http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/03/auburn_hills_latest_site_for_a.htmlAuburn Hills latest site for attacks on Planned Parenthood, women's reproductive rights
Published: Monday, March 07, 2011, 9:15 AM
By Darrell Dawsey
Auburn Hills residents opposed to abortion rights are expected to pack a City Council meeting in the suburb tonight to inveigh against a proposed Planned Parenthood clinic. A petition that activists claims contains 10,000 signatures will be presented to the Auburn Hills mayor.
Protesters have picketed the proposed facility, said to be opening in May or June, since Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan purchased the office building late last year.
March 6, Oakland Tribune: Since early December, Citizens for a Pro-life Society has held two strategy meetings in local churches and three large demonstrations in front of the building purchased by Planned Parenthood on Opdyke. Over 70 demonstrators attended the most recent picket on Feb. 14.
For one hour every day, protesters may be found outside of the building, sending a message against the clinic’s opening.
On the far right, Planned Parenthood has always been anathema, the source of all kinds of wacky conspiracy theories and fever dreams of the sexually repressed. But recently wingnuts have stepped up their attacks on the organization as part of an on-going campaign to undermine not only a woman's right to choose but liberal politics as a whole.
Republicans in Congress are currently attempting to de-fund Planned Parenthood. Meanwhile, in New York City, other opponents erected a billboard, a half-mile from Planned Parenthood offices, that drew harsh criticism for attempting to equate abortion rights with black genocide. (After galled black activists protested, the billboard came down in late February.)
Now, Auburn Hills becomes site of yet another skirmish in this intensifying battle.
Of course, lost amid the furor over reproductive rights is the simple fact that Planned Parenthood, despite demonization from the right, is one of the most trusted and effective health-care providers in the nation.
Moreover, the overwhelming majority of the group's work has nothing to do with providing abortions. As Lori Lamerand, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan, explained: “Ninety-eight percent of what we do prevents the other 2 percent of what we do."
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