2009: Debate over health clinic turns to minority access [targeting minorities]

In the largest anti-abortion protest held in Houston in years, several thousand people on Monday marched, prayed and kept silent.

....to convey their opposition to what they called an “abortion super center” that Planned Parenthood will open in a six-story building on the Gulf Freeway in March.

After the protesters had walked silently through the Third Ward and encircled the sidewalks of the new six-acre facility,organizer Lou Engle used the Martin Luther King holiday to accuse Planned Parenthood of locating the new facility in a predominantly Hispanic and black area to target minorities for abortion services.

“Planned Parenthood is devaluing minorities. The organization sees them as more economically vulnerable to their community of death,” said Engle,adding that a disportionate number of minorities have abortions compared to whites.

Planned Parenthood, however, said the former Sterling Bank building was chosen as its new flagship and administrative headquarters because it is easily accessible and will double its space........

According to Planned Parenthood, last year slightly more than 8,000 abortions were performed in its Houston region, which includes two clinics in Louisiana. The agency reported 34 percent of the abortion clients were Anglo; 25 percent were black; and 34 percent Hispanic. The black and Hispanic abortion rates were slightly higher than their overall population percentages in Harris County.

“This is because minorities often have more unintended pregnancies.Perhaps because they do not have the same access to birth control,”....

She pointed to a 2008 nationwide report that showed a 29 percent increase in women below the poverty level having unintended pregnancies compared to a 20 percent decrease in women 200 percent above the poverty level.

Nonetheless,many participants in the march believe their minority neighborhoods are being targeted.

Vickie Soliz of Houston said:“You don't see a clinic being built in The Woodlands or Kingwood but they are putting one in my old neighborhood.”.....

Sept 2008: Houston Planned Parenthood expansion draws protests

"Planned Parenthood's upcoming expansion into an existing six-story building on the Gulf Freeway has galvanized abortion opponents and led them to protest outside the site and the construction company that will carry out renovations.

Protesters outside the building Monday said they were especially rankled because Planned Parenthood will carry out late-term abortions there than at the organization's current facility on Fannin.

"We are letting the community know who the general contractor is," said Christine Kaster, a program coordinator for Houston Coalition for Life. "We believe the majority of Houston residents don't want the largest center of late-term abortions in the Western Hemisphere in Houston."

Peter Durkin, president of Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas, said the new building will be big: six stories and 75,000 square feet. He described the claim that the building will be the largest center of late-term abortions in the Western Hemisphere as "nonsense."

Only one of the six floors will be for clinical space, he said. Most of the building, he said, will be used for administration and family planning.

Renovations on the former Sterling Bank building on the Gulf Freeway near the University of Houston will begin in November, and Planned Parenthood likely will relocate in early 2010.

Terice Richards, a member of Mothers Outraged About Abortion, said, "Not only will they be doing abortions early (in a pregnancy), they will be doing them late term."

On its Web site, Texas Families Against Planned Parenthood says Planned Parenthood will perform abortions through the 25th week of pregnancy at the new site........."

Houston's Third Ward

"The Third Ward is a predominantly African American community. As of 2011 over 13,000 people live in the Third Ward.....

....The Third Ward is in Texas's 18th congressional district. Its representative as of 2008 is Sheila Jackson Lee......

Nov 2011: The head of the Texas-based Planned Parenthood abortion business facing accusations of massive Medicaid fraud related to billing for abortions and birth control retired this past weekend. On Saturday the president of Planned Parenthood flew to Houston to participate in a swanky gala for retiring Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast CEO Peter Durkin.

As LifeNews.com reported yesterday, a former employee of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast has filed a whistleblower’s complaint with the Attorney General of Texas and the U.S. Department of Justice. The PPGC employee alleges that the abortion business engaged in an elaborate Medicaid fraud scheme.

According to a report on the Culture Map website, Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and daughter of the late former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, flew into Houston from New York to participate in a farewell bash for Durkin. Houston Mayor Annise Parker issued a proclamation declaring the day as Peter J. Durkin Day in Houston and the event featured a presentation by pro-abortion U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

Durkin will eventually retire in April, but pro-life blogger Jill Stanek, who first noted the whistleblower lawsuit related to the Medicaid fraud, says he has numerous questions to answer now.

“After 26 years as CEO of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Peter Durkin has announced he will retire in April 2012,” she said. “The timing works out well for Durkin to avoid publicly having to deal with a complaint filed by former PPGC employee Karen Reynolds alleging massive Medicaid fraud.”.................

At least one local abortion clinic here has donated organs, but it has has stopped the practice, leaders said. Planned Parenthood's Gulf Coast Inc. Headquarters are on Interstate 45.

July 17, 2015: Scientists say fetal tissue research rare, but potentially powerful ".......Swamy said he pays about $600 for each specimen of fetal liver and thymus tissue from Advanced Bioscience Resources, a small for-profit company based in California. The company pays abortion clinics a "nominal fee" for fetal tissue, according to a document posted on the Center for Medical Progress website. The researcher has received nearly $500,000 from the federal government since 2011 for his work.

He said Friday he did not get the uproar over the video.

"I think people are misunderstanding or misguided in this emotional video," he said.

Caplan emphasized that fetal tissue procurement is legal, but needs to be handled carefully because of the sensitivities involved.

"You're talking about a small field, probably easily handled with a relative few clinics following the best procedures possible, or even by importing the tissue from overseas," Caplan said, adding, "It's another piece in the chess game of abortion."

Houston's Third Ward

The Moral Rot at the Core of Planned Parenthood Is on Full Display

".....Note the astonishing admission Gatter makes mid-conversation:

Let me explain to you a little bit of a problem, which may not be a big problem. If our usual technique is suction, at 10 to 12 weeks, and we switch to using an IPAS [manual vacuum aspirator] or something with less suction, in order to increase the odds that it will come out as an intact specimen, then we’re kind of violating the protocol that says to the patient, “We’re not doing anything different in our care for you.” Now, to me, that’s kind of a specious little argument, and I wouldn’t object to asking Ian — who’s our surgeon who does the cases — to use an IPAS at that gestational stage, in order to increase the odds that he’s going to get an intact specimen.

Since, according to federal law (and several state codes), “no alteration of the timing, method, or procedures used to terminate the pregnancy [may be] made solely for the purposes of obtaining the tissue,” this would seem something more than “a little bit of a problem.” Not to mention that Planned Parenthood’s shtick about putting women’s health first would seem to be undermined by the organization’s lying to them for its own material gain. Then again, is it any shocker that an organization happy to hawk baby livers is willing to go wobbly on its contract obligations? Of course not. Whatever other good work Planned Parenthood may do — pap tests, HPV vaccinations, urinary-tract infection treatments, etc. — the moral rot at its core has become inarguable.

And that rot, which any morally sensate person must by now recognize, looks particularly galling when one remembers that Planned Parenthood’s billion-dollar business is funded, primarily, by taxpayers. As of June 30, 2014, when Planned Parenthood released its 2013–14 Annual Report, the organization boasted $1.4 billion in net assets and $1.3 billion in total revenue. “Government Health Services Grants & Reimbursements” constituted $528.4 million, 41 percent, of its revenue stream — the single largest portion."..............

SHOCK: More black babies aborted than born in New York City

"Black lives matter? Apparently not in New York City.

A “Pregnancy Outcomes” report from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reveals in 2013, more black babies were aborted than born in the city.

A chart on page 7 shows 24,108 “non-Hispanic black” babies were born while 29,007 faced “induced terminations” — or abortions............."

Chicago shooting victims

"The map below shows where people were shot in Chicago, broken down by community area. Darker shades of blue indicate greater numbers of victims in those community areas.

This data is compiled from reporting done by the Chicago Tribune Breaking News staff and is updated approximately once per month. Therefore, the most recent shootings may not be displayed immediately....

[SNIP of info on most recent victims in last 30 days]

Jan 1, 2014 - Dec 31, 2014 - 2589 shooting victims

Jan 1, 2015 - July 22, 2015 - 1493 shooting victims

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