life League has designed a new protest sign aimed specifically at countering Planned Parenthood at its rallies to “Save Roe.” The new ALL sign is bigger than the Planned Parenthood signs and carries the message “Roe Has Been Saved! She’s Now Pro-Life.”
We used the signs for the first time in the streets of Washington, D.C. as Planned Parenthood held its rally the first morning of the Senate confirmation hearings for Judge John Roberts. The effect and response were dramatic! Here are a couple of pictures from the day:
As Planned Parenthood was making a statement to the media about Roberts and its petitions to the Senate, STOPP’s national director, David Bereit, was able to get a position right behind the PP spokeswoman. Here’s what the scene looked like:
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In another part of the day, Planned Parenthood people lined-up to display their signs and a young lady named Jessica spoiled their symmetry by displaying the truth:
American Life League is considering making these signs available to STOPPers all across the nation. The signs you see in the pictures were specially done for this event and cost more than $40 each. However, if you are interested in obtaining the signs, we can have them produced in quantity and will be able to provide them to you for less than $10 a sign. In order to get this price, we will need to order at least 200 signs. So, if you want us to order them, please immediately send an e-mail to STOPP@ALL.org and let us know how many you want (again, the price per sign will be under $10 plus shipping). Put “Roe Signs” as the subject of your e-mail and provide a phone number where we can call you. If we get requests for 200 or more signs, we will have them printed and PP will be forced to face the truth everywhere it goes.
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STOPP presentations in St. Augustine a tremendous success
On September 10, the Culture of Life USA (www.cultureoflifeusa.org) organization that is fighting the opening of a PP clinic in its city, held a day long conference featuring STOPP’s executive director, Jim Sedlak, and STOPP’s national director, David Bereit. The conference was extremely successful drawing over 250 people total to hear Jim and David reveal the truth about what Planned Parenthood is and how to fight it.
This conference, which lasted for over eight hours, was captured on video. STOPP will be making these videos available as a comprehensive, step-by-step “how-to” DVD set over the next few months. Watch the Ryan Report for an announcement of its availability.
We thank Rafael Ortega and Dr. Michael Sanders of St. Augustine for their tireless work in making this conference a complete success.
Planned Parenthood representative dumped from college panel
A scheduled Planned Parenthood of Montana representative’s appearance on a college ethics panel in Helena was canceled by the college’s president.
According to news reports, Carroll College President Tom Trebon withdrew the school's invitation to Sarah Fredrickson of Planned Parenthood of Montana last week, saying the college was fundamentally opposed to Planned Parenthood’s practices, which include abortion and birth control.
It was reported that Trebon discussed the issue at length with members of Carroll's faculty, staff, board members, and various community members before reaching his decision.
"Planned Parenthood's stance on certain issues, including abortion and reproductive rights, violate Carroll College's mission as a Diocesan Catholic college," Trebon said Thursday. "I believe the presence of a representative of Planned Parenthood on a panel at a public gathering on campus would violate the college's mission, mission statement, and commitment to Catholic values and ideals."
STOPP thanks Dr. Tom Treborn for his courageous and correct stand.
Planned Parenthood closes two clinics
During the month of September, Planned Parenthood closed its clinics in Pharr, Texas and Marion, Ohio. Planned Parenthood blames the closing of both clinics on the loss of taxpayer money.
STOPP has always stressed that the way to close down Planned Parenthood is to keep it away from our children and away from our money. If you would like to begin an effort to remove taxpayer funding from PP in your area, just pick up a copy of our pamphlet “Defeating government funding of Planned Parenthood.” The pamphlet can be ordered online at American Life League's store or by calling our resource department at 866-538-5483.
Pro-Life Memorial Day at Planned Parenthood on October 3
It is almost here! This year’s Pro-Life Memorial Day event will be on Monday, October 3, 2005. See details and get supplies at: www.ProLifeMemorialDay.com.
STOPP is encouraging every opponent of Planned Parenthood to gather on that day outside of your local Planned Parenthood facility and remember the babies. Can you imagine the effect when Planned Parenthood employees, in each facility it operates across the country, look out their windows that day and see pro-lifers all wearing the same shirt and all remembering the babies? It will be an event that will rock their foundations.
We ask you all to plan on holding memorial services outside of PP on that day and to let us know what you have planned. This is a rare opportunity for you to do something in your town that will be part of a nationwide effort to remember the babies.
There is an official Pro-Life Memorial Day T-shirt we encourage all to wear. Click on this link to order the shirt. Note: All T-shirt orders must be received by September 25 in order to arrive on time.
See you all outside of Planned Parenthood on Pro-life Memorial Day, Monday, Oct. 3, 2005!
