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Commentary

4 Planned Parenthood Locations to Close in New York, But ‘We’re Still in a Battle’ for Life

August 21, 2024

Financial and political “challenges” have caused Planned Parenthood to make the “difficult decisions” to “temporarily pause deep sedation services” in the city of Manhattan and close four locations in the state of New York. I’m sure it was “difficult” for an organization dedicated to ending life to make a decision that meant they have less babies to terminate and women to harm. But as Christina Bennett, Live Action News correspondent, explained in comment to The Washington Stand, the only “difficult” decision should be “operating a business that takes human life.”

Of course, for pro-lifers, the closures are great news. As Mary Szoch, Family Research Council’s director of the Center for Human dignity, shared with The Washington Stand, “Any time a Planned Parenthood closes, it’s a win for everyone ­­­— especially mothers, fathers, and the unborn.” But Wendy Stark, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York (PPGNY), made clear her “hope” that this is not the end of the abortion hubs life-ending methods.

“Our mission requires us to ensure that we continue to be able to serve the most marginalized communities,” Stark said in a statement. These communities, according to PPGNY’s press release, include “Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities, LGBTQ+ people, families with low incomes and uninsured, people with disabilities, immigrants, those living in rural and medically underserved parts of the state,” and anyone else seeking abortions and so-called “gender-affirming care,” which Planned Parenthood considers “essential.”

According to the press release, on September 3, PPGNY plans to “temporarily pause deep sedation pain management at its Manhattan Health Center.” It went on to say that people who want an abortion “at over 20+ weeks gestation … are among the most vulnerable among the communities we serve.” As a result, PPGNY stated they’re “heartbroken” they are “unable … to absorb the cost of their sedation when provided by an outside anesthesia service.” The statement was littered with phrases that portray abortion as something that’s “needed,” “critical,” or “required” — as if that’s even possible.

Just recently on “Washington Watch,” Dr. Donna Harrison, director of research for the American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs, helped clarify the differences between an elective abortion and an ectopic pregnancy. In doing so, it became clear that abortions are never truly necessary. “[W]hen you have an ectopic pregnancy or another situation that threatens the mother’s life,” she said, “you have to separate that mom and baby” under the pretense that the baby won’t live.” Conversely, an elective abortion is “a procedure done with the purpose of making sure … [a] living, healthy baby comes out dead.”

There’s a significant difference between the two, and yet this gruesome reality of what abortion really does is what Planned Parenthood grieves it cannot execute in its four locations set for closure this fall. But of course, PPGNY believes they’re promoting “freedom for all,” even if that means innocent babies die, women are harmed, and both fathers and mothers lose a precious gift they can never get back. A completed abortion has no reverse button, and abortionists make every effort to make their victims blind — or at least indifferent — to this truth.

But as proponents of life should grieve over these realities, let’s not forget to celebrate that even one Planned Parenthood closure (or four, in this case) is a victory. Emily Erin Davis, VP of communications at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, shared in a statement to Fox News Digital, “Even in one of the most pro-abortion states in the country, when they aren’t making enough money from abortions, they close up shop.” Which, as she said in an exclusive comment to TWS, only “showcases the abortion industry’s greed.”

She added, “Albeit, this is great news to have more abortion center closures,” but these circumstances put a spotlight on “Planned Parenthood’s commitment to profit over people.” Ultimately, “They would rather stop doing abortions altogether than even fund pain control medicine for women during arduous late-term abortions.”

Really, Davis contended, it’s the “pregnancy resource centers [that] offer real options and support to women and children without profiting off their misery. That’s why they flourish.” Additionally, the fact that pregnancy centers help women choose life instead of ending life explains “why New York Democrats, particularly [Attorney General] Letitia James, are trying so hard to shut them down state-wide.” Abortion activists, Davis argued, “don’t want alternatives to abortions and real choices offered to women.”

Bennett further commented, “[A]s pro-lifers, we should always be grateful when we know that a killing center, a location that has led to the deaths of thousands of children, [has] their doors closed.” However, “it doesn’t mean that there’s not going to be killings happening outside of those doors,” which is why “we have to be really aware of the ways in which abortion is now being spread.”

The spread of mifepristone, the abortion pill, has turned into “a drug war … in a sense,” Bennett argued. And due to the rise of social media, the abortion drug is being promoted through cell phones, with ads that deceptively tell people it’s “10 times safer than Tylenol.” But according to Bennett, this is what “demands that we, as pro-lifers, reach people and reach their hearts and reach their minds” in every way we can — especially through social media.

“And so,” she contended, “while we are grateful that these locations are closing their doors, we realize that we’re still in a battle, we’re still in a war.” The harsh reality of the abortion pill, Bennett lamented, is that they turn people’s personal bathrooms and bedrooms into abortion facilities. “And that’s very traumatizing for women to have those kind of experiences where they pass a child and they see its little toes and … body and they flush it down the toilet in their home.”

Concerning these four location closures, as Szoch enthused, “Praise God that [these facilities] that profit off the killing of the innocent will no longer be in business.” Even so, as Bennett concluded, pro-lifers must continue to be educated in these matters so that we can continue fighting the good fight. These choices “are deadly and have lasting consequences,” and we have to keep speaking the truth.

Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand.



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