How's this for a stocking stuffer?
Thursday, December 04, 2008
In a move that almost defies belief, Planned Parenthood of Indiana is advertising in bold print on their website that they are offering gift certificates for the holiday season.
That's right, you can get your friend or loved one an abortion for Christmas.
WISH-TV 8 out of Indianapolis reports the organization's offer in this news story. An official with Planned Parenthood indicates that the gift certificates are for "preventative healthcare," which, of course, includes abortions. "We decided not to put restrictions on the gift certificates," the same official said. "So it's for whatever people feel they need the services for most."
There is a certain bitter irony here. Right at the time we are preparing to celebrate the coming of the Christ child into the world, Planned Parenthood is helping to make sure that lots of other children won't be coming at all.
Pater, dimitte illis non enim sciunt quid faciunt.
Labels: Abortion, Christmas, Planned Parenthood
posted by Andrew C. Thompson at 10:35 PM
10 Comments:
Thank-you for pointing out this story. As a UM elder in Indiana with my wife expecting our second child, it simply sends chills down my spine how close to home this is.
For the record, ending pregnancies is a small percentage of Planned Parenthood's activities. For that particular PP, only 5% of their clients opted to end pregnancies. The rest of their clients? Oh, you know, evil things like pap smears and breast exams.
Let's not get hysterical about who these giftcards are for. They are NOT for you. I would imagine the most likely purchasers would be womens' shelters and non-profits looking for ways to ensure their clients use donations for their intended purpose.
It's the same concept as food or gas cards: make sure the money goes to the right place. We don't complain about hobos getting food cards, let's not complain about women getting preventative care cards.
For the record, genocide was a small percentage of Nazi Germany's activities. For example, they also invented freeways, the Volkswagen, and the jet engine. So let's not get hysterical.
Also for the record, more people die on freeways, in Volkswagens, and alongside jet engines than in Planned Parenthoods. Ergo, Germany is 100% evil. But let's not get hysterical. ;)
(I'm also impressed at how quickly Reductio ad Hitlerum came into play)
Planned Parenthood kills unborn children......... (let's not get hysterical or anything)
It's not a violation of Godwin's Law if the activity in question -- genocide -- was central to Nazi doctrine and policy.
Here we go again....another round and round (including anonymous comments…classy) about abortion...I think that is a good conversation to have in the right context, but I wonder why the church continues to be SO silent on sexual education in a spiritual context. How many of your churches offers comprehensive sex ed to the youth, and adults...? I am not being rhetorical, I really want to know...Andrew is there any research about this anywhere...
I for one have offered human sexuality workshops in every church context I have been in. Sure, your going to ruffle some feathers, but sticking our head in the sand about this issue is naive. It is time for the church to have a conversation about human sexuality in "real terms" not the 1950's mentality. Here me clearly, I am not advocating that all our teenagers go out and have sex because "everyone else is doing it" (by the way, statistically, everyone else is NOT doing it, an important point to make when talking to teenagers), instead I would advocate for ABSTINENCE BASED not ABSTINENCE ONLY education. There are some good resources out there, and if your church is not offering these types of programs, I hope you will check them out.
Let me make two comments in relation to Evan's post. First, I completely agree that sex education needs to be done in the church (as well as in the family). And Evan, I applaud you for having the courage to do that in your own ministry context. That is a great witness to your own youth group, their parents, and other churches as well.
In answer to your question, Evan, I am not aware of the kind of statistics you are talking about. But I can point you to a good book that calls the church to practice faithfulness in this area; check out Lauren Winner's book, "Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity." As Lauren points out in various ways in her book, Christian chastity is a fully realizable good when understood and practiced in the context of a supportive Christian community.
My second point would be that I think that abortion and sex education are two distinct issues. And I don't say that to deflect attention from the importance of sex education. But I think we are kidding ourselves if we think that we can eliminate abortion as a societal practice by pursuing sex education vigorously enough. And bringing sex education into the discussion, while important, also does not speak to the issue of the moral issues of abortion in se. An analogy would be countering opposition to the death penalty by advocating for greater work to fight poverty. Would fewer families growing up in dire circumstances lead to less murders, and hence less instances of capital punishment? Probably so. But that doesn't say anything about the moral standing of the death penalty as an issue in and of itself.
what a brilliant way to achieve loads of non-paid media placement - do something disgusting and outrageous. Nice.
No one prevents more abortions than Planned Parenthood. Contraception is not abortion and contraception is far and away the most prevalent service at a PP clinic.
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