Planned Parenthood’s 2014 Fails

The year is only a little more than half over, but already it is turning out to be a very bad year for Planned Parenthood, the country’s largest abortion provider. Here are some of the highlights–or in this case, lowlights.

“If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” an old adage goes. So Planned Parenthood’s plan to drop the “pro-choice” label after 40 years signals that it’s not working for them. Now they want to use terms like “women’s health.” The New York Times reported last month on Planned Parenthood’s recent move to shun the term “pro-choice” stating “it doesn’t mean anything.” Ah, but it does. “Pro-choice” begs the question: “Choose what?” And when legislation is introduced to require ultrasounds to make it clear what a woman is choosing, Planned Parenthood is always against that choice. It reveals that they are for only one choice—abortion.

Cecile Richards, told The New York Times. “I just think the ‘pro-choice’ language doesn’t really resonate particularly with a lot of young women voters. We’re really trying to focus on, what are the real things you’re going to lose? Sometimes that’s rights. Sometimes that’s economic or access to health care for you or for your kids.” And sometimes, Ms. Richards, one of the “real things” a woman loses is her baby.

Gallup has conducted surveys on abortion attitudes since the 1970s. Pro-life sentiment was down to 33 percent in 1995 but has consistently increased since then. By May 2009, more respondents identified as “pro-life” than “pro-choice.” This has been the case in six of the past ten polls. But it’s not the “pro-choice” label that is to blame; it is the choice itself, I think.

Caught Again

Pro-life star, Lila Rose, once again caught Planned Parenthood in horrifying activities. In the past, it was racism and protecting human trafficking. Last month, four videos showed Planned Parenthood counselors in several cities teaching teens about sadomasochism dangerous sexual practices because that’s what “women’s health care” is about, right?

And Again

Just this week, it was announced that an audit of Planned Parenthood by Alliance Defending Freedom reveals  that the abortion provider lost more than $100 million of taxpayer money. Its 2014 report, “Profit, No Matter What”  showed that Planned Parenthood practices “resulted in losses to the American taxpayer of more than $115 million” from health-care funding programs. The report charges “waste, abuse and potential fraud” by over billing federal health-care programs, billing the government for drugs that were not actually provided, and for patients that were never seen.

“Nearly every known audit of Planned Parenthood affiliates has found overbilling,” the report said

Supreme Court Losses

This past June, the Supreme Court dealt Planned Parenthood two blows. On June 30, the Court upheld a 2013 ruling by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals protecting Hobby Lobby and the Green family from being forced to go against their religious convictions by the government mandate to supply contraception that acts as abortifacients. The Supreme Court recognized in a 5-4 decision that Americans do not lose their religious freedom when they run a family business.

Planned Parenthood representatives throughout the country came out in force to speak out against this ruling. At one Hobby Lobby store in a Chicago suburb, several Planned Parenthood employees protested the ruling by handing out condoms to customers. This was both ironic and ignorant. The Green family was only protesting abortion drug coverage, not all contraception, so the free condom protest revealed a depth of ignorance. It was also ironic in view of another Supreme Court ruling four days earlier.

On June 26, the Supreme Court, in a 9-0 decision penned by Justice McCullen, ruled that a Massachusetts law requiring a 35-foot “buffer zone” on public property around the state’s abortion clinics was unconstitutional. Planned Parenthood wanted the buffer zone to prohibit pro-lifers from setting foot within 35 feet of an abortion clinic. The Chicago-area, Planned Parenthood employees were hypocritically handing out condoms on Hobby Lobby’s private property, which could legally be considered trespassing.

Closings

Last month, LifeNews announced 27 clinics have closed in this country in 2014. Financial problems, a drop in business, and stricter regulations are to blame. There remain 576 clinics that do surgical abortions and 177 that offer abortion by medication only, they reported. That number is down dramatically from 2176 surgical abortion clinics in 1991.

During a little over a year, the number of abortion clinics in the state of Texas fell from 41 to 20 thanks to a requirement that doctors obtain hospital admitting privileges. Many doctors could not comply. Watchdogs say that the number of clinics could be down to six by September.

Future Fights for Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood is never one to sit out on a fight against life. They are working against two ballot measures in state elections this November. Colorado’s definition of Person and Child Initiative, Amendment 67, is on the ballot November 4 in that state. The measure would include the unborn under the definition of “person” and “child” in the Colorado criminal code. This amendment is very different than their failed attempts in 2008 and 2010 in that it would only apply in criminal cases where an unborn baby was killed so that the person responsible could be charged.

North Dakota voters have an opportunity to pass the Human Life Amendment –known as Measure 1–this November. It states: “The inalienable right to life of every human being at any stage of development must be recognized and protected.”

A bipartisan majority of the state legislature put the proposed amendment on the ballot. The purpose is to prevent the all-too-common situation where out-of-state interest groups file lawsuits to invalidate pro-life laws. Last year, these outside groups convinced a judge in Fargo to overturn a pro-life law passed by the Legislature. The judge ruled that the state constitution contains a “right” to abortion. This kind of judicial perception jeopardizes every pro-life law. Passing the Human Life Amendment does not in and of itself do anything to change laws, but it supports laws passed by the state legislature. To learn more or to contribute to this historical cause, go to http://ndchooselife.com.

There are a lot of local and state battles for life, big and small. Planned Parenthood jumps into each and every one. Pro-lifers also need to see no boundaries and fight back for life in every way possible. Planned Parenthood is an experienced, well-financed giant against life. But giants are often defeated, as Goliath learned and as 2014 is proving.