planned parenthood – NZ Catholic Newspaper

Planned Parenthood says it will no longer take payments for fetal tissue

New York (CNS) — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 22:01:33 +0000

By Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) — The president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America said Oct. 13 that the organization’s clinics will no longer accept reimbursement for fetal tissue procured in abortions and provided to researchers.echo $variable;

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Cardinal says Planned Parenthood videos illustrate ‘throwaway culture’

Washington (CNS) — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 21:44:35 +0000

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley said that Planned Parenthood officials’ videotaped descriptions of how fetal tissue and organs are procured for researchers during abortions illustrates what Pope Francis calls today’s “throwaway culture.”
The officials also discuss what the organization charges for the body parts, which opponents of Planned Parenthood said violates federal law and the organization said are customary handling fees paid by research labs.
Cardinal O’Malley, in a July 29 statement, said Pope Francis calls abortion “the product of a ‘widespread mentality of profit, the throwaway culture, which has today enslaved the hearts and minds of so many.'”
He made the comments as chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a radio interview that he was “appalled” by the videos but even more “appalled at the reality of abortion, the taking of the life itself.”
The prelates were referring to videos filmed undercover earlier this year and released in mid-July by a nonprofit California-based organization called the Center for Medical Progress.
In two videos, top Planned Parenthood physicians describe how abortions are carried out to best salvage fetal tissue and organs for researchers and described a range of prices paid for different body parts.
A third video was an interview with a technician talking about a company she works for harvesting and included graphic footage. As a fourth video was about to be released, until Los Angeles Superior Court July 28 issued an order blocking its release.
Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in a statement said that “allegations that Planned Parenthood profits in any way from tissue donation is not true.” She later apologized for “the tone” the physicians used in describing abortion procedures and also argued the videos had been heavily edited to distort the truth.
The Center for Medical Progress has posted the first three videos on its website, www.centerformedicalprogress.org.
“The recent news stories concerning Planned Parenthood direct our attention to two larger issues involving many institutions in our society,” said Cardinal O’Malley. “The first is abortion itself: a direct attack on human life in its most vulnerable condition. The second is the now standard practice of obtaining fetal organs and tissues though abortion.”
“Both actions fail to respect the humanity and dignity of human life,” he said. “This fact should be the center of attention in the present public controversy.”
He also urged any woman for whom the Planned Parenthood news coverage has caused them to “experience revived trauma from their own involvement in abortion” to seek help from the Catholic Church’s post-abortion healing ministry, Project Rachel, www.projectrachel.com.
“Be assured that any and all persons will be welcomed with compassion and assistance” by the ministry, Cardinal O’Malley said.
Archbishop Kurtz discussed the videos in a call to the Catholic Channel’s “Seize the Day With Gus Lloyd” on SiriusXM July 23.
He said he “would be saddened” if the issue of abortion itself “somehow it lost its impact. That it became simply a debate over what’s legal and what’s illegal and I think the child in the womb then gets lost.”
“Our bishops’ conference has from the beginning opposed issues related to the funding, federal funding, of Planned Parenthood,” Archbishop Kurtz said, adding that just because “something may be legal doesn’t mean it’s right.”
The release of the videos, he added, is “an occasion for all of us to be renewed in our commitment to be pro-life and to promote a culture of life. … Our culture is becoming increasingly utilitarian. It’s very easy when you get into that mindset to see people as objects.”
The USCCB “is going to continue to promote a culture of life” and looking at what can be done legislatively to further that goal, he said.
On Capitol Hill, a number of Republicans in the House and Senate have called for an end to federal funding of Planned Parenthood. Several states also have launched investigations into the organization.
Planned Parenthood receives more than $500 million of its $1.3 billion annual budget from federal and state programs. According to 2013 data, the latest available, Planned Parenthood says abortions represent 3 percent of the total services its facilities provide.
Democrats and other opponents of cutting off federal funds point to the millions of women across the country who rely on Planned Parenthood for contraceptive care, many who otherwise couldn’t afford it. Planned Parenthood also provides limited testing for sexually transmitted diseases and cervical cancer screenings.

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Former abortion woman speaks for babies

Rowena Orejana — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 22:46:29 +0000

by ROWENA OREJANA Former Planned Parenthood clinic director turned pro-life advocate Abby Johnson has called on New Zealanders to give humanity back to unborn babies. “Really, my message is a call to action. Babies are dying. If there was a clinic that opened up somewhere here in Auckland saying, ‘If you are tired of being

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Mass celebrated outside abortion clinic in Forty Days campaign

Michael Otto — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:15:23 +0000

by CHRISTINE DHANAGOM
DENVER, Colorado (LifeSiteNews) — Prayerbooks, rosaries, and pro-life pamphlets are a common sight outside Planned Parenthood’s massive facility in downtown Denver, but this year local organisers of this spring’s Forty Days for Life campaign decided that one last piece was missing to bring the light of Christ to the country’s second largest abortion facility: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
The idea to celebrate the Catholic Mass in front of Planned Parenthood came from Fr Joseph Hearty, assistant pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in nearby Littleton, who felt that it was time to “pull out the big guns”. It was, he told LifeSiteNews, an inspiration from the Holy Spirit.
“If we can pray the Rosary, why not offer the Mass, why not use the Mass and the Eucharist as a means of fighting this tragedy,” he said. “Why not use the most powerful means that we have?”
The idea energised the local pro-life community far beyond what organisers had expected. Fr Hearty expected 30 attendees at his first Mass on March 3, and got 100.
Providentially, an empty parking lot right across the street from the Planned Parenthood owned by a pro-life couple was big enough to accommodate the crowd.
As a member of the traditional Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, Fr Hearty celebrated the traditional Latin Mass, known as the Tridentine Mass. Diocesan priests also got in on the action, though, with six different Masses offered in the parking lot during the Forty Day campaign — in English and Spanish. All six Masses were well attended, averaging between 50 and 100 persons.
A March 31 closing rally kicked off with a Spanish Mass, followed by a rosary led by Bishop James Conley, apostolic administrator for the Denver archdiocese. In comments at the rally, Bishop Conley urged pro-lifers to vigilance as Planned Parenthood continues to build “megaplex death mills” across the country, the Denver Catholic Register reported.
According to the Register, more than 300 people attended the rally, which ended with a second Latin Mass celebrated by Fr Hearty. There were so many at the final Mass that the priest returned to the altar four times to break up the hosts for distribution before finally running out.
The popularity of the idea, says Fr Hearty, is a sign that “people really want to do something”. He hopes the idea will spread, and in particular that clergy in other parts of the country will be inspired to become more involved in pro-life work.
“That’s our vocation,” he said. “We’re there to mediate, and we’re there to lead, and we’re there to encourage.”
As for the effort in Denver, organisers are hoping to build on the momentum and establish a regular schedule of Masses in front of the clinic, continuing to wage spiritual warfare against the nation’s largest abortion provider.
“Our fight is not against the world, it’s against principalities and darkness, it’s against evil, it is against the devil,” says Fr Hearty. “Why not make a few demons quake?”

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Planned Parenthood gift certificates for holidays called ‘offensive’

Michael Otto — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:00:00 +0000

INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) A holiday gift-certificate campaign by Planned Parenthood of Indiana "is offensive because Christmas is about celebrating the gift of human life", said the director of the pro-life ministry office of the Indianapolis archdiocese. Sr Diane Carollo made the comments in a nationally televised interview Dec. 3 on ABC’s "Evening News." The Planned Parenthood

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