Extremists execute the unborn, Christians seek truth and justice

Catholic World Report ^ | 7/31/15 | Carl E. Olsen

[markomalley]

Yesterday, White House press secretary Josh Earnest, when asked about President Obama's reaction to the series of undercover videos released by the Center for Medical Progress in which Planned Parenthood officials discuss selling fetal organs for profit, "said the videos were released in a 'fraudulent way' with 'not a lot of evidence' behind them." (The entire press conference can be viewed on the C-SPAN site.) Earnest stated:

There is ample reason to think that this is merely the tried and true tactic that we’ve seen from extremists on the right to edit this video and selectively release this edited version of the video that grossly distorts the position of the person that’s actually speaking...

Earnest clearly indicated that his talking points were coming from Planned Parenthood, admitting, "I’m merely repeating what I’ve seen that they [Planned Parenthood] have said..." He then offered the defense that "any review of the policy that Planned Parenthood says they implement indicates that the views expressed in the videos is—or at least the way they are depicted on the videos—is entirely inaccurate. ... But for those policies and for the way that Planned Parenthood implements them, I'd encourage you to contact Planned Parenthood." In other words, there's nothing to see here—move along!

"The President," he added in a defiant shout out to pro-abortion supporters, "certainly will not support another effort by Republicans to try to defund an organization that offers important and needed healthcare services to women across the country." I wonder: is there any institution in the U.S., at this very moment, that enjoys greater support and cover from the President of the United States than does Planned Parenthood? While Obama has wavered and flopped on many issues during his time office, he has held fast to the pro-abortion faith, even if he has long insisted that no one is really pro-abortion.

If you do a search for "Obama" and "extremists" you'll find that the POTUS often uses the term "extremists" to identify terrorists who have apparently "twisted" and distorted the teachings of true Islam. For example, in a February 17, 2015 op-ed in the LA Times, Obama wrote:

Groups like al Qaeda and ISIL promote a twisted interpretation of religion that is rejected by the overwhelming majority of the world's Muslims. The world must continue to lift up the voices of Muslim clerics and scholars who teach the true peaceful nature of Islam. We can echo the testimonies of former extremists who know how terrorists betray Islam. We can help Muslim entrepreneurs and youths work with the private sector to develop social media tools to counter extremist narratives on the Internet.

He even stated that such "violent extremists"—who, again, have nothing to do, he says, with "the true peaceful nature of Islam"—have authentic, legitimate gripes:

Governments that deny human rights play into the hands of extremists who claim that violence is the only way to achieve change. Efforts to counter violent extremism will only succeed if citizens can address legitimate grievances through the democratic process and express themselves through strong civil societies. Those efforts must be matched by economic, educational and entrepreneurial development so people have hope for a life of dignity.

But what of the "extremists on the right"? Be assured, first, that Earnest's use of such language is a direct reflection of what his boss thinks and says. Obama really does think that those who oppose abortion and Planned Parenthood—the high church of abortion—are extremists. And he is happy to identify them with "the right", that is, with any movement, group, or institution that actually works against abortion and "reproductive health" (of course, he identifies himself as "pro-choice", which I covered in detail years ago).

Specifically, what about David Daleiden, the 26-year-old executive director of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), the pro-life nonprofit that produced the now viral videos? In a newly posted interview with Christianity Today, Daleiden says the following:

What are your personal beliefs and how do they inform the work you do?

I am Catholic, and I am a really big fan of Pope Francis. He has been a huge inspiration to me over the past couple of years, especially while doing this project.

Pope Francis’s emphasis on not being closed in on yourself but always moving forward and always being willing to go out towards the margins of human experience—in order to bring the gospel to those margins—was a huge inspiration to me during this project. I don’t think there’s any place more on the existential margins of society than an abortion clinic.

I think that when you have a place like an abortion clinic—which is a place where children are killed on an industrial scale—there is almost a sacramental value in bringing a presence to those places. We were there for good, out of love, and to welcome those children for the brief time that they will be in existence before they die. And to be in contact with and pray for all the abortion workers, the abortion doctors who are there.

As a Christian you are part of the body of Christ. So your presence, even in those darkest of places, can bring the presence of Jesus.

Read the entire interview. I'm sure Daleiden will be raked over the coals by many, including the usual Catholic suspects, for his reference to Pope Francis. But, really, if selling the body parts of murdered babies isn't the epitome of the "throwaway culture" so often denounced by the Holy Father, what is? And what of the fact that most abortions are obtained by minority women who often cite economic reasons and social pressures for their decision to terminate their pregnancies?

The strongest opposition to abortion in the U.S. comes from the Catholic Church and various Evangelical and Pentecostal Protestant groups; in other words, from Christians. So, in sum, the POTUS's spokesman is insinuating that those who fight abortion, however peacefully, are "extremists". Meanwhile, Obama—who often references his Christian faith—has continually paid homage to the violent, bloody institution so ridiculously called "Planned Parenthood", going so far as to enthusiastically tell the group, in an April 2013 speech: "Thank you Planned Parenthood. God bless you."

Who, exactly, is involved in the work of gross distortion? Who, really, is offering a twisted interpretation of their religion? Who, truly, is fighting "so people have hope for a life of dignity"? Who, in fact, is addressing legitimate grievances against human rights?

Obama, in his February op-ed, stated: "Our campaign to prevent people around the world from being radicalized to violence is ultimately a battle for hearts and minds." That's laudable, of course, But the fight for life in this country is aimed at preventing people and institutions from being radicalized to violence against the most vulnerable and innocent among us—the children in the womb. It is a real battle for hearts, minds, and souls. However, it isn't being carried out with bombs and acts of terrorism, as Islamic extremists are wont to employ, but with facts, truth, and light.

"In a frail human being," Pope Francis told a group of Catholic gynecologists in September 2013, "each one of us is invited to recognize the face of the Lord, who in his human flesh experienced the indifference and solitude to which we so often condemn the poorest of the poor, whether in developing countries or in wealthy societies. Every child who rather than being born, is condemned unjustly to being aborted, bears the face of Jesus Christ, bears the face of the Lord, who even before he was born, and then just after birth, experienced the world's rejection."

Tell me, again: who are the real extremists?

[Mrs. Don-o]

"In a frail human being," Pope Francis told a group of Catholic gynecologists in September 2013, "each one of us is invited to recognize the face of the Lord, who in his human flesh experienced the indifference and solitude to which we so often condemn the poorest of the poor, whether in developing countries or in wealthy societies. Every child who rather than being born, is condemned unjustly to being aborted, bears the face of Jesus Christ, bears the face of the Lord, who even before he was born, and then just after birth, experienced the world's rejection."

Thank you for reminding us of this wonderful Francis quote.

[CharlesOConnell]

The History of Big Media Attacks on Crisis Pregnancy Centers

“On the Offensive”

The Early History of the Media Monopoly’s Coordinated Assault on Crisis Pregnancy Centers

The Maleficent Seven
1. CBS
2. RCA/NBC
3. CapCities/ABC
4. the New York Times
5. the Washington Post
6. Gannett/USA Today
7. and Time-Life.

The cooperation between the seven major media monopolies and Planned Parenthood was vividly illustrated in a series of co­ordinated stories during the eighteen months between October 1985 and March 1987 and again during the summer of 1992.

Concerned that the grassroots pro-life movement was at last gaining an upper hand in the abortion battle, Planned Parent­hood put together a well-orchestrated, heavily-financed, no-holds­ barred, negative public relations campaign. The campaign was aimed at the more than three thousand counseling centers established by pro-lifers in order to offer women, in the midst of crisis pregnancies, abortion alternatives and genuine help.

The centers, which were typically small, poorly financed, and run by volunteers, apparently had begun to substantially cut into the abortion trade. But, perhaps more importantly, they had also begun to steal Planned Parenthood’s thunder. The cen­ters were receiving favorable publicity from many quarters for their “helpful contributions to the process of developing informed choice on abortion.”

Planned Parenthood argued that many women were making appointments at the alternative centers thinking that they were actually abortion clinics. From time to time the volunteers at a few of the centers would allow that illusion to persist in the hopes of gaining a fair hearing on the facts of fetal development and the risks of abortion procedures. Although such tactics were ex­tremely few and far between, Planned Parenthood saw in them a golden opportunity.

Amy Sutnick, a public information associate for Planned Parenthood of New York City, wrote several news releases and put together a press packet labeling the alternative centers as “bogus” and “deceptive,” luring clients in by “masquerading” as abortion clinics and then “terrorizing” them with “horror stories,” “gory photographs,” and “brainwashing techniques.”

Sutnick approached a sympathetic reporter at the New York tabloid, the Daily News, with her packet and a proposal for a story. The reporter took the assignment and published a piece written along the lines of Sutnick’s news releases, often even using the same wording.

With the Daily News article now in hand, Sutnick began to call on other pro-abortion journalists in the city. Before long, she was able to place similar stories on virtually every New York television station, including the network affiliates, and in the other New York newspapers.

Soon the strategy began to snowball. Sutnick sent her grow­ing pile of clippings along with her press packet to Planned Parenthood affiliates, clinics, and chapters around the country so that they could contact their local media outlets. Meanwhile, she also contacted all the various women’s magazines.

Hundreds of articles, stories, editorials, profiles, and news features resulted. From Vogue, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan to the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle, and the New York Times, Planned Parenthood’s smear campaign confronted consumer audiences everywhere.

But the big break came when both Newsweek and USA Today translated Sutnick’s now-stuffed portfolio into major stories.

The author of the two USA Today pieces, entitled “Bogus Abortion Clinics Draw Legal Fire” and ”Anti-Abortionists Mas­querade as Clinics,” later admitted that she had not even visited any of the alternative centers. The only women she talked to were provided by Planned Parenthood. And a full quar­ter of the material was direct quotation and paraphrase from Sutnick.

The Newsweek story was built around dozens of independ­ently verified news reports from all across the country-actually, the incestual progeny of Sutnick’s diligent labors. It described the pro-life volunteers working in the alternative centers as “radical” and “militant,” but “clever” “fundamentalists” who used “scare tactics” in order to ‘jolt” women out of the abortion deci­sion. Entitled “Clinics of Deception: Pro-Lifers Set Up Shop,” the article’s synergism with Planned Parenthood’s campaign was perfectly choreographed.

Sutnick’s sleight-of-hand trick triggered an avalanche of con­cern, stimulated a bevy of lawsuits, and manufactured a major news event.

Grand Illusions: The Legacy of Planned Parenthood, (1987; 1992) George Grant. Chapter 9: “The Camera Blinked: The Media Legacy”