The Bible says Jesus had strong feelings about people who harm children. Last month, Presbyterian minister Andrew Kukla announced that he has strong feelings of his own about some of those people: he thinks they’re great.
Kukla shepherds the flock at First Presbyterian Church (PC-USA) in Boise, Idaho. And, when he isn’t speaking from the pulpit, the reverend preaches online from a blog called “Wrestling with Discipleship.” Sadly, discipleship isn’t winning.
That’s apparent from the “I (heart) Planned Parenthood” sticker he’s festooned his page with. Kukla has declared his “love” for America’s largest abortion provider, explaining that Planned Parenthood staff are busy doing “resurrection work” and “fighting for life.”
In Kukla’s view, these “dedicated,” “caring” individuals are “working hard to remove shame and barriers and replace them with care and nurture.” That would come as a surprise to many abuse and trafficking survivors. Instead of removing barriers, Planned Parenthood’s no-questions-asked abortion business makes it harder to escape from predators and pimps.
Dallas Department of Public Safety officer Jeff Williams testified before the Texas state Legislature that human traffickers use abortion to keep their victims working the streets. Former Planned Parenthood facility director Amy Woodruff understood that, and she was ready to lend a hand.
In 2011, Live Action investigators took hidden cameras to a Planned Parenthood facility in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Posing as pimps with underage prostitutes, they documented how the facility’s director was fine with scheduling abortions on girls who “can’t speak English” and “won’t know what’s going on.” As she explained, “If they’re 14 and under, just send them right there if they need an abortion, OK?”
For pimps, sexual exploitation is a business; for others it’s just recreation. Either way, abortion is an easy way to cover up abuse and keep it going. The good news (for predators) is that there seems to be a lot of folks at Planned Parenthood ready to make that happen.
The group Life Dynamics recorded hundreds of telephone calls of Planned Parenthood staff who were willing to arrange a secret abortion for an actress claiming to be 14 and carrying her adult boyfriend’s child. However, some employees are just as helpful in person. Gary Cross discovered that when he brought his 13-year-old stepdaughter there after impregnating her. He wasn’t alone, as fellow child rapists Timothy Smith, Adam Gault, and John Blanks, Jr. all got similar results.
First Presbyterian’s minister says we should be there for “those who don’t know where to turn.” One way to do that is to get behind legislation like “The Coerced Abortion Prevention Bill.” Co-sponsored by Texas Representative Molly White, it mandates that abortion clinics provide a private room containing information about support programs, as well as a telephone with which to contact law enforcement. You can also sign Live Action’s petition asking Congress to hold Planned Parenthood to account, and end its half billion dollar subsidy.
According to Rev. Kukla, his calling involves “building up those who life has torn down.” Reigning in a group that does a lot of the tearing would really help with that.
