The Other McCain

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Jill Stanek on the Battle of Fitchburg

Posted on | January 29, 2010 | 19 Comments

America’s leading pro-life blogger features the story today:

I had no direct knowledge that pro-lifers would pitch a fit, I just knew no pro-life group anywhere would ever let [Planned Parenthood] into their community without raising the roof.

As I reminded readers yesterday, this all began last week when Da Tech Guy picked up a copy of the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise and discovered that Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts – with a grant of federal stimulus money — was planning to open a new clinic on Main Street in his hometown. This was indeed “a highly visible location,” as the Worcester Telegram & Gazette called it.

All politics is local and for six days I was based at Da Tech Guy’s home in Fitchburg while covering the Scott Brown Senate campaign. During that time, I visited Da Tech Guy’s parish church:

St. Anthony of Padua Church has traditionally served an Italian blue-collar congregation and the politicial views of those in the pews at 8 a.m. mass may not be indicative of all Catholics in Massachusetts. With that disclaimer, however, Martha Coakley may be on the verge of the most brutal Catholic backlash since the Inquisition.
The Democratic attorney general’s adamant support of late-term abortion obviously puts her at odds with faithful Catholics . . .

This was the context that made the story so striking. As I explained to someone at last night’s Brown victory celebration in D.C., Coakley won the Democratic primary on terms that ultimately doomed her in the general election. Coakley had declared that the health-care bill must include federal funding for abortion, including late-term abortion. This earned her support among Democratic primary voters, but it ceded the middle ground to Scott Brown.

Maybe you’re generally pro-choice and maybe you’re generally in favor of government health-care, but mandating federal funding for abortion? That’s certainly not a majoritarian position, and Scott Brown didn’t have to take a hard-core pro-life stance to put Coakley on the defensive on that issue. Blue-collar Catholics like the parishioners at St. Anthony’s lean toward Democrats on many issues, but Coakley had staked her candidacy on an issue that would cost her badly among such voters.

So in the immediate aftermath of Brown’s victory, Planned Parenthood announced it was going to open a clinic on Main Street in Fitchburg — heckuva coincidence, eh? The fact that this is funded by a reported $397,000 in federal stimulus money makes it a story of national consequence. Pro-lifers were fired up and ready for a fight, and despite a snowstorm yesterday, turnout was strong for their first protest:

A crowd of about 70 to 80 anti-abortion protesters waved signs and prayed Thursday on both sides of 391 Main St., where the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts plans to open an office this spring. . . .
Christine Hanley, who organized the protest as the chairwoman of the Fitchburg-Leominster Chapter of Mass Citizens for life, had hoped for a minimum of 20 protesters, so she was pleased to find the crowd exceeded her expectations.
“More people are coming all the time,” Hanley said during the protest on a snowy afternoon.
Father Robert Bruso, of St. Anthony de Padua Church in Fitchburg, participated in the protest.
“It’s really nothing the city of Fitchburg stands for,” said Bruso.

Expect many of Father Bruso’s flock to attend the City Council meeting in Fitchburg next week, and certainly you can expect to hear more about this battle in the near future. Da Tech Guy is on the story.

UPDATE: Don’t forget — Send Da Tech Guy to CPAC!

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Category: Abortion, Da Tech Guy, Jill Stanek, Massachusetts, Planned Parenthood

Comments

  • Philip

    There are to be no abortions performed in Fitchburg. Not that Planned Parenthood is primarily, or even secondarily, an “abortion” agency.

    You have to be mighty deluded to get so riled over what amounts to a glorified condom and Pill dispensary. Rubbers and Pap smears, oh my!

  • Philip

    There are to be no abortions performed in Fitchburg. Not that Planned Parenthood is primarily, or even secondarily, an “abortion” agency.

    You have to be mighty deluded to get so riled over what amounts to a glorified condom and Pill dispensary. Rubbers and Pap smears, oh my!

  • Philip

    And, as I said before, don’t the feds have a vested interest in preventing the proles from breeding like rabbits?

  • Philip

    And, as I said before, don’t the feds have a vested interest in preventing the proles from breeding like rabbits?

  • Philip

    And, as I said before, don’t the feds have a vested interest in preventing the proles from breeding like rabbits?

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  • David

    Phillip,

    “There are to be no abortions performed in Fitchburg. Not that Planned Parenthood is primarily, or even secondarily, an “abortion” agency.”

    Link please to your assertion of ‘no abortions’.

    Planned Parenthood is the number 1 abortion provider in the US. http://rlmblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/more-than-300000-abortions-performed-at.html

    IOW, you are full of crap.

  • David

    Phillip,

    “There are to be no abortions performed in Fitchburg. Not that Planned Parenthood is primarily, or even secondarily, an “abortion” agency.”

    Link please to your assertion of ‘no abortions’.

    Planned Parenthood is the number 1 abortion provider in the US. http://rlmblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/more-than-300000-abortions-performed-at.html

    IOW, you are full of crap.

  • Philip

    Read the Sentinel & Enterprise article provided by Stacy:

    “But Marie Sturgis, executive director of Mass Citizens for Life, was unmoved by [Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts CEO Dianne] Luby’s assertion that no abortions will be performed in Fitchburg.

    ‘They will be doing abortion referrals no doubt, because that’s a very important piece of what they do,’ Sturgis said.”

    Some Planned Parenthood clinics perform abortions, but many do not. Of course, they all offer counseling and referrals, just as they offer adoption counseling and referrals. They’re all about choice, about options.

    More useful data:

    As of 2008:

    Total services rendered by PP: 10.9 million

    38% for contraception
    31% for testing and treatment of STDs
    17% for cancer screening and prevention
    11% for general women’s health services (infertility, menopause, sex education, etc.)

    And abortion? Like the year before that and the year before that and the year before, oh, you get the picture: ~3%!

    Additionally, PP is evermore active in adoption, with referrals increasing 100% from 2006 to 2007.

    This information and more is available all over the internet, but in easy and condensed form here: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/AR08_vFinal.pdf

    Planned Parenthood is a good and beneficial organization that has gotten a bum rap from religious loons who traffic in ignorance and half-truths.

  • Philip

    Read the Sentinel & Enterprise article provided by Stacy:

    “But Marie Sturgis, executive director of Mass Citizens for Life, was unmoved by [Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts CEO Dianne] Luby’s assertion that no abortions will be performed in Fitchburg.

    ‘They will be doing abortion referrals no doubt, because that’s a very important piece of what they do,’ Sturgis said.”

    Some Planned Parenthood clinics perform abortions, but many do not. Of course, they all offer counseling and referrals, just as they offer adoption counseling and referrals. They’re all about choice, about options.

    More useful data:

    As of 2008:

    Total services rendered by PP: 10.9 million

    38% for contraception
    31% for testing and treatment of STDs
    17% for cancer screening and prevention
    11% for general women’s health services (infertility, menopause, sex education, etc.)

    And abortion? Like the year before that and the year before that and the year before, oh, you get the picture: ~3%!

    Additionally, PP is evermore active in adoption, with referrals increasing 100% from 2006 to 2007.

    This information and more is available all over the internet, but in easy and condensed form here: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/AR08_vFinal.pdf

    Planned Parenthood is a good and beneficial organization that has gotten a bum rap from religious loons who traffic in ignorance and half-truths.

  • syn

    IF Planned Parenthood is so ‘good’ how come why then is the STD rate 1 in 4 among 12 to 19 year old females.

    Seems to me Phillip has a sexual problem, he’s desperate to hide his diseased prick and Planned parenthood is his venue.

  • syn

    IF Planned Parenthood is so ‘good’ how come why then is the STD rate 1 in 4 among 12 to 19 year old females.

    Seems to me Phillip has a sexual problem, he’s desperate to hide his diseased prick and Planned parenthood is his venue.

  • syn

    IF Planned Parenthood is so ‘good’ how come why then is the STD rate 1 in 4 among 12 to 19 year old females.

    Seems to me Phillip has a sexual problem, he’s desperate to hide his diseased prick and Planned parenthood is his venue.

  • Philip

    “IF Planned Parenthood is so ‘good’ how come why then is the STD rate 1 in 4 among 12 to 19 year old females.”

    That question is so idiotic it barely warrants this mocking response, never mind a thoughtful, time consuming rebuttal.

  • Philip

    “IF Planned Parenthood is so ‘good’ how come why then is the STD rate 1 in 4 among 12 to 19 year old females.”

    That question is so idiotic it barely warrants this mocking response, never mind a thoughtful, time consuming rebuttal.

  • Philip

    “IF Planned Parenthood is so ‘good’ how come why then is the STD rate 1 in 4 among 12 to 19 year old females.”

    That question is so idiotic it barely warrants this mocking response, never mind a thoughtful, time consuming rebuttal.

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