In this issue:

• Planned Parenthood workers recycled
• Major merger of Planned Parenthood affiliates in the Northwest
• The new Congress
• Strategy for 2009
• Planned Parenthood clinic in New York State to close

Planned Parenthood workers recycled

You may wonder what happens to Planned Parenthood workers who allegedly ignore state laws requiring the reporting of child sexual abuse. Well, it appears that, in at least one case, they are simply given jobs at another Planned Parenthood affiliate.

According to a January 5, 2009 press release by the Idaho Values Alliance, a Planned Parenthood employee, who  was named in a lawsuit alleging she was part of the cover-up of the rape of an underage girl in Ohio,  has now surfaced as the Director of Education and Training at Planned Parenthood in Boise, Idaho.

This apparent shuffling of employees is outrageous. But, then, so is all of Planned Parenthood’s operations. It will be interesting to watch where the two PP Indiana employees, who left because of the failure to deal legally with the case of a 13-year-old girl, will wind up in a couple of years.

Major merger of Planned Parenthood affiliates in the Northwest

As of January 1, 2009, three Planned Parenthood affiliates have merged their operations. Planned Parenthood of Alaska, Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, and Planned Parenthood of Idaho will now operate as one new affiliate – Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest.

According to the latest financial data filed by each of these affiliates, their annual income is:

Planned Parenthood of Alaska ……………………………… $  2,653,590 (2007)
Planned Parenthood of Western Washington …......….. $28,946,766 (2006)
Planned Parenthood of Idaho ………………………….….… $  2,190,789 (2007)

Clearly, this is a situation where PP of Western Washington is expanding its reach. We have told you previously that the Planned Parenthood Federation wants to do away with all of its smaller affiliates. That desire is what led Planned Parenthood of Amarillo to withdraw from the federation and that desire is clearly at work here.

According to our records, the combined organization will operate a total of 27 clinics in the three states (28 when the new Juneau, Alaska site opens). This includes 20 facilities that do medical or surgical abortions. The initial announcement was that no clinics would close and no employees would lose their jobs, but it is normal for both to happen during the first year of operation following a merger such as this.

Planned Parenthood continues to cut costs and streamline its operations. With the merger of these affiliates, the number of Planned Parenthood affiliates falls to 99 – the lowest number since 1960. At its peak, Planned Parenthood had 191 affiliates in 1978, but that number has steadily declined through the years. When a merger happens, duplicate positions (presidents, executive directors, medical directors, etc.) normally get eliminated and PP saves money – and makes more profits.

In addition, Planned Parenthood of Western Washington pointed out in its fall 2008 newsletter that “the merge means multiplying the political clout of Planned Parenthood in the region by three. Our Government Relations, Media Relations, Public Relations, and Public Policy teams can apply the influence of the entire three-state region.”

In other words, the new affiliate can be expected to try to obtain more and more government money and get favorable laws and regulations passed in all three states.

The new Congress

The 111th Congressional session began on January 6, 2009. The next couple of weeks will see a flurry of activity as hundreds of bills for various purposes will be introduced.

We, of course, are very interested in any bills that will promote the Planned Parenthood agenda or cut funding to that organization. In the latter category, Senator David Vitter introduced S. 85, which would significantly reduce government funding of Planned Parenthood. It is a “bill to amend title X of the Public Health Service Act to prohibit family planning grants from being awarded to any entity that performs abortions.”

On the other side, Senator Harry Reid introduced S. 21, “A bill to reduce unintended pregnancy, reduce abortions, and improve access to women's health care.”  This, despite its title, is a pro-abortion bill aimed at promoting programs that will result in millions of dollars going to Planned Parenthood.

We will be continually monitoring the activities in congress and will bring you weekly updates on bills that are of interest to those who want to see Planned Parenthood removed from our lives and our children’s lives.

Strategy for 2009

As we begin a new year, we should be looking at the world around us and determining where we put our efforts. In the battle against Planned Parenthood, there have always been three major components of the fight.

The first is educating the community on the evils of Planned Parenthood. These evils are many and include its outrageous sexual material for our children, its promotion of sexual lifestyles, its targeting of minority communities, its defying laws intended to protect our young people and its killing of babies at its abortion facilities. Your community needs to be informed about all of this.

The second is closing down local Planned Parenthood facilities to protect the people of the community – especially young people. Building on the educational efforts described above, direct and peaceful action against Planned Parenthood should be planned. We are speaking here of prayerful protests outside the local PP facility (at least weekly), a presence outside every PP fundraising event and every health fair or other community event where there is a PP presence.

The third area is to cut-off local government funding of Planned Parenthood. We think that this area will present some real opportunities in 2009 specifically because of the current economic crisis. Many local governments are scrambling to come up with funds, and if you put pressure on them to cut the funding of PP, they might do it just to save the money.

We encourage all of you to look at your local situation and to employ the tactics that best fit your community. Know that we are always ready to help and you can always contact us for advice or to schedule a speaker to come to your area. You can reach us at stopp@all.org.

May God bless all your efforts in 2009 and may you witness the closing of your local PP facility.

Planned Parenthood clinic in New York State to close

Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood, located in the Albany, New York area, has announced the planned closing of its medical abortion clinic in Latham, NY.

In an article in the Times Union, Planned Parenthood spokesperson, Blue Carreker, said, "We have been looking for several years at ways to increase our efficiency as a nonprofit health care provider.  We are always pressed to make the best use of our dollars and we haven't seen increases to our funding for many years, while the cost of providing health care has gone up."

According to Planned Parenthood, the Latham clinic saw 1,200 customers a year and that was simply not enough business to keep the clinic open.

We congratulate the Citizens Concerned for Human Life, Schenectady County Right to Life, Scripture Wall, and the Capital Region Pro-Life Council that have worked for decades fighting Planned Parenthood’s agenda in the region. May God continue to bless your efforts.

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