Race and abortion politics
will
merge Thursday when a group of African-American pastors, led by the
niece of Martin Luther King Jr., march on the Democratic and Republican
Party headquarters to demand that candidates refuse donations from
Planned Parenthood. The reason: They believe that Planned Parenthood
allows racist donors to designate that their money go to fund abortions
of blacks. Planned Parenthood has outlined a $10 million campaign to
fund candidates who support abortion. But the ministers say they have
evidence in videos that African-American babies are being targeted. The
group tells Washington Whispers that it is circulating two YouTube
videos in which a racist donor wins agreement from Planned Parenthood
workers to have his donation designated for blacks. A similar protest
took place in front of Planned Parenthood in Washington in April.
In two statements to Whispers, Planned Parenthood pushed back against
the charges, claiming that they were the target of "phishing" by those
trying to trip up local office workers and also that they abhor racism.
Planned Parenthood does not deny the authenticity of the videos but
claims they are edited to portray them badly.
On the issue of racism, they said: "Planned Parenthood does not
tolerate racism of any kind. For more than 90 years, Planned Parenthood
has worked to address racial and economic bias in access to healthcare
and ensure that all women receive care. We are committed to providing
basic and preventative health services to women, men, and teens,
especially in underserved communities."
With regard to the YouTube videos, the group said: "Planned Parenthood
has been the target of an undercover sting operation by anti-choice
extremists who have secretly tape recorded Planned Parenthood employees
appearing to be complicit in racist donations. In a few cases, local
fundraising staff struggled with how to respond professionally to a
very unprofessional call. We have taken action to ensure that all of
our employees understand their responsibility to communicate clearly
with donors about the fact that we do not accept donations from people
or organizations whose values are opposed to ours."
Race and abortion politics
will
merge Thursday when a group of African-American pastors, led by the
niece of Martin Luther King Jr., march on the Democratic and Republican
Party headquarters to demand that candidates refuse donations from
Planned Parenthood. The reason: They believe that Planned Parenthood
allows racist donors to designate that their money go to fund abortions
of blacks. Planned Parenthood has outlined a $10 million campaign to
fund candidates who support abortion. But the ministers say they have
evidence in videos that African-American babies are being targeted. The
group tells Washington Whispers that it is circulating two YouTube
videos in which a racist donor wins agreement from Planned Parenthood
workers to have his donation designated for blacks. A similar protest
took place in front of Planned Parenthood in Washington in April.
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