Earlier this year, the Hand of Hope pregnancy health center completed the zoning process and obtained favorable votes from the Citizen Advisory Council and Planning Commission. From a land use perspective, the Planning Commission and city zoning staff unanimously found that Hand of Hope’s use was consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and compatible with the surrounding area. Nevertheless, the City Council ignored its own staff, the Planning Commission, and Citizen Advisory Council, and voted to deny Hand of Hope’s zoning request. This week, attorneys representing Hand of Hope filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Raleigh City Council’s decision. The Hand of Hope’s planned location is next to an abortion clinic on Jones Franklin Road. “Pregnant women in Raleigh should be allowed to choose Hand of Hope’s free help and support and should not be limited to an abortion clinic. Those who go to [the abortion clinic] will not be fully informed about their choices,” said Hand of Hope’s executive director Tonya Baker Nelson.
In other news, the Washington Post ran an article this week on how the pro-abortion movement has been emboldened by the June Supreme Court decision striking down restrictions on abortionists in the state of Texas. The article recounted how “the president of Planned Parenthood ran out of her office and joined her staff, gathered around television sets, clapping and crying, to revel in a moment of joy.” Did you get that? The leader of the organization that runs 48 percent of all the abortion facilities in the country and commits one-third of all the abortions was crying with joy over the fact that it would now be able to kill more of our children!
The author of the article, Caitlin Gibson, states that Cecile Richards’ supporters consider the Planned Parenthood president who burst with tears of joy over killing babies as “a righteous defender of the vulnerable.” And she ends the article quoting Richards as saying, “There are still enormous barriers to women who need access to safe and legal abortion. . . . We need to challenge or repeal every single restriction that’s out there.”
Clearly the enemy of the babies is more active than ever. We, who understand that every child is made by God in His image, must be even more motivated to protect every one of God’s children—without exception, without compromise, and without apology.