“Christian” Pastors Join Planned Parenthood Clergy Board: We Will “Speak Out Loud” for Abortion
The billion-dollar abortion chain Planned Parenthood is boasting that a new group of “Christian” leaders support its work.
Christianity Daily reports the abortion chain recently added new members to its Clergy Advocacy Board, including a number of people from southern, pro-life states.
“Access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care – including abortion – is supported by people of all faiths,” Alexis McGill Johnson, CEO of Planned Parenthood, said in a statement.
Many people of all faiths and no faith also oppose abortion, believing that every human life is valuable from the moment it begins and abortion is a violent act that destroys an innocent unborn child’s life. Polls consistently show that the vast majority of Americans oppose Planned Parenthood’s radical pro-abortion agenda, which includes forcing taxpayers to fund abortions.
The new clergy joining Planned Parenthood’s abortion advocacy group include the Rev. Emily Harden of West Virginia, the Rev. Tim Kutzmark of California, Rabbi Sarah Smiley of Kansas, the Rev. Katey Zeh of North Carolina, the Rev. Rebecca Todd Peters of North Carolina, the Rev. Elle Dowd of Illinois, the Rev. Elise Saulsberry of Tennessee, the Rev. Latishia James-Portis of Georgia and the Rev. Stephen Griffith of Nebraska, the Religion News Service reports.
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Zeh, who also leads the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, expressed excitement about joining the board. She told the news outlet that she used to volunteer at Planned Parenthood while she was attending seminary.
“As a clergyperson who discovered my call to ministry within a Planned Parenthood, it was a no-brainer,” Zeh said. “There are so few of us who are people of faith who are willing to be bold and audacious about supporting reproductive freedom because of our faith.”
Others expressed optimism about religious support for abortion because Georgia elected a “pro-choice” pastor, Raphael Warnock, to the U.S. Senate in January.
Saulsberry saw the win as a victory for the pro-abortion movement, telling RNS, “It’s a manifestation of what’s been happening all along.”
“As leaders of faith and as clergy, we are to stand and speak out loud – as loud as other clergy – in support of reproductive health, rights and justice,” she added.
Johnson said the clergy will be involved in helping Planned Parenthood promote and expand access to abortion.
Right now, Planned Parenthood is lobbying Congress to get rid of the Hyde Amendment, a decades-old, bipartisan measure that prohibits taxpayer funding for elective abortions in Medicaid and other federal programs. The Charlotte Lozier Institute estimates the amendment has saved more than 2.4 million unborn babies’ lives.
Without it, millions of religious and non-religious Americans would be forced to fund the killing of unborn babies with their tax dollars – and in violation of their consciences. Polls consistently show that a strong majority of Americans oppose taxpayer funding for abortions.
There are many other reasons why religious leaders should not support Planned Parenthood, the primary one being its vast abortion business. Its latest annual report, which is publicly available online, lists more than 354,000 abortions. This represents about 40 percent of all abortions in the U.S.
Planned Parenthood also has been accused repeatedly of unethical and illegal activities, including selling aborted baby body parts, botching abortions that killed women, covering up the sexual abuse of minors, discriminating against pregnant and racial minority employees, exploiting young girls by selling cross-sex hormones and more.
