Director of 40 Days for Life Complains About Obama’s Pro-Abortion Volunteer Site
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 20, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The director of the 40 Days for Life grassroots pro-life campaign is not happy about the new volunteerism web site, Serve.gov, that the Obama administration has put together that promotes pro-abortion groups. The web page contains a few links to pregnancy center but many to abortion businesses.
Last week, Obama announced the web site and the organizational partnerships.
When typing in the keyword "health" and selecting "Houston," one listing promoted Planned Parenthood and its call for volunteers to make sure women with abortion appointments are not harassed by the peaceful and prayerful people involved in the 40 Days for Life effort to help women.
That is disappointing to David Bereit, the national campaign director.
"This past Friday, President Obama spoke at a forum on volunteerism at Texas A&M University in College Station — the same community where 40 Days for Life began," he said in an email to LifeNews.com. "His speech was delivered just over one mile away from the site of the first-ever 40 Days for Life campaign back in 2004."
"During his remarks, President Obama promoted a government web site that identifies various volunteer opportunities for people," Bereit continued.
"While that web site does include information about some pro-life organizations, I was more than a bit miffed to learn that one of the posted ‘volunteer opportunities’ comes from the Houston-based Planned Parenthood operation that runs the abortion facility in College Station," he said.
The recruitment post asks young people to do "public service" work for the abortion business and pleads, "We need your help with a very simple but honorable job."
Bereit responds: "The so-called honorable job? Abortion escorts — specifically to counter the effectiveness of 40 Days for Life."
"Planned Parenthood describes 40 Days for Life vigil participants as people who ‘want to deceive our clients with misinformation and lies then prevent them from entering our health center for care,’" he noted. "That in itself, of course, is an extreme example of misinformation."
"But this shows why 40 Days for Life needs more faithful volunteers for the simple and truly honorable task of praying for an end to abortion outside the very places where this evil is practiced," he concluded.
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