Samantha Linnemann exposes the Komen-abortion-cancer linkage.

Another great story from Kurt Linnemann at CBR Maryland:

Komen gets a black eye on Black-Eyed Susan Day at the Preakness.

Friday, May 18th was Black-Eyed Susan Day at the Pimlico Racetrack in Baltimore, MD.   This special event, which is part of Preakness Week at Pimlico, features female jockeys and live entertainment.  For the past several years, some of the proceeds from Black Eyed Susan Day have gone to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the breast cancer research fundraiser.  Komen, of course,  is still funneling money to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, while brazenly denying the large body of evidence that abortion is a major risk factor for breast cancer.

To highlight this outrageous situation, Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR) Maryland conducted a pro-life witness outside the entrance to Pimlico featuring graphic images of abortion and signs calling on Komen to defund Planned Parenthood.  Horse racing enthusiasts, most of whom had never seen anything of this sort and certainly didn’t expect to see it at Pimlico, were visibly surprised.  While many responded scornfully, others stopped to tell us they had never known about Komen’s support for Planned Parenthood, nor the link between abortion and breast cancer.  One post-abortive woman, showing no signs of animosity, stopped to speak with us for nearly an hour and even helped hold a sign!

This is the third time this year that CBR has demonstrated at a Komen Race.  We know that our actions are making both Komen and their patrons very uncomfortable.  Our hope is that the Komen Foundation will realize that they have brought this upon themselves, and reverse their misguided and tragic decision to fund the nation’s largest abortion provider.

Signs are force multipliers; they allow us to make a huge impact with just a few people.

Media helps expand the impact. Here's Kurt Linnemann on the local news.

Framing Choice. As Planned Parenthood presents what choice means to born people, we display what choice means to the victim. Other signs are visible to the Market Square crowd in the background.

What a difference a year makes. In February 2011, Alaynna McCormick was at the center of controversy in Knoxville. She and her mother blew the whistle on Knox County Schools for allowing Planned Parenthood (PP) to market sex at Hardin Valley High School. Story here, here, here, here, and here.

Note: if you think the claim that “PP markets sex” is an unfair statement of what they do, consider the fact that students were invited to visit websites that would then encourage teenagers to have sex if, among other things, they “trust each other,” “care about each other,” and “have fun together.”  Link here.  Follow the money here.

On Friday evening, PP held their annual “Framing Choice” photo exhibit at Market Square in Knoxville. This year’s theme was “What Choice Means to Me.” So Alaynna and a few of her family and friends brought their own photographs … a set of CBR “Choice” signs.

We put 8 such signs on display in between the stage, where the PP event was taking place, and the rest of Market Square, where the usual Friday night crowd was having dinner and milling around the Square. In keeping with the theme of the event, we added titles like, “What did choice mean to this child?” and “Did this child have a choice?”

We got a lot of good interaction with passersby. We saw several parents use the signs as a teaching moment, to explain abortion to their young children. We’ve never seen a young child who is pro-abortion.  None of these children were tramatized by the pictures.

We were approached by some who objected to our presence, giving the teenagers opportunities to practice the apologetics we taught them the night before. We gave them an abbreviated version of our Pro Life Training Academy (PLTA).  All of the teenagers who attended the PLTA have asked to help with future GAPs.

Planning elements of a successful event at Market Square:

1. Use graphic images to give meaning to the word abortion.
2. Give prior notification of our plans to the Police Department.
3. Occupy public spaces only; do not trespass on PP’s reservation.
4. Set up security camcorder; assign security captain.

The Pro Life Training Academy (PLTA) has prepared these teenagers to answer pro-abortion objections.

Now that the dust has settled a bit, I wanted to share with you this column by Steven D. Greydanus.

For one thing, Greydanus has given us the best summary of what Komen has said and not said.  That’s worth reading, because there is considerable confusion on the degree to which Komen “caved.”

Greydanus goes on to point out that the real story has nothing to do with Komen.  The real story is ” the swiftness and ruthlessness of the Culture of Death Left backlash against Komen.”  He wrote,

I’m sure Komen executives expected to take some heat in the media for their decision.  They probably weren’t anticipating that the American Association of University Women would immediately bar Komen from approved community service opportunities for college women at the AAUW’s annual leadership conference.

That’s right:  As far as the AAUW is concerned, … [fighting] breast cancer isn’t enough. You have to fund America’s largest abortion provider.

It has been widely reported that the Susan G. Komen Foundation caved to pressure from Planned Parenthood (PP).  I said so myself in an e-mail to CBR friends and supporters.  But it might be too early to tell.  At any rate, Komen will not be getting the personal donation that my wife and I had planned.

Here is Komen’s statement.  Three points about it:

1. Komen has said that they will continue to fund existing grants.  We already knew that.  It’s called “keeping your commitments.”
2. Komen clarified that they would disqualify grantees who were under investigations that are “criminal and conclusive in nature and not political.”  Again, no surprise there.  Planned Parenthood is certainly guilty of criminal misconduct, and the video evidence is conclusive.  (Note:  This is true if you consider PP to be one organization, as we certainly do.  But if Komen intends to only disqualify PP affiliates who are currently under criminal investigation, then this is a big loophole.)
3. Komen said that PP would be eligible to apply for future grants.  I suppose anybody can apply; that’s no guarantee they will get anything.  We can’t assume anything, except that Komen is keeping their options open.  We shall have to wait and see.
4. Komen also said that they would maintain “the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.”  Hiding behind affiliate autonomy is a common tactic to disavow responsibility for bad behavior.  That ruse won’t work with us.  Komen would never allow any affiliate to give a grant to the KKK.  If we see that Komen affiliates are giving new grants to PP, we will know that Komen has caved.

So where does that leave us?  One Komen board member said this is not a reversal.  I think we’ll just have to wait and see.

Interesting commentary:

• Planned Parenthood: Vicious Not Victorious, by Micheal New
• Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer Press Release.  (They will be getting that donation from my wife and myself.)
• Media genuflects before Church of Planned Parenthood.

One reader told me there are better places to give our money than the Susan B. Komen Foundation.  I agreed, but I pointed out that few of us decide how to spend our money that way.  If we did, there would be plenty of money for pro-life work and Comcast would be trying to figure out how to get Christians to support cable TV every month.  (Full disclosure: we have cable TV at our house, but we give more every month to pro-life work than we give to the cable TV company.)

The pro-life world is abuzz this week about the great news that the Susan G. Komen Foundation (SGK) has cut off funding to Planned Parenthood (PP), the nation’s largest chain of abortion facilities. This is great news, no matter how you look at it.

SGK had planned no public announcement; they were content to allow their existing commitments to PP expire quietly and say nothing about it. It was PP who made it all public. Jill Stanek has the story.

After PP forced their hand, SGK didn’t just stick PP with the proverbial knife; they twisted it a couple of times. They stated publicly that PP would no longer receive grants because they are under investigation by local, state, or federal authorities. Ouch!

This is a huge blow to PP. The loss of half a million dollars will hardly affect the number of children PP is able to kill, but the loss of prestige is huge. This public and very dramatic rebuke will further stigmatize PP in the eyes of school systems, governmental agencies, and corporate donors across the country.

More good news: SGK is cutting all funding to embryonic stem cell research. Story here.

The left is in a rage, because abortion matters more to them than fighting breast cancer. Howard Dean and other leftists are encouraging corporate sponsors to punish SGK. Several links here.

Please send an e-mail to news@komen.org with the subject line: “Thank You for Defunding Planned Parenthood!” Last we heard, pro-life responses are outnumbering pro-abortion complaints by 2 to 1, at last count. We need to improve that response.

Also, please register your approval at www.istandwithkomen.com.

My wife and I are making a personal donation to both SGK and their local affiliate. Some pro-lifers are concerned that we can’t support SGK until it stops working against its own mission, i.e. misrepresenting the abortion-breast cancer (ABC) studies and downplaying the pill-breast cancer link. But this is a disagreement over science, not principle. Now that it is decoupled from PP’s abortion agenda, perhaps SGK will be in a better position to evaluate the ABC data more objectively.

Of course we are convinced that the ABC connection is real, but that’s really beside the point. It’s bad strategy to punish people who did exactly what we asked them to do, just because they haven’t done something else. It tells other potential allies and converts that you are petty and unreasonable.

In general, we must reject the all-or-nothing mentality that seems to prevail among some pro-lifers. If we demand 100% fidelity to everything we believe, we’ll have few allies and accomplish very little. We can and should set aside differences to form alliances and friendships based on mutual goals. Like my Aunt Jane used to say, “Don’t major in the minors.”

What SGK has done is quite remarkable and they are taking a vicious hit for it from their former allies. They have de-funded the abortion giant. We must thank them for this.

Withholding our support because of smaller disagreements will not make SGK listen to us, it will make us look petty and small. SGK needs to realize they have good friends in pro-lifers, allies in the battle for women’s health. Furthermore, we must also send a strong message to other corporations that if they sever ties with PP, we will welcome them with open arms.

John Kerry voted for it before he voted against it.  Anthony Weiner lied before he told the truth (but only because he had to).  And now Planned Parenthood told the truth in private while lying in public.

What?  PP told the truth?  Say it ain’t so, Joe!  That’s stunning news.  But if they’re lying and truthing at the same time, do they really deserve partial credit?

Earlier today, Live Action released a video in which callers to Planned Parenthood clinics in Indiana actually told the truth.  YIKES!  PP admitted, truthfully, that patients on Medicare need not depend on PP, but can obtain the services they need from other health care providers in their communities.  This during an ongoing national campaign in which PP falsely claims that  poor women in Indiana will lose access to vital health care services if they cannot go to Planned Parenthood.

From the Live Action website:

In an official press release, Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards claimed that Indiana’s defunding of Planned Parenthood would “take away health care from thousands of women in Indiana.” Last week, Live Action’s undercover investigators called 16 of the 28 Indiana Planned Parenthood clinics posing as women on Medicaid concerned about where they could receive services if Planned Parenthood’s funding was not restored.

Planned Parenthood staffers at all 16 locations admitted that Medicaid women would still have access to medical care after the defunding. Staffers suggested local health clinics or state-assigned primary care physicians for Medicaid patients: “Your primary care doctor should be able to do [a Well Woman exam,] I mean, that’s what they’re there for,” said a Planned Parenthood in Michigan City, while the Merrillville Planned Parenthood said of a local community health center, “They have the same services we have.”

“According to Planned Parenthood’s own statistics, their 28 clinics serve less than 1% of Indiana Medicaid patients, yet they do more than 50% of Indiana abortions,” notes Rose. There are over 800 other Medicaid providers available to these women in the counties with Planned Parenthood clinics alone.”

Click here for more on this story.  Check out the video here:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqLL-v0JpY0

.

Judge Tanya Walton Pratt of the US District Court, Southern District of Indiana, has upheld a key provision of an Indiana law that requires requires women to be informed that “human physical life begins when a human ovum is fertilized by a human sperm.”

The court disagreed with Planned Parenthood’s argument that the statement is “misleading.”  From the court order:

Here, the mandated statement states only a biological fact relating to the development of the living organism; therefore, it may be reasonably read to provide accurate, non-misleading information to the patient.  Under Indiana law, a physician must disclose the facts and risks of a treatment which a reasonably prudent physician would be expected to disclose under like circumstances, and which a reasonable person would want to know.

Well, DUH!

In another part of the order, Judge Walton temporarily suspended a provision of the law that defunds organizations like PP.  The Alliance Defense Fund believes that this injunction is likely to be appealed.  For more details and links, click here.

Update:  Reuters reports that Indiana has already filed the appeal.

Kurt Linnemann

Believe it or not, CBR Maryland Director Kurt Linnemann was arrested on June 10 because he reported a suspicious-looking cardboard box placed near the entrance of a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic.  This is why you should always videotape your pro-life activites.

In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, how many times were we told that we should report anything suspicious?  In this case, Kurt saw such a package outside the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Wilmington, Delaware.  So he reported it.  When the package turned out to be an empty box, one of the investigating officers arrested Kurt for reporting the package.  How stupid can you get?  Here’s the story.

Having the opportunity to observe law enforcement personnel over the years, I’ve observed that most of them are faithful public servants who deserve our every respect.  But about 10% of them really do love to throw their weight around.  They love that power and they want you to know they have it.  When you encourter such idiots, it is always best to obey their every command … then come back later and sue them.

You absolutely need to tape your pro-life activities.  You can expect this officer to lie under oath to cover up his stupidity.  Video recordings will go a long way to prevent him from getting away with it.

On Friday, June 17, CBR Maryland hosted a news conference.  Video here:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9E9Lt4XBLM

Here’s the story.  First two were Indiana and Tennessee.  Only 47 more to go!

Notice that two of three (Tennessee and North Carolina) are the very closest states to Knoxville, the home of CBR Southeast.  You think there’s a connection?

Wait a minute.  Knoxville hero Peyton Manning plays football in Indiana.  There must be something to this!  Does this make Knoxville and CBR Southeast the center of the pro-life universe?

Apparently, Planned Parenthood has been stripped of its federal funding in Tennessee.  Click here for the story.

Statement by Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey here.

This is a continuation of story here.

From LifeNews.com:

Tennessee Right to Life continues to press Governor Bill Haslam to take steps to yank the taxpayer funding the Planned Parenthood abortion business receives from the state.

***

“As much as 55% of certain Planned Parenthood salaries are funded through contracts with the Tennessee Department of Health, said [Tennessee Right to Life President Brian] Harris. “These same employees  spend at least part of every work day promoting and/or participating in abortions at Planned Parenthood … no tax payer should be forced to subsidize the salary of any organization’s employees that participate in the harming of women and the killing of helpless unborn children.

Full story here.

Background story here.

Gov. Haslam’s statement here.

Apparently, the effort to keep Tennessee from funding the abortion industry is not yet complete.  I don’t really understand the details.  Last week, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and Speaker of the House Beth Harwell issued this press release:

The confusion surrounding the language in the budget regarding Planned Parenthood has been unfortunate. The Office of Legal Services advised House and Senate leadership that it is unconstitutional to amend general law through the appropriations bill (Article II, Section 17), an interpretation which would have put the entire budget document in jeopardy. It was not our intent to allow funding for Planned Parenthood. Our majority in the General Assembly clearly meant to defund them. We are currently working with pro-life activists to resolve this issue with legislation and we will put it to rest immediately upon the legislature’s return in January.

Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey and Speaker Beth Harwell

CBR supporter Danny Bullington wrote Gov. Haslam and received this reply:

June 3, 2011

Dear Danny:

Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns about Planned Parenthood. Listening to and learning from Tennesseans is very important to me, and I am committed to better understanding your concerns.

I am pro-life. I believe in the sanctity of every human life from the moment of conception. I am committed to protecting our traditional values, especially the rights of the unborn, and as Governor I am working to protect those rights.

No state tax dollars go to Planned Parenthood in the budget passed by the legislature this year. The current issue surrounds federal money passing through the state. I do have a line-item veto to reduce or disapprove a sum of money, but removing legal language – which is at the heart of this matter – would require the budget to be re-approved by the legislature, which has already gone out of session.

I am against tax dollars going to Planned Parenthood, and I am disappointed that the circumstances surrounding the state budget do not allow us to prevent this from happening this year. But I am already working with Lt. Gov. Ramsey and Speaker Harwell to ensure that taxpayer dollars do not go to Planned Parenthood in future budgets.

Again, thank you for contacting my office with your concerns, I look forward to working with you and all Tennesseans to make our state an even better place to live, work, and raise a family.

Warmest regards,
Bill Haslam

So, that’s all I’ve got.  But if you need more, try Google; they’ve got a search motor that’s catching on real big.  (Seriously, I think they’re going to make a go of it!)

Shirley Moore models the sign she held at the Planned Parenthood Framing Choice event.

Chris Lefebvre was among the pro-life crowd that attended the Planned Parenthood fundraiser at Market Square on May 6.  Here’s her story.

Hope for the Future

Seven bright-eyed high school students stood in Market Square on a recent Friday night.  Some of them held colorful hand-made signs defending life; others held signs exposing death.  They came to stand with a small group of adults, including at least one post abortive woman.  Together they formed a solemn semi-circle facing the stage where Planned Parenthood was holding its youth photo fundraiser called Framing Choice: What Choice Means to Me.

This small group had made the decision that Planned Parenthood would be confronted wherever they tried to promote their deadly deceptions.  It wasn’t easy to devote a Friday night to standing vigil; some of the folks who passed by made hostile remarks and some gave us disgusted looks.  Many more stopped to inquire and some even thanked us for being there.  Some of the people who browsed the display told us afterward that they had no idea it was a Planned Parenthood event; there were no signs indicating the name of the organization and they were surprised to learn the name from us!

Many of us who were there on Friday night face these kinds of events with a certain degree of trepidation, but it never fails that, when all is said and done, we find abundant blessings in being willing to take a stand.  This event was no different; the questions we were able to answer, the truth that was told about life and death and the seeds planted by that truth will bear fruit in uncountable ways.  The most wonderful blessing of all was the presence of those seven courageous young people.  They give us great hope for the future.

Please pray that God will guard them and add to their number.  Pray also that Planned Parenthood will not go unchallenged whenever and wherever they try to promote their deadly work in our city.

I got this from Michael Silva of Imagi-Motive in Magnolia, Texas. And you thought only Disney had imagineers!

A Mobile Crisis Pregnancy Center

Society is ever-changing. What worked yesterday may not work today, especially when it involves ministry. Of course the message, the truth, remains the same, but the vehicle that we use to deliver the truth often needs a fresh face.

Imagi-Motive is a family-owned company that has a reputation for being innovative in the vehicles they design for extreme tailgaters or companies looking for a mobile marketing solution. However, the Mims family also has a heart for the unborn, and they have put their talents to work in the battle to save lives.

As you may know, Houston, Texas, unfortunately, houses the largest Planned Parenthood facility in the world. However, what may be news to you is how the Houston Coalition for Life is impacting Planned Parenthood‘s efforts. How are they making a difference? With a Mobile Crisis Pregnancy Vehicle!

In mid-January of this year, Imagi-Motive completed the mobile crisis unit, and the Houston Coalition for Life increased their presence in the community. They began seeing dramatic results right away. Within the first twenty-two outings, nearly seventy women had been ministered to, counseled, and given pregnancy tests. And, those who were contemplating an abortion were provided the opportunity to have an ultrasound. Most importantly, the lives of seven babies, who were already scheduled for abortion, were saved. Seven!

But, that is not all. One lady, scared for many reason and struggling with her decision to abort, got up from the abortion table, went back outside to the Mobile Crisis Pregnancy Vehicle, and chose life! All I can say is thank God for this ministry tool!

Imagi-Motive is on a mission to let every crisis pregnancy center in America know about these units and how they help save lives.

In Matthew 28:16-20, we are given The Great Commission by Christ. He instruct us to go—that’s right, go—and make disciples. There are many ways to impact the communities in which we live, and the Mobile Crisis Pregnancy Vehicle helps us achieve this directive.

Praise the Lord for lives saved!

For more information on this ministry tool, contact us at msilva@imagimotive.com.

Michael Silva
Imagi-Motive LLC
Magnolia, Texas