I wouldn’t exactly call it the highlight of Advent, but today marked the return of an annual experience for me since I signed up for Planned Parenthood’s e-mails a few years back: receiving an e-mail from Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards wishing me a Merry Christmas “healthy and safe holiday season.” (See the message in its entirety here.)
Of course, the message was really just a fundraising appeal. It contained three links to their donations page within the message itself, not to mention the big pink “GIVE NOW” button that was impossible to miss. Only one sentence of the e-mail was written in boldface — because, of course, this was the one thing they wanted to focus their members’ attention on, so as to gin up donations:
Opponents of women’s health haven’t given up—day in and day out, they’re attacking Planned Parenthood and every woman’s right to make her own medical decisions.
“Opposing women’s health,” “attacking women’s rights” — same old, same old. We’ve heard it all a thousand times before.
Note also that Richards trotted out the tired old “Choice on Earth” slogan for this year’s Christmas holiday message.
What this tells us is that Planned Parenthood has nothing new to offer.
I have to agree with Richards on at least one point, though. Her opening paragraph reads:
I’ve never had a year like this. None of us here at Planned Parenthood has.
Richards is right. Never before has Planned Parenthood suffered such a public relations black eye as in 2011.
Never before have so many millions of ordinary Americans been exposed to the truth that Planned Parenthood is ever so willing to cover up underage sex trafficking.
Never before has Planned Parenthood come so close to being stripped of federal taxpayer funding, nor have some of its state affiliates actually been stripped of state taxpayer funding.
And, most importantly, never before have so many Americans learned that Planned Parenthood is Abortion, Incorporated. For 2009 (the most recent year for which statistics are available), 332,278 babies were killed by abortion at Planned Parenthood facilities. That’s the 15th year in a row Planned Parenthood’s abortions numbers have gone up.
Cecile Richards is right: Planned Parenthood had a tough year in 2011, thanks in large part to pro-life activists. Now’s the time to redouble our efforts and make 2012 even tougher.
Get out to your local abortion clinic to pray. Find pro-life protests in your area and join in. If you’re having trouble finding any, don’t hesitate to ask the League to help you find or start some. Use your pro-life vote wisely in the 2012 elections. If every pro-lifer in the country does those three simple things, I guarantee you Cecile Richards’ crocodile tears will be even bigger next year—if she still has her job.
