Thousands of Pro-Lifers Rally in South Carolina to De-Fund Planned Parenthood

State   |   Sarah Zagorski   |   Sep 1, 2015   |   4:43PM   |   Columbia, SC

In South Carolina, thousands of people attended a pro-life rally calling on lawmakers to de-fund Planned Parenthood. The event was held on the statehouse lawn and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz was in attendance. Cruz is one of a long list of pro-life Republican candidates running for president in 2016 including Jeb Bush, Bobby Jindal, Dr. Ben Carson, Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina.

The Blaze reports that Senator Tim Scott and David Gibbs, with the National Center for Life and Liberty, were also at the rally. Gibbs said the following about the people who attended the event: “They want their rights protected. They want their freedom of religion and their freedom of speech to be honored as it has been since the founding of our nation.”

On August 24th, Cruz launched a campaign to get Christian pastors to support de-funding Planned Parenthood. As LifeNews previously reported, the abortion company made national headlines in July after multiple videos surfaced showing their top executives negotiating the sale of aborted babies, admitting to using partial-birth abortions to supply intact body parts and taking steps to cover it up.

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In a letter to the pastors, Cruz said, “Recently we have all seen the videos of the behind the scenes dealings at Planned Parenthood facilities. Activities that most Americans find horribly offensive. But even more appalling is that we as tax payers fund these activities. We cannot allow this to continue. Only our pastor’s and church leaders have enough influence to put a stop to this holocaust. ”

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He continued, “We have a plan and will discuss what we can do NOW to put a stop to this tragedy. Please make a concerted effort to be on this important call and encourage all pastors you know to join us.  Together, we can help stop taxpayer funding for these horrific acts.”

On July 30th, South Carolina became the 12th state to conduct some kind of investigation into whether or not the Planned Parenthood abortion business is breaking any state or federal laws with its sales of aborted baby body parts. In the State General Assembly, Rep. Garry Smith (R-Simpsonville) is spearheading the investigation with letters to the Legislative Audit Council and the House Oversight Committee.

He said, “What has been revealed about the actions of Planned Parenthood is very concerning. The lack of humanity involved.  I think any organization that would stoop to do those sorts of things are ones I wouldn’t feel comfortable with supporting in any manner [with state funding].”

The President of South Carolina Citizens for Life (SCCL), Lisa Van Riper, applauded the lawmakers for initiating the investigation into Planned Parenthood. She said the videos exposing their organ harvesting business show a “complete callous disregard for the sanctity of human life.” She elaborated, “The tiny organs harvested are not from unborn children who have died of natural causes. Rather these organs are harvested after procedures with the intent of the unborn child’s destruction. The videos not only raise awareness of the humanity of these unborn children, they also leave no doubt about the inhumanity of abortion.”

Additionally, the group mentioned that their organization is looking into the Medical University of South Carolina because they train abortionists. In a press release, they said, “SCCL has asked for information about the Medical University of South Carolina and its arrangements with the Charleston Women’s Medical Center, an abortion facility that advertises abortions up to 16 weeks from the first day of the last menstrual period. It too accepts Medicaid patients and offers Medicaid patients a discount, according to its webpage. Of notable interest, abortion customers are forbidden to bring bags, purses, cell phones, or heavy coats into the facility.”

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So far, 11 other states besides South Carolina have launched investigations into Planned Parenthood including Florida, Tennessee, Massachusetts, KansasMissouri, Arizona, Indiana, Ohio, Georgia, Texas and Louisiana.

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