Not so ‘strong’: Planned Parenthood pushes idea that women need abortion to succeed

This week, Planned Parenthood proudly celebrated its 100 years of existence since being founded by Margaret Sanger, a hardcore proponent of eugenics.

On a Thunderclap site, Planned Parenthood, which operates on an abortion business model and actively campaigns to elect those who share their extreme view on abortion, spouted pro-abortion talking points in honor of their #100YearsStrong campaign. One of those talking points was the notion that women need abortion in order to be successful. “One hundred years of care, education, and activism have changed everything. Women are now half the workforce and more than half of college students. They’re CEOs, engineers, astronauts, artists, Supreme Court Justices, and Senators,” the group claimed.

Does Planned Parenthood believe that women cannot be as successful in the workforce today or be college students, or career women, if they are facing unplanned pregnancies? Does Planned Parenthood believe women have to choose between celebrating their jobs and celebrating their children? Pushing this narrative is what’s truly demeaning to women, to suggest that they can’t possibly be successful if they encounter unexpected pregnancies. Women can and have done both. Women like Janel Lanae Young became pregnant at 15 but chose life and graduated college with no student loan debt. Sarah Joy Hays also didn’t have an abortion to further her career — she writes of her experience choosing life. I’m also one of those women — after experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, I continue to work on obtaining my Master’s degree. Being pregnant and parenting did not mean I have not been able to do what I’m passionate about.  I am even more passionate now that I have a daughter to care for. And there are countless others; no doubt most of you reading this right now can think of a successful woman you know who has achieved whatever she set her mind to do, despite becoming pregnant unexpectedly and giving birth to her child.

Further, why is it a given to Planned Parenthood that an abortion would enable a woman to finish her education or get a job? An abortion doesn’t solve the problem, it just ends the life of a preborn human person. Should a woman suffer psychologically or physically from her abortion, this in itself could be a deterrent to her success. (Not surprisingly, Planned Parenthood doesn’t want to hear about those not-so-positive abortion stories, and they certainly don’t want to hear about children who accidentally survive abortion.)

Another sad reality is that Planned Parenthood has quite possibly, in its 100 years of existence, aborted millions of little women who had the potential to become CEOs, engineers, astronauts, artists, Supreme Court justices, and senators. We will sadly never know what they might have been or what they might have achieved, because this “pro-woman” organization snuffed out these little women’s lives before they could take a breath.

“We will build on our proud legacy to launch our second century with as much passion, courage and conviction as our first,” Planned Parenthood says in closing. But time will tell if Planned Parenthood survives as it currently exists, with its extremist views. The abortion giant has been defunded by several states, and a federal bill to defund the organization and transfer those funds to federally qualified health centers passed both the House and Senate earlier this year for the first time, though it was vetoed by President Barack Obama, a longtime supporter and friend of Planned Parenthood.

What could eventually turn the tide is the fact that Americans hold largely pro-life positions on abortion, even if they don’t call themselves ‘pro-life.’ In January, Live Action News’ Calvin Freiburger reported on the results of a Marist poll regarding the nation’s pro-life views:

57% believe abortion should be either completely illegal or only permitted in cases of rape, incest, or to save a mother’s life. By contrast, only 20% support elective abortion after the first trimester, with just 12% wanting it to remain legal up to the end of pregnancy.

And in July, Live Action News’ Cassy Fiano noted that “[b]y almost 20 points (56% – 37%), [Marist poll] respondents answered that they should not be legally required to either participate in or fund abortions.”

These views are the complete opposite of those held by Planned Parenthood, which believes in unrestricted, taxpayer-funded abortion.

While Planned Parenthood says it is #100YearsStrong, it sadly doesn’t attribute very much strength to the women it purports to serve.