Commentary by Jim Sedlak
On the evening news this week, reports came from Iraq, where the reporters took pains to point out that 3,377 Americans have died since the beginning of the war. Almost every state in the union has lost sons or daughters in the war.
In Virginia, many are still mourning the 32 students and faculty members killed in the senseless slaughter at Virginia Tech.
On TV the other night, a high-ranking Washington police officer was commenting on the shooting death of an innocent woman on the streets of D.C. and said that there is just no respect for human life anymore.
It was in the middle of all of this carnage that Planned Parenthood Federation of America released its latest statistics and said that, in the year 2005, it had committed 264,943 abortions. That's 264,943 innocent human beings who lost their lives at Planned Parenthood facilities in 2005. And you know what? Nobody seems to care.
There were no headlines on the news, no man-in-the-street interviews, not even an interview with Planned Parenthood executives asking why the number of abortions in Planned Parenthood facilities continues to rise every year.
Maybe it's the number. Maybe a quarter of a million of anything is so large a number that no one can get their arms around it. Maybe if we break the number down some, people will actually understand the impact.
So, let's talk weekly numbers. The annual number of deaths at Planned Parenthood works out to 5,095 a week.
Even when viewed as a weekly number, it is significantly larger than all the American deaths in the Iraq war. Think of it. Planned Parenthood kills more Americans every week than have died in the entire Iraq war.
In Washington, D.C. there is a Vietnam War Memorial that contains the names of 58,249 Americans who died. At its current rate, the death toll at Planned Parenthood surpasses that number every 12 weeks. Think of it. Every year at Planned Parenthood facilities, four times as many Americans die as the number killed in the entire Vietnam War.
We can make these kinds of comparisons all day long. The fact is that Planned Parenthood is a murderous machine that kills and kills and kills.
Yet Planned Parenthood claims abortion is only five percent of its business. But that five percent ends the lives of 5,095 Americans every week. By Planned Parenthood's logic, I guess we shouldn't be too upset with a serial killer like Jeffrey Dahmer. After all, he only spent a small percentage of his time doing the actual killing.
Planned Parenthood says it provides health services, yet Planned Parenthood kills 5,095 innocent human beings every week, making Planned Parenthood the fourth leading cause of death in the United States ? behind non-Planned Parenthood abortions (19,700 each week), heart disease (12,500 each week) and cancer (10,500 each week).
You know, Planned Parenthood is always trying to paint a positive image of itself. It talks about its cancer screening or its prenatal care or its smoking cessation classes (all things that can also be obtained at the local health department). My response is ? so what? It kills 5,095 babies in the womb every week.
Unnatural death is spreading all across America. People are dying in wars, on the streets and on college campuses. As the D.C. police officer observed, there is no respect for human life anymore.
It is no secret why this has happened: Life is not valued specifically because we have had decriminalized abortion running rampant in this country since 1973. Planned Parenthood is the unqualified leader in the abortion industry, operating the nation's largest chain of abortion facilities and ending the lives of 5,095 innocent children every week.
And what has been our government's response to Planned Parenthood? It gives the organization our tax money.
Just last week, as Planned Parenthood was releasing its latest grim statistics, a bill called the Prevention First Act passed out of a legislative committee in Texas. Now Texas already gives $21 million a year to Planned Parenthood. This bill will add significantly to that total. The message to Planned Parenthood is clear ? kill more babies, get more money.
In total, government officials elected by American taxpayers give $272 million a year to Planned Parenthood. There are, right now, bills in the United States Congress that will add hundreds of millions more to that total.
And yet, it seems, nobody cares.
Well, this column is a call to those of you that care. Now is the time to launch an all-out nationwide effort against Planned Parenthood. Now is the time to begin to peacefully and legally close down every Planned Parenthood facility in the country.
You don't have to do it alone. There are many organizations to help you. But, you must take the first step. Get involved. Fight Planned Parenthood in your community. Please, don't do it because I'm asking. Do it for the 5,095 babies that will die at Planned Parenthood this week … and the 5,095 more who will die next week … and the week after that … and the week after that…
Release issued: 11 May 07