Ohio congressman backs fight against Planned Parenthood
Two weeks ago, we reported to you that Jim Sedlak traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio to assist with the local effort against a new facility Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio Region wants to open. The new PP clinic will be near three high schools, and the people in this community are not happy about it.
This local group has been working very hard to keep PP from moving to its new clinic and now Rep. Steve Chabot is supporting the group's effort. WCPO Channel 9 in Cincinnati covered this story, and if you'd like to view the video, click here. WKRC Channel 12 in Cincinnati also picked up on this dangerous move for the community. To view its coverage, click here.
In both of these stories, the media says that PP will not be performing (surgical) abortions at the new facility, but we all know that the birth control pill can cause chemical abortions, and anything that has to do with PP is not anything we want our children to be involved with.
Rally for Life at California's state capitol
Today, pro-lifers in California gathered for the Rally for Life at the State Capitol and demanded the elimination of tax funding for Planned Parenthood.
As the Coalition for Women and Children's web site stated,
The women and children of our state need services, not abortions! Abortions hurt the women who have them and deprive us of the children who are our legacy. This year, our state budget is in crisis. Services such as education are undergoing deep cuts. In the meantime, the most recent figures for Medi-Cal money spent on abortions show that California paid over $32 Million in 2005. That money could have been spent to provide salaries for over 900 elementary school teachers.
Back in March, we reported that PP affiliates in California were accused of ripping off $180 million from the American people by overcharging the state government for birth control. We are happy to see California pro-lifers focusing more attention on PP and the reasons why this billion-dollar, baby-killing business should not get away with breaking the law.
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South Texas STOPP group petitions to stop Planned Parenthood's government funding
On Monday, July 7 through Friday, July 11, South Texas STOPP will have a petition table set up at the Nueces County Courthouse from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM. They will be asking public officials to sign the petition to stop giving tax money to Planned Parenthood.
They are looking for two volunteers for each four-and-a-half-hour shift throughout the week. If interested, contact Nelson Ozenberger, the volunteer coordinator, at (361) 854-8770 or e-mail njo@usa.com.
Defeating government funding of PP - Part 2: Go public
Last week, we presented Part 1 of how to defeat government funding of Planned Parenthood. This week, we discuss how to inform your community and get the support you need for this battle. This information can be found on our web site at http://www.all.org/stopp/plan.htm.
1. Send a letter and a few pages of the most offensive PP pamphlets to your elected officials. Copyright laws do not allow you to make copies of entire pamphlets, but copying one or two pages for illustrative purposes is OK. In the letter, ask your elected officials if they are aware that they are spending tax money to distribute this offensive material. Tell them you are upset, and ask them to take action to stop this waste of taxpayer money. Ask them to stop all tax funding of PP.
2. Make the fight against PP funding part of a total effort that includes community education, picketing and fighting PP school sex ed programs as well as abortion. It is important, however, that your elected officials get the sense that the community is upset with PP in general and that the effort to stop government money from going to PP is a serious effort.
3. Circulate petitions. One way to solicit public support is to draw up a simple petition. The petition need say nothing more than "We, the undersigned, request our elected officials to stop giving government money to Planned Parenthood." Provide spaces for people to sign and to print their name, physical address and e-mail address. These petitions will help you fight PP's claims that you are not representative of the community. They will also give you names and addresses for your mailing list. You should keep all who sign the petition informed about what is going on and let them know when you need them to attend a meeting or budget hearing.
4. Reach out to clergy. When faced with opposition, PP routinely turns to sympathetic clergy to demonstrate that it has support among the religious institutions of the community. You should make special efforts to inform the clergy about PP and solicit their support for this effort. A knowledgeable clergy member can distribute a special petition among the clergy asking that all government money to PP be stopped. This will widen your base of support. Remember to keep the clergy informed about what is happening in the struggle.
5. Keep the focus of this fight on PP's government funding. Do not burden your efforts to stop its tax funding with the additional task of ending abortion. PP will do everything possible to make this an abortion fight. It will claim that you are only against PP because of its abortion advocacy. Although we abhor the 289,750 abortions a year done in PP facilities (as of 2006), that is not the focus of this fight.
The focus of this fight is to stop government funds from going to PP. The leaders of the fight in your community should make it clear to the elected officials that a vote against PP funding will not be recorded as a "pro-life" vote. It will, in fact, be recognized for what it is: a vote to keep government funds from a controversial organization that is not supported by many in the community. People have been successful in framing the vote in this way, and as a result, many elected officials who describe themselves as "pro-choice" vote against funding for PP. Even some elected officials who personally donate money to PP have voted against giving public funds to the organization!
Your government officials have no obligation to fund PP. They can vote to deny funding for it. When PP claims it is illegal to discriminate against it, ask your local officials if they would seriously consider giving government money to the Ku Klux Klan to run an educational program for black children or if they would give money to the American Nazi Party for a parade. Of course they wouldn't. Well, they have just as much right to deny funds to PP.
6. Find out as much as you can about your local PP affiliate's finances. All PP affiliates are 501(c) (3) organizations. Each files a federal Form 990 with the IRS each year. The IRS requires that PP make its Form 990 available for public inspection. The web site http://www.guidestar.org has PP's Form 990s available as a free download. Many states also require that the organization file with the state charities office. You should pursue all these avenues to get a complete financial picture of your local PP affiliate. Know what its income is and where it comes from. Know how its money is spent and how much goes to pay salaries. Know how much money the affiliate has in the bank and if it had a profit or loss last year. All of this information will come in handy as you talk to your elected officials.
7. Publicize the PP affiliate's finances. Once you know your local PP affiliate's financial situation, do not keep it a secret. Publicize it in your monthly newsletter. Write letters to the editor of your local newspaper and highlight areas of PP's budget that will be of interest to the public. Let folks know what PP pays its top local executives. The more facts you can get out, the better.
8. Be ready to persevere. Keep fighting year after year until you achieve your goals. Frequently, as they go through the initial stages, people become impatient. They want to get into the fight and stop the funding, not spend time collecting data. We cannot stress too much the importance of doing research early and having all of your facts. In the early stages of the active fight, PP will probably respond with some wild claims and probably make some statements that are not true. If you have the facts at your fingertips and can show that you are correct and that PP is wrong, you will go a long way towards establishing your credibility with elected officials. This will also harm PP's credibility.
So, do not expect this to be a short fight. It will take perseverance and a willingness to suffer for His sake. But you can win this battle - if you persist.
Letter to the editor: "Planned Parenthood has a broken calculator"
Below is a letter written by Terri Kimmel in Robstown, Texas which was published in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.
Living on less
Recently a billboard appeared within a mile of my home. It reads, "A baby costs $911 a month. How much is your allowance?"
Give me a break! My husband and I have seven children ages 15 and under. The youngest is still in diapers and just started walking. If it cost us $911 a month to raise each of our kids, that would mean that our income would have to be at least $6,377 a month. That's laughable.
I'm a stay-at-home mom, and we live on my husband's income alone. I can assure Planned Parenthood (who authored the billboard) and anyone misled by them that we have lived well on less than a third of that figure. We own a home, our kids are fed, dressed and attend excellent schools. We have pets, two cars (both old, but running), we love all our kids and we're happy. We do without a lot of luxuries, but we have a wonderful life -- on a whole lot less than $911 a month per child.
I think Planned Parenthood has a broken calculator.
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