Commentary by Judie Brown
Frantically scurrying to protect its multi-million dollar birth control enterprise, Planned Parenthood has begun taking aim at pro-life forces with rapid fire rhetoric designed to frighten the uninformed.
In recent days I have read many articles about the battle against birth control that is being waged by American Life League and others. It seems as though the culture of death is ready to admit that their fascination with sex includes a demand for total, unlimited access to all manner of "protection" ? from condoms to infanticide. Anything that will resolve ? by any means necessary ? the difficult dilemma created by an "unwanted" pregnancy is for all practical purposes an entitlement that must not and cannot be opposed.
If that sounds far-fetched, consider this. In a recent Planned Parenthood webzine commentary, the writer notes: "The great irony in the war on contraception is that the same forces who oppose abortion also oppose expanding access to the tools that prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce the need for abortion. Instead of pushing for policies that promote responsibility, these advocates push for policies that punish women who choose to have sex without the intent of getting pregnant."
Let's be perfectly clear, shall we? Those of us who oppose contraception do so out of a sincere respect for the dignity of the human person. The so-called "war on contraception" is really a rally in favor of life, affirming every person's gift of human sexuality, every mother's blessing when she discovers that she is with child, every person's duty to act responsibly. Truth be told, we are the ones who are providing access to the tools that supply joy rather than sorrow. Our tool kit includes self control, mutual respect, health and happiness.
Self control elevates one's perspective on his very being. The idea of saving sex for marriage is truly liberating for both men and women. It opens the door to loving someone else more than a person loves himself. Or in simple English, it means caring so deeply for someone that one simply would never think of having sex until that day when the two of them are made one in matrimony.
Mutual respect never admits to defeat. But such a positive outlook is the antithesis of what Planned Parenthood wants for its customer base. The organization's clientele become full-time consumers because once hooked on birth control, the buyers require regular testing for various diseases as well as an occasional case of "contraceptive failure" (translation: baby); or as Planned Parenthood would put it, a resolution for the unintended accident.
Nobody at Planned Parenthood would ever admit that motherhood must always trump a continued sexual satisfaction that is devoid of obligation to anyone else.
In investigating the devastating fruits of Planned Parenthood's marketing plan we find the dirty details. For example, today's young adults, including teens, are at higher risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease than ever before. Just 50 years ago doctors knew of a mere handful of such diseases; today there are at least 50 strains. Why is this so? Clearly the laissez-faire approach the culture has to all things sexual means bacteria are having a field day. And that's just for starters.
With young people consistently being told that self control is old hat and that contraception is the ticket to sexual freedom, the consequences couldn't be worse. A healthy body is never the goal when someone experiments sexually; being affected with some incurable condition does not sound like real sexual freedom to me. A healthy mind would never consider such activity to be acceptable in the first place nor would such a mind, if housed in the body of an adult, mislead youngsters into believing that promiscuity has no consequences.
As Planned Parenthood persists in accusing pro-lifers of waging a war on contraception, its all out sexual saturation blitzkrieg is focused on destroying common sense, morality, health and spiritual wellbeing. There is no form of sexual activity Planned Parenthood doesn't like, unless of course a child is conceived. At that point, even the youngest ones are fair game.
In Planned Parenthood style new-speak, "responsibility" means that one need never be accountable for any manner of risky sexual behavior. That is why Planned Parenthood and its cohorts describe the child conceived as a result of such activity in negative terms such as unintended or unplanned or unwanted.
While Planned Parenthood would argue that its programs are designed to make every child a wanted child, its consistent rhetoric is focused on making sure that no child escapes death from chemical, medical or surgical abortion. If this were not the case, Planned Parenthood would refrain from claiming that "women who choose to have sex without the intent of getting pregnant" are being punished by abortion opponents. We prefer to think that those of us who oppose Planned Parenthood's philosophy recognize that motherhood is a state of life that is to be revered rather than denied or denigrated by the intentional death of a child.
Let's face it. Planned Parenthood's war on maternity must come to a screeching halt. So must its war on our young people, who are told their lives must be sexually saturated. There is no room in a civilized society for either the wanton killing of preborn children or the brazen promotion of free sex at the high cost of disease, depression and death. Only when the people of our nation put self respect ahead of instant gratification will we see an end to the despicable fruits produced by the culture of death.
Our challenge is to persist in exposing evil; to insist on
accountability for the dreadful damage that has been wrought; to consistently maintain the moral high ground without apology and without conceding an inch.
The intentionally uninhibited lifestyle that Planned Parenthood encourages has destroyed far too many Mother's Days already.
Release issued: 11 May 06