abortion_red_text

Planned Parenthood sends out a survey to learn what is important to its supporters. There is a particular word, however, that is mysteriously rare in the survey. You guessed it: abortion.

It is a 5-question survey that gives multiple-choice options for the answers to each question. In all, it is about 500 words. The word abortion appears once, couched with some other items describing the services they provide.

But what is most ironic is the first question. It asks, “Which statement best describes why you support Planned Parenthood?”

Here are the options to choose from for your answer:
1. I believe that women have the right to make their own health care decisions, and Planned Parenthood effectively fights to protect that right.
 2. I believe it should be easier for people to get basic health services like cancer screenings and birth control, and Planned Parenthood health centers help people get the care they need – no matter what.
 3. I believe that reproductive health and sex education are important, and Planned Parenthood programs are effective at providing reliable information to help people make their own decisions.
4. All of the above
5. Other

Maybe I am totally wrong about this, but I would imagine that most people who support Planned Parenthood would at least mention the fact that PP provides abortion services to women (or “access to abortion) as one of the major reasons they support the organization. Add to that the fact that more than 9 in 10 pregnant women (92%) entering a Planned Parenthood facility get an abortion; it is clearly a huge part of what they do.

So, why would they not give their supporters the option to proclaim that they support PP’s provision of abortions? 

My theory: because they know, deep down, that there is something wrong with abortion. Destroying her own child is a violation of a mother’s instinct, and Planned Parenthood would rather hide that ugly reality as much as they can. It is the elephant in the room that they don’t want to talk about, but, wink wink, they know it’s there and they know it’s critically important to the work they do. This also explains why they fabricated the number that only “3% of their services” are abortion services, when, in reality, 92% of their services to pregnant woman are abortions.

While there is certainly a movement afoot to “normalize” abortion and help women to not feel guilty about having had one, there is clearly a lot of secrecy going on in connection with that word, which, understandably, should make people uncomfortable.

In contrast, we at Care Net never have a reason to hide what we do: provide compassion, hope, and help to women and men facing pregnancy decisions. I haven’t done a word count yet, but I am pretty sure the word “compassion” appears in our literature more than just once.