THE WEDNESDAY STOPP REPORT

Planned Parenthood sneaks into Aurora, Illinois

Recent events in Aurora, Illinois serve as a clear illustration of how effective we all have been in the fight against Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood apparently decided over a year ago to open an abortion facility in Aurora. However, Planned Parenthood knew that any public mention of its plans would bring a tremendous amount of opposition. So, it devised a plan of secrecy and deception.

Planned Parenthood formed a limited partnership named Gemini Health Systems, LLC. It then purchased the land and applied for all permits using this name. As it began construction, a sign in front of the building indicated that it was the future home of Gemini Health Systems. Thus, there was simply no public indication that this was a Planned Parenthood facility.

During the later stages of construction, one of the workers became concerned when he realized that bullet-proof glass was being installed and that one of the rooms was referred to as a “recovery room.” The worker alerted his pastor who then notified local pro-lifers. After a flurry of activity, newspaper reporters contacted Planned Parenthood leaders and they admitted that, not only is it a Planned Parenthood facility, but Planned Parenthood intends to commit abortions there.

The building is just weeks away from its planned opening and pro-lifers in Aurora and the Chicago area are doing everything they can to either stop its opening or to ensure it has a short stay if it does open.

What every STOPPer in the nation should learn from this series of events is that YOUR efforts against Planned Parenthood have been so effective that Planned Parenthood is afraid to let the public know when it plans to open a new facility. It is only through the means of deception that it is able to creep into a community.

Another lesson we can learn from these events is that you must be ever vigilant in your community. This is not the first time that Planned Parenthood has snuck into a community. You may recall that PP tried to hide its involvement with a new Portland, Oregon abortion mill by having a group called “Beech Street Partners” buy the property and build the building. The message is: If you hear of any health-related structure planned or being built in your community, investigate very closely to make sure Planned Parenthood is not involved.

More Medicaid dollars to Planned Parenthood in Texas

Planned Parenthood in Texas is reporting a windfall in Medicaid dollars that may continue into the future. According to an article in the Waco Tribune-Herald, Medicaid reimbursements for family planning services have recently been extended to cover all women of reproductive age whose income is less than 185 percent of the federal poverty level. That means that a single girl earning less than $18,889 a year will be eligible for Medicaid coverage. Prior to this change, only single girls earning less than $1,736 would have been eligible for family planning coverage in Texas.

Planned Parenthood is expecting a large increase in business and a large increase in taxpayer dollars as a result of this change.

We remind our readers that Medicaid was never intended to provide money for family planning services. It is only through the approval of “Medicaid Waiver Programs” that it has been covering family planning. Because of these programs, Medicaid has become the largest single program providing taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood. PP gets an estimated $70 million a year from this single program and that number is about to go higher.

More federal dollars through Title X coming to Planned Parenthood in 2008

When the United States House of Representatives passed the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations bill, it included an increase in funding of the Title X program. The increase will mean about $15 million more taxpayer dollars going to Planned Parenthood.

The Senate is expected to take similar action after it gets back from its August break.

Thus, Planned Parenthood, which already receives $305 million in taxpayer funds each year, is due for a significant increase in 2008, unless we act now to convince our elected officials not to give any taxpayer dollars to PP.

Now is the time to:

• Contact your elected officials, especially your United States senator and tell them you want no money going to Planned Parenthood under any program.

• Please, get everyone you can to sign American Life League’s official petition to take taxpayer money away from Planned Parenthood. To sign this petition and be kept up to date on the work to defeat Planned Parenthood’s tax funding, please visit our petition.

Bring a STOPP speaker to your town

American Life League’s STOPP project has a number of speakers that travel across the United States to present the facts about Planned Parenthood to large and small groups. ALL’s vice president, Jim Sedlak, is currently scheduled to speak at the following events this fall.

• August 16, 2007 – community rally sponsored by the Pro-Life Action League in Aurora, Illinois

• September 26, 2007 – campus pro-life group educational session at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana

• October 2, 2007 – event sponsored by Advocates for Life ministry at St. Patrick Church in Kokomo, Indiana

• October 9, 2007 – meeting of New Wave Femmes for Life in Plano, Texas

• October 13-14, 2007 – all Masses at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Denison, Texas

• October 19, 2007 – community presentation about Planned Parenthood in Fort Pierce, Florida

• October 20, 2007 – pregnancy center dinner in Fort Pierce, Florida

If you would like Jim, or any of our speakers to come to your community in the fall, or anytime, simply e-mail us and we’ll work out the arrangements.

Two more Planned Parenthood affiliates merge

In a continuation of the cost-cutting measures at Planned Parenthood across the country, it was announced on July 25 that two Planned Parenthood affiliates in Michigan will merge effective September 30, 2007.

On that date, Planned Parenthood Centers of West Michigan and Planned Parenthood Northern Michigan will merge to create Planned Parenthood of West and Northern Michigan, Inc. The new organization will serve 52 counties in West and Northern Michigan and across the Upper Peninsula.

This merger follows the same strategy as other PP mergers. With a small affiliate with income of around $2 million (PP Northern Michigan) or less merging with a larger affiliate to create an entity with a total income of over $6 million. The mergers have one purpose – to save money for PP.

Although these mergers create larger affiliates that have more dollars, they also result in a single Planned Parenthood central office trying to manage the PP business over a larger geographic area. The result is they often lose touch with local supporters and find it more difficult to counter pro-life actions against individual clinics.

The mergers are a testament to the effective work of activists against PP and should be encouragement for us to continue the path we are taking.

Refresh with Matthew 10

It’s August 1. Summer is half over and, if your area of the country is anything like it is here in the D.C. area, you are facing a month of hot, humid weather. Unfortunately, weather has the power to drain you physically and, if you are not careful, deplete your zeal for the fight against Planned Parenthood.

It’s a good time to pause and reflect on the essence of this battle. Planned Parenthood is an organization that is killing our children in the womb, attacking our already born children with its sex education programs, and stealing the souls of our teens. It is evil. It doesn’t stand for purity or chastity or real love. It is a major instrument of the devil.

In order to fight Planned Parenthood we must put on the armor of God. We must strengthen our prayer lives. It is only when we spend time each day in communication with God that we will be empowered to take on the evil empire of Planned Parenthood.

From our beginning, STOPP has always found inspiration and courage in the words of the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 10. We invite all of you to take a few minutes now and read that portion of the Gospel. We know that, if you pray to the Holy Spirit and then read this chapter while thinking of the fight against Planned Parenthood, God will inspire you to do His will in this struggle.

As we enter the dog days of summer, we wish you the peace of Christ and contentment in the knowledge that, when you are fighting AGAINST Planned Parenthood, you are fighting FOR God.

May God bless you all.

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