TH Letter - 30 January 2011

On 22 January 2011 the DBQ TH printed a letter entitled Bring civility to debate over abortion. In it he tried to equate what happenned in Tucson with those of us who pray & protest outside the DBQ Planned Parenthood. While he starts out saying he welcomes debate between sides he starts in to attack us right away. He says "However, while exercising this right, we must call upon all sides to do so in a civilized manner. Sadly, some have chosen to pervert these freedoms."

He then defends PP by repeating their lie that abortions are only a small part of what PP does. then he goes in for the kill. "The protesters outside the clinic since its inception do not seem to understand this, or limits.
They harass patients, follow them down the street and take photos of cars and license plates. Then they use the information gathered from these privacy-violating tactics to send graphic and tasteless images of stillborn babies on postcards. This is a tactic of fear, persecution and intimidation.

We are purported to be a civilized nation, able to engage in civilized debate. These tactics used by Dubuque Right to Life must be condemned. The supporters of these organizations must be held accountable."

As you can guess by now what he said was a complete fabrication intended to libel us & make us look like the bad guys.

Being this letter was printed the day of the DBQ March for Life & so much was going on, I didn't get a chance to actually read the letter until Monday, 24 Jan. Naturally I was outraged. But it didn't stop there. The attacks continued in the online comments. After a pro-life supporter called what he said "THE BIG LIE" 1 person claimed: "Right. Except there those of us who have witnessed it firsthand." So she is saying the accusations are true. But nothing to back it up.

Another person called her on it. "So you are saying they have someone on the inside, Police or Driver License employees who will provide names and addresses from those license plate numbers, that is not legal, find out how it is done then prosecute if this is true."

Notice how she changes her story. "I'm not saying they have anything. I'm saying people have witnessed them photographing cars of employees. I'm saying people have witnessed them writing down license plate numbers. I'm saying people have watched protesters follow patients as they've left the clinic. I'm not sure where you inferred from what I said that there are "people on the inside"." Notice she is just repeating the vague claims, but refusing to explain how any of them know how we are getting the info to mail anything to them. She can't, she knows that we aren't. & she knows full well what was meant by "people on the inside". Later she does claim we go to a website that charges for that info. You know, if we had the funds PP does, then maybe we could afford it. & even then we wouldn't do it.

& THAT IS ONLY PART OF THE ATTACKS. Many other lies have been put up repeating them over and over. & theses persons have been confronted more than once to stop telling only half of the story. As I said 1 time, what is being done is straight out of PP's playbook to attack us. Something documented in Abby Johnson's book "unPlanned".

So, I shot off a letter to the TH which is printed below (with a couple small edits to correct a couple mistakes on my part.). It was printed yesterday morning. & as expected the attacks by the pro-aborts in the comment section began again, along with more of the same claims of harrassment. They were challenged about why the police weren't called. So far no one has responded. Mainly because they know what we are doing is legal. & they can't counter it with the truth. So they keep on lying. & it is easy for them to do so since they remain anonymous in the TH while us pro-lfers get out names out there. We are the ones paying the price by being there in all kinds of weather standing up for life, protecting the unborn, telling people the truth.

As Jesus said in the Gospel reading Sunday " Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:10-12) So, I don't expect it to stop. But then neither are we going to go away either. (Note: below my letter are links to 2 other recent letters from Pro-lifers. Their comments contain some of the above attacks I refered to above.)

Peaceful protesters falsely accused in letter
FROM ALLEN TROUPE 701 CEDAR CROSS ROAD

I was very disappointed that the TH would publish the letter by Scott Reimer on Jan. 22 where he falsely accuses those of us who are out there peacefully protesting, saying we "harass patients, follow them down the street and take photos of cars and license plates."
That is not part of what we do. We do not gather any information about those clients of Planned Parenthood. And since we don't have that information, how can we be using it in the ways he claims we do?
If I didn't know better, I would say that he took that description directly from Abby Johnson's book "unPlanned," where she talks about a few people on the fringe around the clinic she worked at. Those people were ostracized by the real pro-lifers and eventually made to leave.
What those of us outside Planned Parenthood do is hold signs, pray (including the Rosary) and offer pamphlets to those who want them. We never force ourselves on anyone.
On the other hand, I have had people scream at me for being there. Some of the language that has been thrown at me has been anything but civil.
He talks about civility, yet since when is it civil to slander and libel those of us who are out there day after day, in good weather as well as bad? And given the TH's concern about that online, why did it print a letter that bluntly lied about what we do?

Letter: Planned Parenthood the arbiter on morality?

Letter: Painful reminder that a child is not a 'choice