Which means we must be doing something right. Our recent “Contraception Is Not the Answer” conference certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed in the “pro-choice” world. The nation’s leading abortion provider is the latest group to mention it, doing so in a recently launched e-mail campaign:
Dear [Planned Parenthood Supporter], A few weeks ago, 250 anti-choice activists from around the nation converged on Rosemont, Illinois. They were there to attend a conference called “Contraception Is Not the Answer.” The Chicago Tribune reported that “experts at the gathering assailed contraception on the grounds that it devalues children, harms relationships between men and women, promotes sexual promiscuity, and leads to falling birth rates, among social ills.” That conference was sponsored by the anti-choice Pro-Life Action League, whose extremist president, Joseph Scheidler, told the Tribune that “contraception is more the root cause of abortion than anything else.” Here’s what we have to do to win the upper hand. We have to point out the glaring contradiction at the heart of the anti-choice movement: The fact is, the same forces who oppose abortion also vigorously oppose expanding access to the information and services that prevent unintended pregnancy and reduce the need for abortion. [Emphasis in the original.] It’s time for us to take charge of the debate and stop playing defense. And there’s no better place to start than by exposing the growing stridency of the anti-contraception movement in America. Read Planned Parenthood’s Strategy for Moving Forward and learn more. [Emphasis in the original.] Our Strategy for Moving Forward: Read it. Share It. Ninety-eight percent of American women use birth control at some point in their lives. Eighty-nine percent of Americans favor more access to information about birth control, and 81 percent think access to birth control is a good way to prevent abortions. But extreme anti-choice groups are determined to paint birth control as evil, just as they’ve tried to do with abortion. They have attacked the pill and emergency contraception — they’ve even campaigned against condoms! How many Americans do you think agree with anti-choice extremists like Judie Brown, president of the anti-choice group American Life League? Here’s what she said earlier this year in a New York Times Magazine cover story titled “Contra-Contraception — War on Contraception”: “The mind-set that invites a couple to use contraception is an antichild mind-set. We oppose all forms of contraception.” We need to go on the offensive — and demand that anti-choice groups and their political sponsors try to explain their most indefensible anti-family planning positions. Our Strategy for Moving Forward: Read it. Share It. Most people in our country don’t want to live in a world where ideology trumps science . . . a world where mandated ignorance puts our young people’s lives at risk. . . a world where freedom means the freedom of anti-choice extremists to throw one barrier after another in the path of women seeking to make the most personal decisions of their lives. The better people understand that this is where anti-choice groups want to take us, the sooner we can start to dismantle their political support. Let’s go to work. Sincerely, Cecile Richards President Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Today, we at the Pro-Life Action League — led by our “extremist” national director — Joe Scheidler, responded by issuing this press release:
Planned Parenthood Battles Scheidler over Contraception
CHICAGO, Oct. 23 — “I am not surprised that Planned Parenthood singled out the Pro-Life Action League in their so-called Strategy for Moving Forward,” said Joseph M. Scheidler, National Director of the Chicago-based activist group. “That shows they view us as a formidable opponent. I’m proud to be a thorn in Planned Parenthood’s side.” In an October appeal, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards made the Pro-Life Action League’s recent conference, “Contraception Is Not The Answer,” a call to arms for her supporters. She wrote: “A few weeks ago, 250 anti-choice activists from around the nation converged on Rosemont, Illinois. They were there to attend a conference called ‘Contraception Is Not the Answer’.” Richards went on to point the finger at the League’s director, Joe Scheidler: “That conference was sponsored by the anti-choice Pro-Life Action League, whose extremist president, Joseph Scheidler, told the [Chicago] Tribune that ‘contraception is more the root cause of abortion than anything else’.” “Richards is right to worry about our campaign to expose the truth about contraception,” commented Scheidler. “The evidence coming out from the medical and social sciences reveals a dark side to contraception. We think it’s time Americans look at that evidence, but Planned Parenthood wants to cover it up.” “Richards is wrong,” Scheidler continued. “Contraception is not the answer to this nation’s high abortion rate. On the contrary, flooding our society with contraceptives has only encouraged the kind of irresponsible sexual behavior and anti-child mentality that directly leads to abortion.” Scheidler, who was also singled out by the National Organization for Women in a twenty-year long federal racketeering lawsuit, views the attacks from pro-abortion organizations as confirmation that his activist tactics are effective in undermining their persistent anti-life agenda. “I have always believed that one is known by his enemies,” said Scheidler, “I take it as a mark of our effectiveness that Planned Parenthood is worried. They should worry because we have truth on our side — a truth that threatens Planned Parenthood’s radical agenda of sexual promiscuity and abortion — and they have nothing but lies. “Anyone who wants to understand the true impact of contraception should hear the evidence presented by our speakers at our ‘Contraception Is Not The Answer’ conference.”
Enough said.
