A few months ago we told you of the new abortion supercenter Planned Parenthood was quietly planning in Fort Worth, TX. While we had been told off the record where that location was, it wasn’t until recently it was confirmed—Planned Parenthood’s new abortion facility will be next to a large adoption center.
Despite Planned Parenthood being stripped of its funding in Texas, it seems they haven’t suffered very much financially because their new center has begun construction—next to the Gladney Adoption Center, a staple in Fort Worth.
The new center at 6400 John Ryan Drive is being described as a “state-of-the-art” facility which, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “will include a larger family planning center, an ambulatory surgical care center and offices.” Construction began last week and the facility is set to open next year.
The paper reports on local reaction:
Michael Dean, senior pastor at Travis Avenue Baptist Church, said he and other individuals heard rumors for months that Planned Parenthood was building a new facility.
However, it wasn’t until ground was broken that they discovered the location, which is next to the Gladney Center for Adoption, he said. The new center will also be in the vicinity of Trinity Valley School, he added. “Our concern is this will become a mega-center for Planned Parenthood,” Dean said. “Our prayer would be that they do not perform abortions at this facility.”
Al Meredith, senior pastor at Wedgwood Baptist Church, said he believes Planned Parenthood moved quietly on the project to avoid opposition. There was no sign at the site indicating what was being built, he said, and permits filed with the city listed a Dallas management company.
Dean said that he and others tried making inquiries to Planned Parenthood about the new facility but that questions went unanswered.
“They seemed to do this really surreptitiously,” Meredith said. “People have a right to know what is going on.”
Of course, Meredith’s comment is true. If you’ll recall, a few months ago when we broke this story, we reported what a spokesperson said about the new facility:
“Planned Parenthood will be opening the new flagship facility, which will include a larger medical space and family planning facility, as well as administrative offices that house our Education department, within the next year and a half. Unfortunately, for safety reasons, we cannot disclose an exact location or open date, but the project is on track and moving forward.”
Not disclosing a location is certainly promoting secrecy. Considering the peaceful pro-life communities in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area who mostly pray at abortion facilities and counsel women to reconsider abortion and consider adoption, the threat of safety is probably not the real issue. In fact, few pro-life activists are violent, but the few who have help paint a tainted picture. Violence is wrong, especially in the name of LIFE. But the reasoning it is a safety issue is like saying a few planes have crashed so flying is a huge risk to one’s life. The real issue here is more likely that they don’t want protestors-or pray-ers.
Already Bound4LIFE Grand Prairie has begun silent sieges at this new facility construction site. They are standing praying for LIFE in front the land where the construction has begun, and they and others will continue. While Planned Parenthood insists that abortion is such a small part of its services, if this were, indeed, true, it could stop abortions, only do women’s healthcare, and not even need the ambulatory care center which is generally required if a facility wants to do later term abortions. If it’s not really about abortion, then why not build a true health center that simply helps gynecological issues? Why not buy a mammogram machine instead of abortion tools? This would improve women’s health; abortion only damages it.
Curiously, as Planned Parenthood has been lambasted Texas and Governor Rick Perry in the media for pulling its funding, this new center remains unaffected financially, proving it doesn’t really need money from the government. In our original story we told you that the capital campaign spokesperson said this in an email to a potential donor:
“…Despite the devastating funding cuts after the 2011 Texas Legislative session, Planned Parenthood continues to move forward with its capital campaign. We have made various changes to adapt to the loss of government funding, and with the help of our generous supporters and the funds raised through the capital campaign, Planned Parenthood of North Texas is looking forward to a bright and strong future. The new facility in Fort Worth has not been impacted by the decisions made by Texas legislators this year.”
Apparently this is still the truth, despite the budget battles, because construction has begun. You can read Planned Parenthood’s “vision” for the new center here. It’s a continuing mystery to me how Planned parenthood can be begging for money and saying they can’t help women if their budget is cut, and yet they can build multi-million dollar centers. In fact, we told you a few months ago in an analysis of the Planned Parenthood of North Texas (PPNT) financial records that PPNT:
[S]eems to be a gold mine in a land of economic distress. In fact, as the culture has become increasingly pro-life, PPNT has increased its profits anyway. According to its 2009 IRS Form 990, which tax exempt businesses must file, PPNT’s total revenue that year was $22,974,898; however, this past year it was $26,179,377. Its total assets saw the same type of increase. In 2009 it reported 13,692,109 which jumped to $17,768,791 for 2010. You can get a summary of PPNT’s 2010 return here, and you can access the entire 2009 here.
As PPNT builds away next to an adoption center and yet insists it needs government funding while it throws its millions into prime Fort Worth property, donors need to ask if their money is really going to help women. Planned Parenthood is behaving like a person who claims to be poor but finances Cadillacs then asks the government to buy him dinner.
LifeNews Note: This column originally appeared at Bound4Life’s blog and is reprinted with permission.
