If you think Planned Parenthood is neutral on religion, take a look at this.
Planned Parenthood has issued a “pastoral letter” through one of its political lobbying arms—the Planned Parenthood Clergy Advocacy Board—saying that “many people wrongly assume that all religious leaders disapprove of abortion,” that “abortion is not even mentioned in the Scriptures,” that “there are clergy…from all religions who support women making this complex decision,” and that Planned Parenthood “will refer you to someone who will be supportive of you and your [abortion] decision.” The letter is dated October 2013. A similar letter has been around since at least 2009. Links to the October 2013 letter have been changed since the original writing of this article on Tuesday and the media attention the Planned Parenthood “pastoral letter” has drawn.
Pastoral letters are typically issued by Catholic bishops as a way to help guide the geographically diverse parishioners whom they shepherd. By hijacking the terminology, Planned Parenthood attempts to grab the role of spiritual leadership reserved to the Church.
More documents authored by the CAB appear on the Planned Parenthood political action website. Upon leaving Planned Parenthood’s webpage about its advisory boards en route to read the CAB documents, a pop-up informs the reader: “You are leaving www.plannedparenthood.org. By clicking ‘GO’ below, you will be directed to a website operated by an independent Planned Parenthood 501(c)(4) entity.”
501(c)(4) entities are allowed unlimited lobbying by the IRS code, as long as the lobbying pertains to the organization’s mission. They can engage in political activity, endorse or oppose political candidates, and donate money or time to political campaigns. This political action website is the Clergy Advocacy Board’s home. Note the word “Advocacy” in the name of the board.
On the Planned Parenthood political action site, in a document entitled Sex Education, the Planned Parenthood CAB once again preaches in direct opposition to the teaching of the Catholic Church, saying, “We also believe that the loving experience of sexual intimacy by itself, without procreative intent, is likewise one of God’s gifts to humanity.” It goes on to state that providing Planned Parenthood’s graphic, morally repugnant sex education is a “moral imperative,” and says, “It is morally wrong to withhold such medical information from our children.
The document falsely claims that Planned Parenthood sex education emphasizes abstinence. Continuing, the document says that sex education other than what Planned Parenthood describes as “comprehensive” is inaccurate and inadequate, and implies that abstinence—the ultimate pregnancy and STD prevention—doesn’t teach how to prevent pregnancy and disease. It portrays abstinence education as an immoral lie. Quoting the document: “We know how important it is that our youth get the honest and non-judgmental facts they need about safer sex and healthy relationships. We believe it is immoral to lie to our children by giving them inadequate and inaccurate sex education or to subject them to abstinence-only programs that fail to teach them how to prevent pregnancy and how to protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections and abuse.”
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The document ends by calling for government funding of Planned Parenthood sex education.
The Church holds the line, day in and day out, against Planned Parenthood and the culture of death with which the abortion giant seeks to envelop, conquer, and destroy families. Planned Parenthood has known since the beginning that if it could defeat the Church through deception and lies and successfully portray the Church as evil and out of step with the needs of modern society, it could win the culture wars. Planned Parenthood is the enemy of the Church, the enemy of families, and the enemy of society. The sooner we all understand and act with urgency to expose it, the sooner the battle will be won.
LifeNews.com Note: Rita Diller is the national director of American Life League’s Stop Planned Parenthood Project.
