Portland, Oregon (01 July 2008) – Activists have successfully pressured a Portland building firm, Walsh Construction, to pull out of a deal to build a Planned Parenthood abortion facility and regional headquarters in a predominantly black north Portland neighborhood.
The protestors, led by Bill Diss of the Precious Children of Portland, organized a massive campaign that included calls, letters, e-mails and picketing. Bob Walsh, co-owner of Walsh Construction, told Portland’s Oregonian newspaper that this kind of pressure forced him out.
“It’s disruptive,” Walsh told the paper. “I just didn’t want to put my family through that.”
But the fight’s not over yet. Planned Parenthood developers, now left without a contractor, say they will act as their own general contractor and continue the project.
Marie Hahnenberg, a researcher with American Life League and project manager of ALL’s Map Room, said the area in southeast Portland, where Planned Parenthood currently is, has a black population of one percent. The proposed location of the new Planned Parenthood abortion facility is in a neighborhood with a black population of 43 percent.
“Praise God for the work of Bill Diss and the Precious Children of Portland,” she said. “We have had the honor of working with them for the last two years and they have built the most ecumenical effort against Planned Parenthood in the country.”
"Picketing works,” Hahnenberg continued. “People are starting to realize this racially biased organization is the brainchild of a racist founder, Margaret Sanger. It is truly in the business of ethnic cleansing and child killing for profit.”
Hahnenberg said activism like this across the country is pressuring local abortion mills out of business through prayer, picketing and protests.
“Regular, peaceful protests outside of Planned Parenthood facilities save lives,” she said. “We encourage pro-lifers across the country to continue to protest outside clinics and bring an end to this holocaust.”
Please visit American Life League’s Map Room: Activism Against Planned Parenthood web site (www.all.org/stopp/maps) to add your protest to the list.
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
- The Oregonian: Builder Pulls Out of Planned Parenthood Clinic (30 June 2008)
- Catholic Sentinel: Names of Abortion Center General Contractors Kept Under Wraps (1 July 2008)
- OPB News: Builder Backs Out but Clinic Still Planning to Open (30 June 2008)