To the editor:
I was disturbed by a part of the article “Will 2007 be a battle for life?” in the January Catholic Courier because — however unintentionally — it allowed outright propaganda to be perpetuated without clarification by quoting Betty DeFazio of Planned Parenthood that “abortion makes up less than 7 percent of the organization’s work.” That is exactly what Planned Parenthood wants people including Catholics to think, by giving the impression that it is mainly involved with contraception services and rape crisis outreach programs, not abortion. The April 14, 1993 New York Times pointed out, “In simple equation of public image, ‘Planned Parenthood equals abortion rights.’” Planned Parenthood operates the largest chain of abortion facilities in the country. Planned Parenthood Federation of America performed over 255,000 abortions in 2004. Plus the devastation to thousands of women each year that we see through Project Rachel.
Planned Parenthood has been involved in most of the major cases, which have struck down any legal protection of the pre-born. It was in Planned Parenthood vs. Danforth in 1976 that the Supreme Court decided in favor that a minor does not need parental consent or notification to have an abortion. It was in Planned Parenthood vs. Alexander in 1979 that the court struck down the requirement of a 24 hour waiting period before an abortion could be performed. In 1983 in the case of the City of Akron vs. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, Planned Parenthood argued and won its case that prevented women seeking abortion from receiving information prior to abortions about fetal development and possible complications of the abortion procedure. In 1999 Planned Parenthood of Missouri, the state’s largest abortion provider, filed a suit and sought a temporary stay against a law that would have prevented late term or partial birth abortions.
Now you can understand why the December 11, 1989, issue of Time magazine described Planned Parenthood as “the premiere institution of performing abortion in the country.”
Father James E. Hewes
St. John/St. Patrick Church
Clyde
