LIFE DIGEST: PPFA requires all affiliates to offer abortions
- Jan 4, 2011 -
Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the country’s leading abortion provider, has made a move that will likely increase its share of the market in the lethal procedure by requiring each of its affiliates to offer abortions in at least one clinic.
A Planned Parenthood spokeswoman confirmed abortions will be provided in a clinic of each affiliate in the country, The Daily Caller reported Dec. 23. A waiver may be acquired, however, in the case of “unique local circumstances,” said Lisa David, a senior vice president for the organization.
Also in this edition: Catholic board forfeits United Way funds over Planned Parenthood and Rabbis urge abortion opposition in Israel.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) has 95 affiliates and 865 health centers, according to its latest annual report, which covers the fiscal year 2008-09. The Daily Caller reported 173 of those centers provide surgical abortions and 131 offer abortions by means of the drug RU 486.
The 2008-09 report showed PPFA received $363.2 million in government grants and contracts during the year. Its affiliates performed more than 324,000 abortions in 2008, the latest year for which statistics are available.
News about PPFA’s new requirement broke when its affiliate in Corpus Christi, Texas, withdrew from the organization and changed its name. The affiliate became Family Planning of the Coastal Bend on Jan. 1, according to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.
Amanda Stukenberg, chief executive office of the Corpus Christi chapter, said the affiliate had never provided abortions because local doctors performed them.
Pro-life blogger Jill Stanek, a former nurse whose testimony helped in passage of the Born-alive Infants Protection Act in 2002, wrote, “I imagine that inside the industry, abortion wars are breaking out even as I type, as PP makes a major power play to wipe out independent abortion mills.
“This is huge, devastating for babies. Statistics bear out that the more abortion mills there are, the more abortions there are.”
Catholic board forfeits United Way funds over Planned Parenthood
The Catholic Community Services board in Eugene, Ore., has dissolved its affiliation with United Way because the network of service organizations provides funds for Planned Parenthood.
The December decision, which took effect immediately, came after Planned Parenthood of Southwest Oregon began distributing the abortion drug RU 486, according to The Eugene Register-Guard. That Planned Parenthood affiliate does not provide surgical abortions.
In making its decision, Catholic Community Services forfeited funds it received from United Way to serve the poor. Last summer, United Way designated $71,000 to the Catholic organization to help provide for such needs as food and shelter for the homeless and low-income citizens, The Register-Guard reported Dec. 27.
Planned Parenthood of Southwest Oregon uses money from United Way for education and a health center, not for abortions, said Cynthia Pappas, the affiliate’s chief executive officer.
That use of United Way funds does not make a difference, said Bud Bunce, spokesman for the Portland Archdiocese.
“Catholic Community Services could be seen to raise money in their promotional efforts for United Way and could be seen as raising money for Planned Parenthood in that way,” Bunce said, according to the newspaper.
RU 486, also known as mifepristone, is used as the first part in a two-step process in the first seven weeks of pregnancy. Mifepristone causes the lining of the uterus to release the embryonic child, resulting in his death. Misoprostol is taken two days after mifepristone and causes a woman’s uterus to contract, expelling her baby.
Rabbis urge abortion opposition in Israel
The leaders of two Jewish groups in Israel have urged local rabbis to persuade women not to have abortions.
Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar, the chief rabbis of the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews, respectively, wrote to rabbis in several cities, neighborhoods and communities, referencing a two-year-old study that reported 50,000 abortions were performed in a year in Israel. Of those, 30,000 violated government rules, according to Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper.
In their letter, the chief rabbis said those figures reflect “a real epidemic, as tens of thousands of Jewish souls are being lost each year. . . . In addition to the enormity of the transgression, it is also delaying redemption,” Haaretz reported.
The rabbis’ concern about the delay of redemption apparently is a reference to the belief that the birth of Jewish babies brings nearer the coming of the Messiah. Christians believe Jesus is the Messiah who already has come.
Ashkenazi Jews are from France, Germany and Eastern Europe. Sephardic Jews are from Spain, Portugal, North Africa and the Middle East.
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