Planned Parenthood Speaks Out on GOP Attack

By Lynette Holloway

Dr. Willie Parker of Planned Parenthood

Just hours after the Republican-dominated House of Representatives passed a measure to strip Planned Parenthood of funding on Friday, the embattled organization hit back, setting the stage for a showdown in what is widely seen as a symbolic effort to repeal the health care law.
The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, sponsored by Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, prohibits federal dollars from going to any organization that provides abortion services. It is an amendment to the omnibus spending bill now before Congress.
"In attacking Planned Parenthood, the House Republican leadership has launched an outrageous assault on the millions of Americans who rely on Planned Parenthood for primary and preventative health care, including life-saving breast and cervical cancer screenings, annual exams, family planning visits, birth control, HIV testing and more," Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a prepared statement.
"To be clear, the amendment to prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funding does nothing to reduce the deficit, and it does nothing to improve the economy," she continued. "In fact, health professionals will actually lose their jobs as a result, and most egregiously, it takes health care away from American women who cannot afford to pay for it on their own."
Planned Parenthood says it serves 3 million patients a year, and about 48 percent receive Medicaid and/or Title X funding. Many of those patients rely on Planned Parenthood for services other than abortions, the group stresses.
In a bruising battle, the House voted 240-185 to defund the organization, with only seven Republicans voting against the measure, while 10 Democrats voted in favor of it. The House, however, must still vote to approve the spending bill before the measure goes to the Senate. It would cut about $330 million through the end of September for preventative-health services, including federal funding for contraception and cancer screening at the nation's 800 Planned Parenthood clinics across the nation, according to ABC News.
The vote comes as no surprise. Abortion foes and conservatives across the country have led a robust grassroots campaign in recent months, with a special appeal to the black community. Activists emblazoned billboards with the alarming message that the womb is the most dangerous place for black children because of the high abortion rate among black women. Many of the attacks were centered on Planned Parenthood, which its critics accused of overpopulating black neighborhoods with abortion clinics. And for the most part, the 95-year-old organization has stood silent during this period, saying its history speaks for itself.
That is, until now. Willie J. Parker, M.D., a medical director at Planned Parenthood Metropolitan in Washington, D.C., spoke to The Root in a wide-ranging interview the day before the Title X vote was cast.

Read my entire story at The Root.

Blacks, Abortion in 'Gates of Hell'

What's behind the new film about black terrorists who kill off abortion doctors?

By: Lynette Holloway | Posted: March 24, 2012 at 12:27 AM

It is dusk. A shaky camera follows a young, African-American man threading his way through a heavily wooded area off a highway outside a major U.S. city. Dead leaves crunch underfoot as he answers questions from the cameraman.

"Where are we?" the cameraman asks in a low voice.

"We're in the woods across the highway from Robert Parks, an abortionist," the young man states. "He's a doctor.

"Six months ago, I was selling women's shoes," he says, smiling as he continues his trek, with a sniper weapon and a mat slung across his back. "Believe that? Now I'm out here in the woods shootin' people."

"How far are we from the house right now?" the cameraman asks.

"We're about 250 yards," the shooter says as he reaches his destination, a clapboard house on a cul-de-sac. The shooter arranges his mat in the wooded area, aims his weapon and waits. Minutes pass. Then a white man emerges from his home and begins walking toward his vehicle. A single shot rings out and he drops to the ground like so much detritus.

That is the chilling opening of Gates of Hell, a feature film set in 2016 that looks back to the year 2014 as it chronicles the crimes of a murderous band of black domestic terrorists known as Zulu 9, who see abortion as a form of black genocide. To combat their enemies, Zulu 9 travel around the nation killing abortion doctors in this alchemy of fear and loathing.

The film's producer is Molotov Mitchell, a 32-year-old white conservative from North Carolina. He describes the venture as a political action thriller aimed at helping to dismantle abortion laws. The film was released as a DVD in February during Black History Month to underscore its importance, he told The Root.

"The Black Panthers were sounding the black genocide alarm when abortion was legalized and they were very aggressive about it and there were even some violent incidents in the 1960s," he said. "But what if someone today from a militant group were to connect the dots? Could there be some sort of terrorist attack? That would create quite a fascinating plotline, I think. That's where Gates of Hell came from."