Planned Parenthood finds itself under attack again, but here’s an effective way we can help fight back.
Abortion is a legal, constitutionally-protected and necessary component of women’s healthcare and despite the fact that federal law prohibits any federal funding for abortion, Republican lawmakers are – once again – on the warpath and attempting to defund Planned Parenthood.
The last big push came in the wake of the release of a series of edited, undercover videos revealing conversations with PP officials discussing the sale of aborted fetal tissue.
As The New York Times reported last year:
The activists, David R. Daleiden, 27, and Sandra S. Merritt, 63, were indicted in January [2016] by a grand jury here in Harris County on charges of tampering with government records for using fake identification and offering to buy fetal tissue at a meeting at which Planned Parenthood officials explained how they provided the tissue to medical researchers. Their video, one of several widely circulated on the internet, said Planned Parenthood was guilty of selling fetal remains, accusations Planned Parenthood has denied.
The charges were dropped last July, not on the merits of the case – but rather due to a technical issue regarding a “potential legal issue with the grand jury’s term, which had been extended during the investigation” according to The New York Times report.
Last August the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) further shook up the controversy when they effectively debunked those edited videos in a series of articles.
Highlighted from NEJM article, Fetal Tissue Fallout, by Alt Charo, J.D., are the following findings:
- The inquires revealed no law broken by Planned Parenthood.
- Virtually every person in this country has benefited from research using fetal tissue.
- This attack represents a betrayal of the people who’s lives could be saved by the research and a violation of the most fundamental duty of medicine.
And highlights from the NEJM piece: Planned Parenthood at Risk by George P. Topulos, M.D., Michael F. Greene, M.D., and Jeffrey M. Drazen, M.D., include:
- The contraception services that Planned Parenthood delivers may be the single greatest effort to prevent unwanted pregnancies that result in abortions…
- We are outraged by those who debase these women, this work, and Planned Parenthood by distorting the facts for political ends.
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards added at the time that:
These pieces are further proof of what we already know: Objective media voices, doctors, medical experts — and above all, the millions of patients who have received compassionate, high-quality care at Planned Parenthood health centers — are standing with Planned Parenthood. We have protected women’s health for generations, and we’re not going to stop, no matter what.
Fast-forwarding to this week, Speaker Paul Ryan announced that upcoming legislation to repeal the health care law would cut off taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood.
With that in mind, here is a list of company who donate to Planned Parenthood to keep in mind as their federal funding is – once again – at risk of being cancelled. And don’t forget that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg donated $992 million to a charity that donates to Planned Parenthood.
- Adobe
- American Cancer Society
- American Express
- AT&T
- Avon
- Bank of America
- Bath & Body Works
- Ben & Jerry’s
- Clorox
- Converse
- Deutsche Bank
- Dockers
- Energizer
- Expedia
- ExxonMobil
- Fannie Mae
- Groupon
- Intuit
- Johnson & Johnson
- La Senza
- Levi Strauss
- Liberty Mutual
- Macy’s
- March of Dimes
- Microsoft
- Morgan Stanley
- Nike
- Oracle
- PepsiCo
- Pfizer
- Progressive
- Starbucks
- Susan G. Komen
- Tostitos
- Unilever
- United Way
- Verizon
- Wells Fargo
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