Planned Parenthood: Thousands Of Protesters Rally Across The Country
On Saturday, anti-abortion activists gathered at 320 Planned Parenthood clinics around the country. Some protesters held up signs which read, “Planned Parenthood sells baby parts,” according to the Washington Post. There were prayers, chants, and speeches, and the protesters hope federal funding to the health organization will be cut off eventually causing Planned Parenthood to completely shut down.
Planned Parenthood came under fire recently when undercover videos surfaced allegedly showing employees arranging to sell fetal tissue from aborted fetuses for profit. While it’s legal for companies to pay for the processing and transportation of donating fetal tissue, the Planned Parenthood personnel in the videos were allegedly trying to make a larger profit. Antiabortion activists released the videos, and Planned Parenthood has denied any wrongdoing, claiming the videos have been heavily edited and taken out of context.
Some of the Planned Parenthood locations drew hundreds or even thousands of protesters while only a handful gathered at other clinics. Fort Worth, Aurora (Illinois), St. Paul, and San Diego are just a few of the cities where protests were held Saturday. According to USA Today, Planned Parenthood clinics in 47 states were the sites of protests.
Some Live Action graphics on the sidewalk today in Roseburg, Oregon. Keep standing strong! #ProtestPP pic.twitter.com/TUJH8pdmMT
— Live Action (@LiveAction) August 22, 2015
#PlannedParenthhood closed it’s doors today as 1,000 people gathered to #ProtestPP in Phoenix/Glendale pic.twitter.com/a1fVJsAYpj
— Erin Brownback (@ebrownback) August 22, 2015
Great turnout for LIFE. #ProtestPP #ProtestPPAZ @azcentral @LaVozaz @NCRegister @CatholicNewsSvc pic.twitter.com/2FY4ZSFUp3
— Phoenix Diocese (@PhoenixDiocese) August 22, 2015
The vice president of Planned Parenthood, Eric Ferrero, gave a statement regarding the health clinic organization’s view on these protests.
“These rallies are meant to intimidate and harass our patients, who rely on our nonprofit health centers for basic, preventive health care. The people behind these protests have a clear political agenda: They want to ban abortion, and block women and men from accessing basic reproductive health care.”
Mark Harrington, the director of Created Equal, one of the organizations which organized the protests, explained to USA Today their goals.
“We don’t believe this will be solved in Washington D.C., or the state legislatures. This will be solved in local communities when they take ownership over their own communities. That’s why we are trying to empower local organizers and pro-life organizations.”
The director of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, Monica Miller, also told USA Today, “We want to draw attention to the injustice of legalized abortion. The American public needs to be awakened to the atrocity of what is happening to innocent unborn children.”
Do you think Planned Parenthood will end up losing funding from the government?
[Photo by Andrew Burton / Getty Images]
