Abortion Group Targets Vulnerable Victims of Terror

September 28, 2001

Volume 3/Number 24

Dear Colleague:

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, dozens of humanitarian groups quickly mobilized to offer help to the victims in the form of blood donations, clean water, food, clothing, shelter and even money. Then Planned Parenthood weighed in with a most bizarre offer. Its New York affiliate announced that it would provide free reproductive health services, including free abortions, to women affected by the attack.

Steven W. Mosher

President

Abortion Group Targets Vulnerable Victims of Terror

Americans can be proud of the response of their charitable organizations to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Dozens of groups, including the American Red Cross, Catholic Relief Services, and the Salvation Army came forward to donate blood, food, clothing, shelter and other urgently needed items.

Other groups, however, sought to capitalize on the misfortune of the victims by advancing their own agendas. Chief among these groups is Planned Parenthood of New York City (PPNYC). The abortion provider, which operates clinics in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan, has announced open doors for “free reproductive health care for women affected by the World Trade Center disaster.”

“[W]omen in need due to tragic events of last week,” said PPNYC in recent press statement, can receive free of cost “PPNYC services, including GYN care, birth control, emergency contraception, STD and HIV testing and

counseling…”(1)

The PPNYC’s press release made no reference to free abortions. A PPNYC representative, however, when contacted by PRI by phone, confirmed that any woman who has been displaced by the blast “can come in for a free termination.”

A free termination . . .

Under the guise of charity, Planned Parenthood is really offering to commit an act of terror. Imagine a pregnant woman living in Manhattan who has just lost her husband in the blast. In her right mind, she would want to protect their unborn child at any cost. But now she is depressed and unable to care for herself, and feels it impossible to care for a baby as well. With time and the support of friends, these feelings will pass, and the baby will be a welcome link between herself and her deceased husband. But now, frightened and confused, she might be tempted to take Planned Parenthood’s offer, and commit an act that may fill her with a sense of horror for the rest of her days.

As bizarre as Planned Parenthood’s offer sounds, family planners around the world often take advantage of women trapped in difficult situations to advance their own agenda. They prey on the female victims of war, set up their clinics among the tents of women refugees, and target mothers traumatized by disasters such as earthquakes and floods. The misfortune and misery of women is used by the family planners like a virus to weaken their cultural resistance to abortion, contraception, and sterilization.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), for example, has just announced plans to spend $4.5 million in Afghanistan and the surrounding countries providing “reproductive health services” to Afghani women fleeing their country. UNFPA executive director Thoraya Obaid stated that “UNFPA’s highest priority is to ensure that women have access to a safe delivery environment and are protected against sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy and violence.” No explicit mention is made to abortion, but reproductive health services, in United Nations parlance, have always included abortion. This effort is described as UNFPA’s “largest-ever humanitarian operation.”(2)

Just hours after the attack, Planned Parenthood President Gloria Feldt sought to wrap herself in the wave of sympathy for the victims of the terrorist attacks. “We at Planned Parenthood have lived and worked for many years with the threat of terrorism,” said Ms. Feldt.”

But with Planned Parenthood now at ground zero, attempting to take advantage of confused and frightened women victimized by the attacks to advance its own agenda, who are the real terrorists?