The "Grand Illusion" of Planned Parenthood By Jeremy Reynalds web posted January 7, 2002 It'd be nice to take people and organizations at face value, wouldn't it? Take Planned Parenthood, for example. To the uninitiated the name might conjure up a reassuring image of a group that has the concerns of the family at heart. But nothing could be further from the truth. What a mistake it would be to take the name Planned Parenthood at face value and not fail to look below the surface. In fact this reminds me of a story that I heard recently from Pastor Skip Heitzig of Calvary of Albuquerque. Skip was telling us about a Texas border town whose merchants were having terrible problems with a Mexican bandit. The bandit would slip across the border, hold up a store or two in the Texas town and then go back across the border to Mexico where he would take refuge in the caves. Not surprisingly, the Texan store owners became upset with the bandit and hired a detective to try and locate the elusive robber. The detective eventually spotted his target in a bar and confronted hin, saying that unless the man surrendered his stolen loot, or told him where it was, that he would shoot him on the spot. Another man approached the detective and told him that he was wasting his time as the bandit didn't understand any English. However, the kind stranger offered to translate, a seemingly gracious offer, at least at face value. After hearing the detective's message delivered through the interpreter, the bandit disclosed the location of two million dollars of gold. It was stashed down an abandoned well shaft in a hollowed- out hiding place located behind a loose brick. But what message did the interpreter relay to the detective? Certainly not the one he'd been given. Instead of telling the detective where he could find the loot, the "interpreter" told the detective that the bandit had forgotten the location and he guessed he should shoot him. Oh that the detective hadn't taken the stranger at face value, and had investigated him a little! And that's just the same for Planned Parenthood. Just as the stranger was initially appreciated by the detective for his offer of translation, as George Grant so eloquently noted in his excellent book "Grand Illusions: The Legacy of Planned Parenthood," the organization is highly regarded by many as one that provides counseling and health care for women in need. In addition, Grant pointed out, Planned Parenthood "has a reputation for providing effective and professional social services for the needy ... for providing honest and insightful educational programs for the young" and "for maintaining the rights and liberties" of the downtrodden. While that reputation, Grant wrote, "has made it a glittering star in the grand constellation of the American social service field, it's a fact that "all that glitters, however, is not gold." However, look beyond the glittering surface and you'll see an organization with an integrity as tarnished as that of the corrupt interpreter. Grant noted that while Planned Parenthood claims to be an advocate for the rights of women to have children where and when they want without government interference that claim is in fact a total illusion. Grant wrote that from the organization's inception, that Planned Parenthood "has sought mandatory population control measures- measures carefully designed to deny the freedom to choose. Over the years it has proposed that our government implement such things as ‘compulsory abortion for out-of-wedlock pregnancies,' federal entitlement ‘payments to encourage abortion, ‘compulsory sterilization for those who have already had two children and ‘tax penalties' for existing large families." So keeping that in mind, it may not come as a surprise to you that shortly after last September's terrible terrorist attack that Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge in Virginia was handing out so-called "patriotic condoms" free in return for a donation to the September Eleventh Fund created by the New York Community Trust and the United Way of New York City. David Nova, president of the Planned Parenthood office responsible for the stunt, told media that "Offering patriotic condoms will hopefully stem the increase of unintended pregnancies while letting Americans display their colors proudly." The Ryan Report succinctly summed up this cheap stunt, writing "Americans should be displaying their colors proudly via the American flag. This PP condom is utterly disgusting and totally inappropriate." The condom caper came on the back of another shameless Planned Parenthood activity–this time from New York City. On September 18, Planned Parenthood of New York City posted a press release which read, "To provide for the many New York women who have been displaced or may otherwise be in need due to the World Trade Center tragedy, PPNYC will be offering complete reproductive health care from September 18th through September 22nd free of cost. Any woman who has been unable to obtain care can visit any of our three centers for free comprehensive reproductive health services during this week, including GYN care, birth control, emergency contraception, and STD and HIV testing and counseling, among others." (See http://www.ppnyc.org/new/releases/wtcservices.html for the release as it was posted). A representative from the advocacy group STOPP (standing for Stop Planned Parenthood) called Planned Parenthood of New York City and was able to confirm that the free services would also include abortion! Planned Parenthood of New York City then posted another release on its web site (see http: //www.plannedparenthood.org/about/pr/92401PPNYC.html) which announced that the free services would be continued until September 29th. The release then read, "The response has been overwhelming. PPNYC health centers have been booked to capacity and have had 100% show rate for appointments." I agree wholeheartedly with Catholic pro-life groups who called the condom caper a "shameless stunt on the back of a national tragedy" and with the Ryan Report writer who quite correctly surmised that the Planned Parenthood offer would further increase the death toll in New York City and was an "an effort to garner some cheap publicity during this time of national crisis." But having said that, what can we do to be proactive? Obviously we need to pray but what can we do in addition to that? The words contained in Grant's work exposing Planned Parenthood still ring as true today as they did back in 1988 when the book was published. Grant wrote that if the evils of Planned Parenthood are to be exposed it is important for us to be "sober, alert, watchful and informed," a "cornerstone of Christian character." To help us do this, Grant wrote that we need to diligently study the Bible, church history, pass along the knowledge we gain and then develop both local and national information networks– something much easier now for us to do in 2002 than it was when Grant wrote the book. Being diligently prepared, Grant suggested that "we undertake one or two projects and see them through to completion. Christians are notorious for never finishing what they begin ... We need to choose a battle and fight it to the end. This is vision made practical. This is steadfastness made tangible." Amen, Mr. Grant, amen. Let's make that our battle cry as Christian conservatives for 2002. Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and director of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter. He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico and is pursuing his PhD in intercultural education at Biola University in Los Angeles. He is married with five children and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His work can be viewed here and weekly at www.americasvoices.org. He may be contacted by e-mail at reynalds@joyjunction.org. Enter Stage Right - http://www.enterstageright.com