Pro-lifers across the United States rallied today to call for the end of taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood, as the Center for Medical Progress released its third video from an investigation into the abortion provider’s use of fetal tissue.
Under the banner #WomenBetrayed, at least 50 cities hosted the rallies, which were sponsored by Students for Life.
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, explained in a post at their web site why the group organized the rallies today.
“After viewing the first undercover video from the Center for Medical Progress that showed Dr. Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood’s top abortionist, casually discussing the sale of body parts of aborted babies over wine and a gourmet salad, and watching the lightning fast reactions in the media and of Planned Parenthood themselves, I thought that this was finally the opportunity the pro-life movement has been waiting for,” she wrote. “This was the moment to show all of America what Planned Parenthood truly is – that they are a corrupt, evil and ruthless organization that puts profit above all else, that sells out women and their preborn babies for money, that has no problems taking millions of taxpayer dollars to increase their bottom line, that ends the lives of over 320,000 babies a year. This was the moment.”
The Center for Medical Progress led the investigation into Planned Parenthood for 30 months. They say they have a dozen videos from their investigation; the third was released today.
In the wake of the release of the first two videos, several states and members of Congress have already launched an investigation into Planned Parenthood.
Hawkins said the rallies quickly gained support.
“These #WomenBetrayed rallies have taken off faster than we expected,” she said. “[…] We had a conference call earlier this week with the rally captains and the roll call itself took several minutes because we called out each city to make sure a representative from each one was on:
“Santa Fe? Here!”
“Seattle? Here!”
“St. Louis? Here!”
“Pittsburgh? Here!”
“Nashville? Here!”
“Des Moines? Here!”
“Ft. Wayne? Here”
“It went on and on. It was inspiring. Our nation is waking up to the atrocity that is Planned Parenthood. They are waking up to Planned Parenthood’s lies. Huge corporations are publicly distancing themselves from Planned Parenthood. […] This is it. This is the moment we have been waiting for. We will end abortion in our lifetime and it’s going to start by defunding the nation’s largest abortion giant right now.”
