California Bank Donates User Fees to Planned Parenthood
by Paul Nowak
LifeNews.com Staff Writer
May 18, 2004
Santa Cruz, CA (LifeNews.com) — Every time a Santa Cruz Community Credit Union Visa card is swiped, the nation’s largest abortion provider gets a donation.
When a member uses their Santa Cruz Community Credit Union Visa Card, five cents of the transaction fee charged to merchants is donated to five organizations that have been selected by the credit union’s members. The credit union announced that its annual Community Visa Donation Fund recipients for the coming year would include Planned Parenthood.
The Santa Cruz Community Credit Union did not return calls to LifeNews.com.
“You can’t be too vigilant about knowing where your hard-earned dollars paid out in fees and taxes will be spent,” Jan Carroll of the California Pro-Life Council told LifeNews.com. “Unfortunately California taxpayers are used to tax dollars going to fund abortions, but they probably don’t even think about where their commercial dollars end up.”
From April 1, 2004 through March 31, 2005, a nickel from the transaction fee the credit union charges merchants will be used to send a donation to Planned Parenthood, Coastal Watershed Council, Dientes!, Head Start, and Salud Para La Gente. Last year, the nominated organizations, each received $1,830 from the bank.
In Texas pro-life advocates have begun a campaign to draw attention to corporate sponsorship of the abortion industry. Another Texas pro-life organization, the Brazos Valley Coalition for Life, has been drawing attention to organizations aiding Planned Parenthood.
David Bereit, the group’s executive director, said that 11 of the groups they identified pledged to cancel their support of Planned Parenthood, representing over $20,000 in lost revenue. The groups canceled either because they were unaware of the full scope of Planned Parenthood’s business, or wanted to steer clear of the controversy.
As promised by the Coalition, those groups that ended their relationship with Planned Parenthood have not been released to the public.
The names and contact information for groups that refused to sever their ties with the abortion business, even after being contacted by the Coalition for Life, have been made available through the Coalition’s website.
At the time of this writing that list included Hilton Hotels in College Station, The Houston Chronicle, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., LaSalle Hotel, Pfizer, and Northern Trust Bank, the City of Houston, and the National Council of Jewish Women.
ACTION: Contact the Santa Cruz Community Credit Union with your opinion. Call (831) 425-7708, fax a letter to (831) 425-4824 or email [email protected].
Related web sites:
California Pro-Life Council – https://www.californiaprolife.org
