Christian Biz Thirty-One Gifts Faces Heat for Planned Parenthood Tie

Opinion   |   Susan Michelle Tyrrell   |   Apr 18, 2012   |   11:26AM   |   Washington, DC

It seems like every time I turn around my Christian friends are having “Thirty-One parties.” I’m not much for girl parties, but I have to admit, this stuff looked cute even to me, at least until I found out this Christian organization was helping to fund Planned Parenthood.

Thirty-One Gifts is a company based on principles from Proverbs 31 and is much lauded by ladies across the nation as being a “Christian” organization because of this. Many of its consultants are Christian women, even ministry leaders. On the outside it looks like a worthy place to build a business with biblical values; however, it’s funding arm, Thirty-One Gives is giving money to abortion providers.

Among its contributions to Planned Parenthood affiliated organizations are the YWCA, consistently on the Life Dynamics Planned Parenthood funding list, Girl Scouts, which has close ties to Planned Parenthood and some very explicit sexual teaching, and the Women’s Fund of Central Ohio which not only funds Girl Scouts but also brags about its Planned Parenthood funding.

Without question Thirty-One Gives is funding places that provide abortions. I have to wonder how this fits with its motto: “Empowering Women. Strengthening Families. Changing Lives.”

There’s a tragic sentimentality of thought in our nation now that says being pro-woman somehow includes being supportive of abortion rights. We’ve seen it with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which continues to fund Planned Parenthood, as well as with the Girl Scouts, and now we see it with Thirty-One Gifts, which has parties hosted by church women’s groups across the nation. Komen and Girl Scouts don’t claim to be based on biblical principles, but this one does. None of these ties to Planned Parenthood are secret or hidden away from seekers. It behooves any corporation to do some basic research to assure its own corporate responsibility.

Ironically, Proverbs 31 isn’t only about being a godly woman. Verses 8 and 9 are often quoted by those of us who are fighting for the lives of the unborn:

Open your mouth for the speechless,
In the cause of all who are appointed to die.
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the cause of the poor and needy. (Proverbs 31:8-9)

It’s a sadly ironic day when a company founded on biblical principles publicly supports agencies that help take the lives of the speechless appointed to die.

Thirty-One Gifts and Thirty-One Gives are taking the profits made from many well-meaning Christian people who want to support a Christian business and are giving some of that money to organizations that go against the values of its very customer base. This is unconscionable.

No doubt the same argument will be made by many that has been made in regards to Komen’s funding and others: That the money goes for things like education, not abortion.

Money is fungible. I can’t say that enough. You can’t give money to an organization that does something you oppose and not have it impact that. Money given to education frees up more money for abortion. It’s not valid to excuse darkness by saying that places offer some light. Some organizations that fund abortion do many good works too, but it doesn’t cancel out the potential deaths funded at the hands of the business, whatever it is.

Certainly it’s anyone’s choice where to give money or purchase products but it seems especially deceptive to be marketing a company based on one chapter of the Bible while ignoring other verses from the same chapter.

There’s nothing empowering to women or strengthening to families when it helps kill the children in the womb. To be marketed on a scripture and knowingly drawing Christian women, then to fund the shedding of innocent blood is a tragic unholy alliance.

Many have been contacting Thirty-One Gives to ask them to stop funding places that support abortion and remain true to their biblical foundation. If you’d like to ask them to stop, please email them at [email protected] Let’s ask them politely, but firmly. Perhaps it will take an outcry of people to cause them to change; let’s be part of the solution.

LifeNews Note:  Susan Michelle Tyrrell is the editor of Bound4Life’s blog.