Pro-life group criticizes Planned Parenthood for hurricane ‘publicity stunt’

Sep 1, 2005 / 22:00 pm

Jim Sedlak, president of American Life League’s STOPP International group, heavily criticized Planned Parenthood this week for what he sees as a marketing stunt aimed at victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas has offered free so-called “emergency contraceptives” and birth control pills to hurricane refugees who can show a valid Mississippi or Louisiana state driver’s license.

The Catholic Church, echoed by numerous pro-life groups, believes that many of these contraceptives act as an abortifacient--killing human life. Even those that don’t however, are seen by the Church as an affront and violation of human and sexual dignity.

Thousands of evacuees have fled the flood ravaged city of New Orleans for nearby Texas and the Louisiana state government is moving more by bus to be temporarily housed in Houston’s Astrodome.

"It is absolutely unconscionable”, said Sedlak, “that Planned Parenthood would use the tragedy of hurricane Katrina to push its shameless agenda on the American public."

"I'm sure Planned Parenthood would claim it is not a publicity stunt," he said, "but how else do you explain the fact that Planned Parenthood lists its clinics in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana that are closed because of the storm, along with a listing of the clinics' phone numbers? If the clinics are closed, you don't need the phone numbers - unless you are trying to drum up future business. If Planned Parenthood really wants to help, it should donate a portion of the millions of dollars in profits it makes every year to aid in the victims' plights.”

"While Planned Parenthood's latest stunt is disgusting and utterly inappropriate, it is not surprising," said Sedlak. "The bottom line is that Planned Parenthood is out to promote its own agenda and will stop at nothing to take advantage of an opportunity to do so."