To My Friends Who Support or Oppose Planned Parenthood

To All Our Friends & Defenders of Planned Parenthood:

This letter is not another rant about how your pitting the right of women to have abortions against the rights of the right of unborn children to live. This is not another online scolding about your defense of an organization that is doing what "the other side" is against, performing abortions. I don't think our rants about how you are not agreeing with us and are showing your lack of humanity, are doing much good. I believe that our side needs to see that while we truly believe that you are misguided on some matters, does not mean that we cannot listen to you and what you are saying about what is going on in our society that makes Planned Parenthood a safety net, especially for needy women. We who call ourselves "conservative Christians" need to practice the love that Jesus tells us that we are to show, and that means to meet you on your own ground and, while we may not agree with you, honestly see things from your point of view. For you have valid points.

I live in a household of people who support Planned Parenthood, and I an regularly exposed to television programming that supports their worldview. I know that many people who call themselves "progressive" or "liberal" Christians also support Planned Parenthood. You may be among them. So I know all the arguments and much of it makes sense. I have heard it said, over and over again, that Planned Parenthood provides numerous services for women, including cancer screenings, birth control devices, birth control education, and Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) testing. These are very good things. Women need cancer screening and we are to be prolife about women's lives, and cancer screenings save lives. Birth control education is very useful and can prevent unwanted pregnancies before they happen, thus preventing abortion from even being an issue for women and the important people in their lives. This is good. Birth control devices? I'm not comfortable with them being handed out to just anyone, especially to teenagers. Science tells us that they do not provide adequate STD protection. But STD testing saves lives and is a safety net. We who call ourselves prolife should commend that. One of your arguments is that abortion services make up only about five percent of what Planned Parenthood does. However, those of us "on the other side" feel strongly about this five percent, as you do.

I know that many of you who call yourself prochoice may believe that you have little or nothing in common with those of us who call ourselves prolife. But consider:

1). We support the idea that unwanted pregnancies should be prevented.

2). We generally support adoption for unwanted babies.

3). We all know abortions are a painful choice and should be avoided as much as possible.

4). We generally truly want to help abortion-minded women and men in crisis.

5). We generally believe that the Bible backs up our views on this matter.

6). We have Bible proof texts that we believe back up our positions.

7). We feel strongly about Planned Parenthood and abortion.

8). We are very vocal about our position on our view on this matter.

9). We are willing to be attacked for our positions.

10). We detest injustice in society.

11). We care deeply about people and human rights.

We have a lot in common. We just have different answers to address the marginalization of women and children. I have never been inside a Planned Parenthood Clinic, though I have protested outside them. Defenders of Planned Parenthood whom I know have not, to my knowledge, ever been inside a Planned Parenthood Clinic either. So I cannot prove or disprove the their actual proportion of abortions. I know about the photos that have come out about Planned Parenthood, in underground efforts to expose what goes on inside its doors. my only view of one of the videos was when someone else had on a politics channel and the anchor, who is prochoice, played the video. The footage seemed fuzzy and did not say much. I do understand that three other videos were released, which I did not see. I do not know if we need videos to confirm that the very fact that Planned Parenthood exists, to rescue desperate women and men who want to get rid of what they believe is causing their plights, means that things are wrong with us as a society. Instead of holding abortion as an option to women in crisis, why not spend time, energy, and even money, to create conditions that will abortion-minded women and men will be less desperate and less tempted to turn to abortion? If we who call ourselves prolife would listen to those who call themselves prochoice when they try to say, "Many in crisis pregnancies have no choice but to get abortions, so they should have the choice," we would do better than we are. Also, Planned Parenthood is defended because it serves low-income women in many ways other than abortion, as stated above. Just declaring the humanity of the unborn and the evil of abortion is not enough. We who support Planned Parenthood and those who oppose it, need to listen to each other, find common ground, and do what we can so people in crisis pregnancies will make life-affirming choices. And prochoice people need to listen to us and extend their care for women into equal care for the unborn. As one source has said, both sides need to love mother and baby.

Those of you who call yourselves Christians and followers of Jesus Who values all life, how can you support an act that takes human life and an organization that endorses it?

Visit This Website To See How You Can Provide Women With Life-Affirming Choices