Iowa Community of Dubuque Will See New Planned Parenthood Center Open
by Steven Ertelt
August 7, 2008
Dubuque, IA (LifeNews.com) — Planned Parenthood plans to open a new center in Dubuque, Iowa but won’t confirm many details about it, including its location and whether it will do surgical abortions. Once the details are fully known, local pro-life advocates say they will do everything they can to oppose it and give pregnant women real help.
Jenifer Vick, director of development and communications for the Cedar Rapids-based Planned Parenthood of East Central Iowa, gave only scant comments to the Telegraph Herald newspaper.
"We have not opened our doors, so we are not confirming any time line or location," she said. "Until we are prepared to open our doors, that won’t be happening."
Steven Brody, executive director of Dubuque County Right to Life, also talked with the newspaper.
"We have to continue to educate the community about Planned Parenthood — who they are, what they are and what their agenda is," Brody said. "They have an agenda to target children, to have them have sex as early as they can get them to."
He said he’s not sure why Planned Parenthood felt the need to come to Dubuque.
"There are facilities in Dubuque that perform the same services Planned Parenthood does," he said. "Local doctors can prescribe birth control."
Joe Lock, chief executive officer of the local Planned Parenthood previously indicated it would not do abortions, but that doesn’t mean it won’t make abortion referrals or eventually give women the dangerous mifepristone abortion drug that has killed 14 women worldwide and injured thousands more.
Brody told the newspaper he wouldn’t be surprised if it did abortions eventually or gave out the RU 486 abortion pill.
"If the Planned Parenthood in Dubuque will not perform surgical abortions, then they will refer you to one of their facilities that will perform surgical abortions," Brody said, "or they will provide the means to perform medical abortions."
Jim Sedlak, the head of STOPP International, a group that monitor’s the nation’s largest abortion business, told LifeNews.com Planned Parenthood tried to come to Dubuque before.
"This is the second time that Planned Parenthood has tried to move a facility into Dubuque. The first attempt was in 1990, when it announced that by January 1992, Planned Parenthood would be moving into Dubuque and opening a facility that would not be committing abortions," he said.
"However, the pro-life movement sought to stop Planned Parenthood and held a ‘Protect Our City from Planned Parenthood’ prayer rally at Louis Murphy Park," he explained.
Planned Parenthood later announced that budget cuts would force it to abandon the idea.
"Brody and many others believe that the real reason was because of overwhelming opposition, and they are ready to rally opposition again if Planned Parenthood continues with its plans to move into their community," Sedlak continued.
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