On November 13, a bulletin was posted by the Women's Resource Center: a "Call for Volunteers" for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.
I object to the posting of this bulletin, not on the grounds that the Women's Resource Center has acted wrongly per se, but rather because of the faulty and dangerous message which the bulletin (perhaps unwittingly) promulgates.
To be sure, the WRC has every right to post a bulletin of this nature. Clearly, Planned Parenthood is viewed today as a fundamental resource for women, a place to which women can conceivably turn in times of need. The Resource Center can, and even should, post bulletins relating to such accommodating and serviceable organizations.
Unfortunately, it is the very characterization of Planned Parenthood as a "resource for women" that ultimately undermines any attempt by the WRC to help women at all. In fact, the Resource Center is sadly contributing to the nationwide brainwashing which Planned Parenthood has somehow been able to accomplish.
Truth be told, I am pro-life. But if the reader will suspend his disbelief for a few moments, he will find that this column has very little to do with the morality of the abortion issue and much more to do with the fair and equal treatment of women (or the unfortunate lack thereof).
Planned Parenthood is a tremendous institution. Although it is officially a non-profit organization, IRS regulations allow it to make profits on parts of its operations. Such loopholes have resulted in a million-dollar industry which promotes abortion for its own profit, hypocritically in the name of "women's rights." Is it possible for an institution that reaps such benefit from the procurement of abortion to clear its mind of the dollar signs and truly focus on the individual needs of women? Does it happen that women are fully informed of their options, the possible dangers of certain procedures and the probable consequences of their decisions?
The answer is a simple and emphatic no. A majority of women who enter a Planned Parenthood clinic effectively rob themselves of the proclaimed "right to choose." They are confidently putting themselves in the hands of an institution which supposedly respects and promotes their inherent freedoms, only to realize -- too late -- that their trust in Planned Parenthood has been spat on and thrown out, coldly compromised in pursuit of the Almighty Dollar.
In 1993, Planned Parenthood performed or made referrals for over 200,000 abortions. Contrast that to the 9,900 women who received prenatal care during the same year. The 20-1 ratio of abortions to prenatal care provides a clear and undeniable indication of Planned Parenthood's true priorities. Abortion is profitable. Prenatal care is not. How often, really, are women given a full range of choice in the matter?
Looking past the disheartening statistics, Planned Parenthood's methods in accomplishing such a feat are even more telling. In light of Planned Parenthood's contention that it "believes in the fundamental right of each individual, throughout the world, to manage his or her fertility," consider the following quotes. How are women being liberated? How are they being given any freedom whatsoever to choose?
Dr. Joseph Randall, an abortionist: "The picture of the baby on the ultrasound bothered me more than anything else. The staff couldn't take it. Women who were having abortions were never allowed to see the ultrasound."
Debra Henry, an abortion clinic staffer: "We were told to find the woman's weakness and work on it. The women were never given any alternatives. They were told how much trouble it was to have a baby."
Finally, according to David Reardon and his book "Aborted Women: Silent No More," 80 percent of women who have had abortions from Planned Parenthood said their counselors gave "...little or no information about the potential health risks which might follow the surgery." 68 percent felt "the procedure was not described with any degree of depth or clarity."
Planned Parenthood is not a resource for women. It is a resource for the abortion industry to exploit women for its own profit. Please, think twice about volunteering for a backwards institution such as this. The women of this world certainly deserve better.
