We protest a lot of Planned Parenthood events. Depending on the venue, the guests may whisk in without having to acknowledge the presence of protesters. But, whether or not they seem to see us, it is extremely important that the victims are represented at every event celebrating their lack of rights.
When the guests do have to come face to face with their victims, sometimes they falter in their support for abortion. In September, we protested a Planned Parenthood political fundraiser at a beach resort near Santa Barbara. We were able to stand just outside the venue’s open gate and speak to every guest as they arrived.
Congressman Salud Carbajal was one of the attendees. I first encountered his full-throated endorsement of abortion when he was just a county supervisor in 2015. He cast a vote for a resolution to honor Planned Parenthood after undercover videos exposed its trafficking in aborted baby body parts and, before he did so, he made a short statement. He dismissed the hours of public comment against the pro-Planned Parenthood resolution and said, among other things, “I like abortion.”
During his time in congress, he has earned 100% ratings from Planned Parenthood and NARAL and 0% ratings from National Right to Life and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. He is an - apparently - unashamed champion of abortion.
But, when he got out of his car at this Planned Parenthood event, he hung back. He kept looking at the photos of the babies. He shifted his stance and glanced at me. He tried to hide behind Planned Parenthood’s greeters. He gestured to them to shield him as he walked into the event. He shrank as he passed the pictures of the babies.
He did not want to look at his victims.
He was not the only guest to shy away from the images. In fact, many guests were so uncomfortable and so focused on looking away from the babies’ bodies that they responded to my greeting and accepted flyers from me without noticing what their hands were doing.
The flyers listed Planned Parenthood’s own self-reported numbers of its abortions and compared them to the numbers of other services it performs, which keep dropping, year after year. Even a staunch supporter of Planned Parenthood should be struck by the fact that its abortion numbers remain steady even as its total number of patients steadily decreases.
We have protested Planned Parenthood California Central Coast’s events for several years. Thus, we were excited to see an announcement in its recent newsletter that it is discontinuing fundraisers at supporters’ homes - which we would frequently locate and protest.
Get ideas here for how to counter Planned Parenthood events in your town.
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