10-29-07, 11:45 am

They’re going after Planned Parenthood: Phill Kline, Robert Novak, and the Right Wing, October 26, 2007

Over the last few weeks, we have seen a series of stepped-up attacks on Planned Parenthood from far-right organizations, their allies on Capitol Hill and in the conservative media.

Yesterday (Oct. 25), Robert Novak used his syndicated column to take up the causes of the anti-women’s health crusaders who have made shutting down Planned Parenthood their personal mission: 1) Johnson County, Kansas, District Attorney Phill Kline, who recently filed 107 baseless charges against Planned Parenthood alleging criminal activity, and 2) Concerned Women for America and other anti-choice groups (see references below) who are circulating a letter in Congress to suspend $300 million in federal funding for our health care services until the case is settled. These attacks have been accompanied by the efforts of Senator David Vitter (R-LA) and Representative Mike Pence (R-IN) to eliminate Planned Parenthood from the nation's family planning program, Title X.

These efforts in Congress to de-fund family planning are baseless and totally without merit. They do, however, underscore the dangerous and very real nature of attacks on women's access to safe, accessible health care and birth control.

Planned Parenthood is the most trusted name in women's health care. We provide the highest quality health care and education to five million women, men and teens worldwide each year. Our mission is supported by the vast majority of the American public and one in four women in this country has visited Planned Parenthood for health care services. We have a proven track record of the highest quality of health care, and for 91 years we have been helping our patients prevent pregnancy, stay healthy and plan families. Ninety-seven percent of our services are focused on prevention.

Our opponents work day in and day out to end women's access to any and all reproductive health care including basic birth control services. Recent tactics include encouraging pharmacists to refuse to fill doctor-prescribed birth control prescriptions, asking the FDA to reconsider over-the-counter status for safe, effective Plan B emergency contraception, and eliminating medically accurate sex education in schools. Their political tactics include constant litigation and picketing and protesting the opening of new, much-needed health care centers, such as our new clinic in Aurora, Illinois.


False Claims Against Planned Parenthood in Kansas

Former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline has made a career of his political crusade against women's health and Planned Parenthood. Last November, Kansas voters rejected his brand of extremism as he was resoundingly defeated in his reelection bid as attorney general. Most recently Kline (now Johnson County district attorney) filed 107 baseless charges against Planned Parenthood in his continued crusade to stop access to reproductive health care services. His latest move is a last-gasp attempt at restricting women's access to reproductive health care. These baseless charges are nothing more than his latest unethical attempt to advance a hardline agenda. No public official should be allowed to use his office to warp the law in a bid to advance an ideological agenda aimed at intimidating women and the health care providers they rely on.

Kline has made a career of trying to put Planned Parenthood out of business. In 2005, Kline attempted to seize dozens of confidential medical records of patients who had received reproductive health care services at Planned Parenthood and another abortion clinic in Kansas. Kline threatened to prosecute Planned Parenthood and the other provider during his entire tenure as AG.

The current Kansas AG found the charges had no merit. The latest charges were immediately called into question by current Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison, who said through a spokesperson, 'We are skeptical that these charges have any merit, and we continue to wonder how much politics influenced Mr. Kline’s decision to file these charges.' Attorney General Morrison had already reviewed the information upon which these charges are based and announced months ago that after “an objective, unbiased, and thorough examination of the numerous documents and medical records,” no evidence of any wrongdoing was found.

False Claims Against Planned Parenthood by Right-Wing Extremists

As Novak details in his column, right-wing groups have picked up on the false claims out of Kansas and are presently circulating a letter on Capitol Hill, in an effort to de-fund Planned Parenthood. Their efforts aren’t new, and they’re not going to succeed this time, either.

The signatories to the letter include hardliners that have been relentlessly focused on eliminating access to reproductive health care information for years — including some who have been given jail time for conspiracy to bomb clinics. Among those who have signed the letter are:

• Wendy Wright, Concerned Women for America As president of CWA, Wendy Wright has lobbied against mandating the cervical cancer vaccine, referred to gay and lesbian people as “disordered,” “immoral,” and “unnatural,” and argued that allowing pornography in hotel rooms should be “prosecutable.” (Raw Story, 8/22/2006; CWA website, 2/28/07, 3/1/07, 3/19/07)

• Cheryl Sullenger, Operation Rescue In 1988, Cheryl Sullenger pled guilty to conspiring to blow up the Alvarado Medical Center, for which she received a light prison sentence of 2.5 years. (San Diego Union Tribune, May 6, 1988)

• Joseph Scheidler, Pro-Life Action League As executive director of the Pro-Life Action League, Scheidler was charged with 121 counts of racketeering related to clinic threats and violence. His case went all the way to the Supreme Court. Regarding his past, “[Scheidler] bragged about his unusual actions, such as absconding with fetal remains…” or “picketing the homes of doctors.” (Washington Post, 12/6/93; “Home Pickets Work,” USA Today, 10/19/95)

• Janice Shaw, The Beverly LaHaye Institute In 2004, Janice Shaw urged the U.S. to oppose the U.N. treaty CEDAW (Convention to End Discrimination Against all Women) calling it a “leftist utopian wish list: comparable worth, paid maternity leave, a national network of child care, free maternity-related health care, gender-blind military service, and quota-determined political parity for women.” (“The Stalking Horse Named CEDAW,” beverlylahayeinstitute.org, 10/9/2002)

• Jennifer Giroux, Women Influencing the Nation While a guest on Scarborough Country, Jennifer Giroux called gay parenting “the ultimate in child abuse.” Giroux commented on a recent Oprah show that featured a child raised by gay parents, “She totally exploited a 14-year-old boy, talking about his four gay parents, which is, by the way, the ultimate in child abuse, children being raised by gay parents in that type of environment.” (MSNBC, October 3, 2006)

As Novak wrote, “The offensive against abortion now takes dead aim at Planned Parenthood and attempts to expand a Kansas criminal prosecution into a nationwide assault.” He’s right; these groups are certainly attempting to do just that. Tactics such as secret videotaping, attempts to seize hundreds of confidential medical records, and politically-motivated legal charges of misconduct continue to be used by those who seek to cut off access to reproductive health care. Their charges are routinely found to be baseless, their “facts” purposely distorted.

Americans have trusted Planned Parenthood for more than 90 years because health, safety and prevention are our hallmarks. No one does more than Planned Parenthood to prevent unintended pregnancy and keep women, men and teens healthy and safe. For more information about Planned Parenthood, visit www.plannedparenthood.org.

Please contact Erin Kiernon (212-261-4337) or Christy Setzer (202-973-4975) in our Media Department for more information or background.

--Cecile Richards is president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.