I am a longtime supporter of Planned Parenthood. In fact, I've been supporting them so long I don't even remember how long I've done so. I think 1989 was when I first started contributing to their efforts. I have been truly shocked at how successful the anti-family, anti-choice groups have been at mobilizing against a woman's right to choose elective abortion. The Republicans gaining control of congress in the mid-90s seems to have inaugurated increasingly successful efforts by these individuals and groups. It is a frightening time.
Planned Parenthood and other pro-choice and family planning organizations have finally begun to recognize that fresh, new strategies to save civilization are called for. While I'm not sure how successful they've been I certainly commend them and their efforts. They have a number of options that are an important part of any strategy: educating voters and encouraging them to be politically active, lobbying efforts, general education among the wider populace and, most importantly, a continual effort to offer family planning services--including abortions--to women in need.
The most recent effort--to which I signed up to participate--is to use my blog to discuss issues pertaining to abortion, choice, anti-choice terrorism, and civil liberty issues. I received my first email from PPFA Action Fund suggesting I highlight the case of an Indiana girl and her mother trying to go to a Planned Parenthood clinic and being confused by a predatory "crisis counseling" center that set up shop next door to the actual clinic in order to confuse women. The "crisis counseling" group took down the girl's information for an appointment at the center next door, never telling her that they weren't affiliated with the clinic. Instead, illustrating their great respect for women and privacy, they used her private information to harass her, her family, and friends at school.
PPFA recommends voters contact their congressmen and women and request the support of H.R. 5052, a bill designed to make it more difficult for Anti-Family Planning organizations to deceptively prey on unsuspecting women. To take action on this issue, you can visit PPFA's website: http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/fake
Their interface makes it incredibly easy to send off a letter of support (or if you really wanted, dissent) of the bill, sponsored by Representative Carolyn Maloney.
This is the story that PPFA has provided to me. They didn't provide any more information to substantiate the story, perhaps for reasons of privacy for the girl and her family, but I really would appreciate more information from them. Maybe providing the name and contact information of the anti-family planning clinic would help. I don't have time to launch into a whole discussion of strategy in this entry, but I think part of their effort must involve framing the issues more successfully. My use of the "anti-family planning" phrase begins to gets at some of the rhetoric that needs to be deployed. But there's a lot to do, and rhetorical strategy and framing are both only two parts of a larger problem. To be continued...
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