By Staff, Baptist Message
BATON ROUGE – It was supposed to have sent a clear and loud message to Gov. Bobby Jindal and the state of Louisiana about Planned Parenthood’s dissatisfaction to proposed cuts to funding for services provided by the organization.
The rally, though, did not come close to living up to expectations or hype.
Less than 50 people, most of whom were carrying pink, pre-printed signs that read “Don’t Take Away Our Care” and “Stand With Planned Parenthood,” attended the rally, which was staged in a field across the street from the Governor’s Mansion.
The group was protesting Jindal’s decision to stop almost $300,000 in reimbursement to Planned Parenthood for health care services.
In a statement from the Governor’s office, Jindal said, “Planned Parenthood supporters are welcome to protest.”
But in a counter-protest, Jindal’s office set up a movie screen and speakers under a tent and played on a loop the Center for Medical Progress investigative videos of Planned Parenthood employees talking about the harvesting of unborn babies to sell on the open market.
“I want to ensure anyone who shows up will have to witness first-hand the offensive actions of the organization they are supporting,” said Jindal.
The most recent CMP video shows a whistleblower describing how a Planned Parenthood medical technician laughingly restarted the heart of a nearly fully developed baby boy and then proceeded to cut through his face with scissors to retrieve his intact brain, which was then sold to StemExpress for medical experimentation.
“Many Planned Parenthood supporters, including President Obama and members of the White House, said they have not or will not view the horrific Planned Parenthood videos,” said Jindal. “We hope the protestors will take a minute to watch the videos so they’ll have an opportunity to see first-hand our concerns with Planned Parenthood’s practices.”
Louisiana was among the first of a handful of states that have either started investigations or defunded Planned Parenthood. Supporters of Planned Parenthood are protesting Jindal’s moves against Planned Parenthood funding. Earlier this month, Jindal announced he was ending the state’s Medicaid contract with Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood’s Louisiana state director Melissa Flournoy said, “Governor Jindal isn’t even in Louisiana today, but he’s made sure to prove he’s always ready to put politics before Louisianan’s health.”
She called his showing of the videos “a stunt,” which is being used to get under the skin of the protesters. Flournoy claims Planned Parenthood serves 5,000 women a year.
Jindal, who is also a 2016 Republican presidential candidate, did miss the protest as he was in Spartanburg, S.C., participating at a town hall hosted by Senator Tim Scott (R-SC).
Louisiana Right to Life Executive Director Benjamin Clapper applauded Jindal’s showing of the videos. “Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (of which Louisiana is a part) and its supporters have ignored the atrocious videos that have shown their own leaders complicit in the sale of baby body parts of unborn babies,” Clapper said. “They sidestep and place the focus on their false claims that access to health care will fall apart in Louisiana if Planned Parenthood does not have a Medicaid contract.”
Clapper said there are plenty of health care providers that offer the services.
However, Planned Parenthood has only two clinics in the entire state and is presently building a new facility in New Orleans. Meanwhile, the state has 67 Title X clinics which provide more services for women’s health than Planned Parenthood.
Louisiana officials have been warned that canceling the Medicaid provider agreement would violate federal regulations by eliminating patient choice just because the organization provides legal abortions.
Louisiana, though, claims its provider agreement with Planned Parenthood can be canceled at will by either party with 30 days’ notice and the decision had nothing to do with the abortion issue.
