2008 Woodie Awards
Is the Planned Parenthood agenda clear?
Brian Bradford
Issue date: 10/20/04 Section: Opinion
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According to Planned Parenthood, the pro-life movement seeks only to oppress women, and the pro-choice movement is what truly protects and fights for them. This intrigues me, as some studies have shown evidence of a link between breast cancer and abortion. Planned Parenthood simply shrugs off these studies as anti-choice propaganda and will not give them a second thought. One would think that if they really had women's interests at heart, they would at least look into what such studies have found. It is not surprising that they refuse to be objective in this matter, as the notion of abortion being possibly dangerous to women would hinder their agenda. Also, the abortion pill they push, RU486, has been known to cause death, but they will not ask that the problem be studied and solved. (That could delay them making money from it, which is unacceptable.)
The firm Life Dynamics, Inc., based in Denton, Texas, conducted an investigation in which a girl claiming to be 13 years old and pregnant for her 22-year-old boyfriend called over 800 Planned Parenthood abortion clinics. In over 90 percent of the cases, the clinics attempted to cover up this blatant case of child abuse and instructed her not to mention his age when she came in for the abortion. One clinic even told her to lie to a judge in court about her boyfriend's age. Although they admitted they were required by law to report statutory rape, 90 percent refused to do so and agreed to conceal this illegal sexual activity. They simply reassured her, "As long as you've got your money and yourself, you're fine." This is a clear demonstration that Planned Parenthood will tirelessly promote its abortion agenda even at the expense of a young girl's safety. The tapes and transcripts of this investigation are available at www.lifedynamics.com
Planned Parenthood and its affiliate organizations would likely dismiss this as more anti-choice propaganda with no legitimate claims. However, a local news media organization covered this story and called a selection of the clinics in question. They verified that the calls were made to actual Planned Parenthood clinics. Life Dynamics is in the process of using these tapes to close the clinics that have no problem protecting child molesters.
Planned Parenthood also claims to be a non-profit organization that wants abortions in this country to decrease. According to their own annual reports, which include both financial and service data, the number of abortions they perform has consistently increased almost every year since 1977. The number of annual abortions performed in Planned Parenthood clinics is somewhere around 200,000 today, and the number of annual adoptions made through them fluctuates between 1,000 and 2,000. Two hundred thousand is only the number of surgical abortions performed; it does not include abortions from abortifacients such as the birth control pill.
As they assert themselves to be a non-profit organization, they have quite a bit of profit to account for. In the 1998/1999 fiscal year, they accumulated a net profit of $125.8 million. In 2000, Planned Parenthood of New York City had a net profit of $7.5 million accounted for on its 990 IRS Form. However, PPNYC received $5 million in government grants from American tax dollars. Planned Parenthood, being the non-profit organization it is, does not need $5 million of taxpayers' money when they have a net profit of $7.5 million in the bank. The 990 IRS Forms of Planned Parenthood's affiliates are available at guidestar.org.
Defenders of this group would argue that even though Planned Parenthood wishes to reduce the number of abortions in America, more abortions are being desired, and it will not deny anyone her right to choose. That might be a legitimate argument, if former abortionists did not reveal what really went on inside of their clinics.
Former abortionist Carol Everett affirms that while she was the director of four clinics, they deliberately deceived women in their "counseling" sessions. A six to 12 page form was given to the women, outlying possible complications with the abortion. It was written by an abortion attorney, and specifically meant to confuse the women. According to Everett, it would take a doctor with a medical dictionary hours to decipher what the form was saying. Many counselors are also trained salespeople, with their primary focus being to sell the abortion, not help the woman.
Planned Parenthood does next to nothing to educate their supporters. At the March for Choice in April, there was a girl with a sign that read "Women are more important than tissue." I seriously doubt any Planned Parenthood affiliate approached her to inform her that her sign was biologically incorrect, nor would they educate her on developmental facts.
There are many pictures of the march on Planned Parenthood's website, and many of them show women with various "My Body, My Choice" signs. Nowhere on the site does it inform anyone that this phrase is also biologically incorrect. My arm is a part of me because it has the same DNA and genetic code as the rest of my body. An unborn human is a completely separate entity with different DNA and a different genetic code. Not to mention, if the "My Body, My Choice" claim was at all correct this would lead to the hilarious conclusion that half of all pregnant women have or will develop penises.
Still more advanced is the theory that if abortion was made illegal we would return to having unsafe, back-alley abortions. Planned Parenthood makes it a point to stress this argument. However, many doctors and historians have affirmed that most illegal abortions did not occur in back-alleys, but in doctors' offices. They just were not spoken of.
They also constantly oppose legitimate restrictions on the abortion industry. Tattoo parlors have more imposed restrictions than abortion clinics. Planned Parenthood is greatly in favor of this, even though they claim they believe that abortion should be safe for women. Unsanitary conditions that could get a tattoo parlor closed are fine for abortion clinics, thanks to Planned Parenthood's lobbying. In 1989, they opposed a bill outlawing sex-selection abortions, and they have vigorously fought against a ban on partial-birth abortion. Common sense should show that delivering a baby backwards up to the neck then killing the child while his or her head is still inside of the mother is not necessary to protect the woman's health as Planned Parenthood claims.
As controversial as Planned Parenthood is, its founder, Margaret Sanger, is as hot a topic as the organization itself. She is a known racist and Nazi sympathizer, although Planned Parenthood will deny that up and down. I will let her quote, "Birth control must ultimately lead to a cleaner race," speak for itself. Although African Americans only account for about 13 percent of the population, about 1/3 of abortions occur in their ethnic group. Most abortion clinics are located in areas with a higher African American population, and former abortionists admit targeting African American women. Also, as Planned Parenthood claims they stand for choice and equality, I cannot help but see the clash with Sanger's statement, "The undeniably feeble-minded should not only be discouraged, but prevented from propagating their kind."
You do not have to be pro-life to be angry about how Planned Parenthood conducts itself. You do not have to be pro-life to agree that protection of child abusers, financial deception, deception of women, advancement of ignorance and persecution and prejudice are wrong. Yet, these are the methods of Planned Parenthood.
The pro-choice movement would be wise to reexamine itself, its inconsistencies and its empty rhetoric. However, they are not going to listen to me. I am just another anti-choice extremist, and this article was just another piece of anti-choice propaganda.