Why Do We Oppose Planned Parenthood?

STOPP - Why Do We Oppose Planned Parenthood? Planned Parenthood is not a benevolent organization trying to strengthen women's rights. It is a cold, calculating group intent on spreading the Humanist religion, luring our children into thier web of premarital sex and unlimited abortions, reducing the population of minorities in particular and filling its coffers with the profits from sales of birth control devices.

PP COMES BETWEEN PARENTS & CHILDREN

Planned Parenthood pushes what it calls "confidential services" for minors, meaning that PP will provide all types of "reproductive services" to young girls, including potentially dangerous prescription medication and invasive surgery, without their parents' knowledge. In its 1993-1994 Annual Report, PP bragged of its "unswerving commitment to confidentiality."

In most states, PP assigns teens a "code name" so that PP can call the girls at home and pretend to be a girlfriend. (Recently, the code names in Springfield, IL; Chicago, IL; and Kingston, NY; were Heather, Nancy and Lucy, respectively.)

As long ago as 1979, the Sunday Independent newspaper in Wilkes-Barre, PA, reported that Planned Parenthood was transporting high school girls out of town, during school hours, to get abortions without the parents being notified.

Planned Parenthood will give minor girls Norplant, Depo-Provera shots, and even abortions without their parents' knowledge.

PP DOES NOT OPPOSE TEENAGE SEX

Planned Parenthood does not view teenage sex as wrong. PP is upset only if sex results in "unwanted" births. Planned Parenthood's sex education programs are not about telling children how to avoid sex. They are, rather, designed to indoctrinate our children into what PP calls "responsible sexuality." By this PP means it is okay for kids to have sex as long as they avoid pregnancy; or if they do get pregnant, have an abortion.

Former PP president Faye Wattleton confirmed this in the Los Angeles Times, on October 17, 1986: "[Planned Parenthood is] not going to be an organization promoting celibacy or chastity."

The current PP president, Pamela Maraldo, in an article in the March/April 1993 issue of Family Planning World, condemned abstinence-only sex ed programs as "unacceptable." She endorsed, instead, the position of former United States Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, who said, "We've taught our children in driver's education what to do in the front seat, and now we've got to teach them what to do in the back seat."

PP SPREADS RELIGION OF HUMANISM

Planned Parenthood is dedicated to spreading the religious doctrine of Humanism as defined in the Humanist Manifestos (I & II).

PP has consistently refused to give our children a clear message of "right" and "wrong." It seeks not to educate our children in moral values, but to indoctrinate them into the Humanist philosophy that proclaims there is no objective moral code, and that right and wrong can be decided solely by the individual.

In the Los Angeles Times article quoted above, Faye Wattleton said, "[Planned Parenthood's] concern is not to convey 'shoulds' or 'should nots.'"

Fearing that moral people on school boards may lead to schools teaching our young children right from wrong, Pamela Maraldo said, in the article referred to above, ". . . we must bring an immediate halt to the aggressive infiltration of local school boards by the religious right."

Any school program endorsed by Planned Parenthood will give children complete information on how to have sex. The children will be given no moral guidance in a PP program and will be told they can do it or not do it depending on how they feel.

While this concept of no absolute rights or wrongs may be embraced by some people in the world, it is rejected by most. Most people subscribe to religious principles that recognize a supreme authority over life and a set of divinely inspired principles on which our behavior must be conditioned. Parents who support STOPP are among this latter group and, therefore, oppose all PP programs for teens.

PP POSES A DANGER TO WOMEN

Planned Parenthood runs a business providing birth control devices to its customers. Although PP is officially a non-profit organization, IRS regulations allow it to make profits on parts of its operation. PP does make a profit on its sale of birth control devices and seems to operate more to protect that income than its clients.

A primary example of this is their provision of birth control pills. The Pill has long been a major income producer for PP.

At the Third Annual AIDS Conference in Washington in June 1987, Dr. Frank Plummer of the Kenya Medical Institute reported that oral contraceptive users appear to be less resistant to AIDS than non-users. Still PP refused to get teenage girls and others off the Pill.

Then, Family Planning Perspectives (Vol. 25, No. 6, p. 243) reported: "Women who are seropositive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and use the pill are more likely than nonusers to have HIV present in their cervical secretions, and may be more likely to infect their sexual partners." The AGI story goes on to say: "The presence of HIV in cervical secretions was nearly 12 times as likely among pill users as among non-users."

Still, PP refused to tell its customers to get off the Pill to reduce the risk of AIDS. If PP were really concerned about women, it would stop selling the Pill. However, this would mean about an $85,000,000 decrease in PP income.

This same disregard for women can also be seen in Planned Parenthood's handling of the Norplant problem. In 1993 and 1994, numerous lawsuits were filed by Norplant users over the side effects of the implants and the difficulty of removal. Yet PP not only continues to make this device available, it still implants it in minors without parental knowledge.

PP IS RACIST

In his book , black author Carlisle John Peterson devotes the greater part of two chapters to the racist nature of PP. He gives many examples, including Sanger's notorious "Negro Project" of the 1930's.

Looking at PP's abortion statistics gives more evidence of its racist nature. PP has an overall clientele spread that is 74% white and 26% minorities. Yet PP's 1992 Service Report revealed that its abortion customers were 57% white and 43% minorities! It is clear, then, that PP targets minority customers for abortions.

In addition to lowering the minority population through abortions, PP also pushes sterilization among minority groups. In his book George Grant wrote:

Lydia Jones, a Title X and Medicaid-eligible welfare mother of four went to the Planned Parenthood clinic near her home and discovered that "free" government programs can be a good news-bad news proposition."They told me that if I wanted to take advantage of their medical services I would have to undergo sterilization," she said. "The counselor just kept lecturing me about how I needed to do this, and that I should have done it a long time ago. She told me that my children were a burden to society. Well, let me tell you, I love my children. And they're a burden to no one. My two oldest are in college, working their way through. My other two are straight-A students and bound for scholarships. I may be poor, and I may be Black, but I'm not going to be bullied by these people into despising the heritage God has given me." Lydia walked out [of Planned Parenthood].

According to a February 26, 1994, PP opened a modern medical facility in the poor neighborhood of Tijuana, Mexico, to provide free sterilizations for Mexican women. This facility is contributing to the demise of the native Mexican population.

PP IS LARGEST PROMOTER OF SURGICAL ABORTION

From its beginning, Planned Parenthood has been an organization that championed surgical abortion. In many of its plans and documents, PP talks about the need for abortion as "a necessary back-up for contraceptive failure."

Planned Parenthood opposes every attempt to put even the slightest restriction on abortion. In 1989 it opposed a Massachusetts bill which would have made sex-selection abortions illegal.

Planned Parenthood "counseling" is geared towards getting pregnant women to abort their babies. Paula Molloy of Philadelphia tells of going to PP when she was pregnant and of the type of counseling she received. Paula said:

I found myself pregnant and went to the only place I knew-Planned Parenthood. There, the counselor began her coercive methods. I did not have any intention of signing myself up for an abortion. The counselor asked me what I was planning to do. I was not sure. The counselor said, "Surely you're not planning on having this child, you can't even afford our clinic let alone a baby." She started to tell me the cost of baby clothes, food and medical expenses. She then said: "Do you want to end up on welfare? You have your whole life ahead of you. You won't be able to travel or pursue a serious career." I told her my parents would help. She asked me how old they were and how many children lived at home. After I answered, her comment was "Are you not being selfish to place this burden of responsibility on your parents? They have already raised their children and it was their turn to enjoy each other." I then asked about adoption and she started to talk about child abuse cases. Then she added that I was on the pill and the fetus would suffer serious medical and physical complications. I made an appointment for the abortion that day.

This type of "counseling" occurs frequently at PP. A study made public by the U.S. Government's General Accounting Office in 1989 reported that 35.2% of pregnant patients who go to PP centers have abortions, as compared with just 5.7% of patients who go to all family planning clinics. In addition, the GAO found one PP clinic where 86.4% of pregnant women had abortions! In 1993, PP ran more than 100 abortion facilities in the United States and performed 134,277 abortions. This represents almost 9% of all the abortions in the country!

PP IS POPULATION-CONTROL GROUP

Despite all its rhetoric about being a "women's health agency" or an "advocate for poor women," PP is first and foremost a population-control organization. According to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America's Federation Declaration of Principles, 1980, p. 12, one of the five general goals of PP is "to combat the world population crisis by helping to bring about a population of stable size in an optimum environment in the United States."

The PPFA 1993-94 Annual Report also bragged: "In February 1994, PPFA launched a new initiative to ensure Planned Parenthood's continuing leadership in global population issues." It is called the Global Vision Project. PP's activities in sterilization and abortion can rightly be traced to its intense desire to reduce population growth.

PP USES OUR Money TO PROMOTE ITS AGENDA

Planned Parenthood receives large amounts of government monies to spread its philosophies. PPFA receives $150 million from American taxpayers. Thus, we are being forced to pay for its outrageous programs and its attacks on our youth.

****************************************************************************

To defeat Planned Parenthood, we need your help. We invite you to join us in this task. Please pray for our work. To keep informed about PP send $25 for a one-year subscription to The Ryan Report.

c 1995 STOPP International ***************************************************************************** STOPP INTERNATIONAL (an affiliate of American Life League, Inc. P.O. Box 8 LaGrangeville, NY 12540 (914) 473-3316 *****************************************************************************

The electronic form of this document is copyrighted. Copyright (c) American Life League