Here is a news flash that will certainly surprise all of us: NARAL and Planned Parenthood don’t fight fair.
I know your responses to that statement already: “No kidding,” “Duh,” or, “How is this news?”
We know those who oppose us do not use fair and open debate. Planned Parenthood’s site has a page designed to tear into our work, using innuendo, broad-brush false statements and . . . total falsehoods.
NARAL recently released a “report” entitled “Crisis Pregnancy Centers Lie,” and reading the entire thing (I was able to at least browse all of it) requires extra blood pressure pills and a strong sense of humor (because laughter is the best medicine for enduring foolishness).
Pregnancy Help News recently posted a story on the NARAL Report, giving proper perspective. The article makes a salient observation: Of NARAL’s 107 citations against pregnancy help organizations (PHOs), 92 came from its own affiliates. Another eight came from Planned Parenthood. Fair? Objective? Hardly.
[Click here to hear more from Pregnancy Help News.]
I began my professional career as a cub reporter at a local newspaper, spending a lot of days at the police department working the local crime beat. We learned we needed good sourcing. Don’t get a crime story wrong; your paper could be sued. Sources are the key.
So when I read the following in NARAL’s report, it piqued my attention:
One NARAL investigator in Massachusetts described her visit to a CPC as an “intense experience, nerve-racking, emotional.” Another said, “I left so confused and feeling awful. I can’t stop thinking about how that would have been a terrible way to find out you’re pregnant.
The source then, is also part of the team creating the report. It’s as if we were writing a story on a political race and the only information we used on a candidate came from the opponent’s public relations team. “Well, we know Candidate A is a womanizer,” said an investigator from Candidate B’s office. Must be true, right?
Are we supposed to believe that someone with a clear agenda against a PHO (remember, this is an “investigator,” not a true client) has an objective view on what she heard or how she was treated? All the way through the document, this is the approach we see.
Tweet This: "Are we supposed to believe someone with a clear agenda to have an objective view?" @KirkWalden
In short, these people have no interest in fairness, objectivity or in finding the actual truth. They do not fight fair. Wringing our hands over this however, is a waste of time. It is just fact, and always will be.
The truth is, we have a mission in front of us. We offer hope. We offer help. We offer solutions. And we offer love. Those who oppose us will never figure that out. That’s why they will never stop us.
[Click here to hear more from Pregnancy Help News.]
Another reason we will ultimately triumph? We understand our mission is not about “defeating” Planned Parenthood or NARAL. We are focused not on them but on those we see. Our goal is one that encompasses reaching out to the broken, the hurting and the fearful. As we maintain this focus, the NARALs and Planned Parenthoods will one day (sooner than we think?) fall out of favor and disappear.
We are in an unfair fight, absolutely. We can expect more “reports,” vicious media coverage at times and falsehood after falsehood slung in our direction.
Tweet This: "We are in an unfair fight with @NARAL, absolutely." @KirkWalden
What do we have? The faith and confidence of knowing we are in God’s will, the hope that God is continuing to move in these days, and the strength of love. These three weapons are more than enough for any unfair fight.
