Editor’s note. This can be heard at www.prolifeperspective.com.
Planned Parenthood recently made the unexpected decision to suddenly toss “pro-choice” in the rhetorical dustbin which raises a number of intriguing questions.
By way of background we’ve talked about the clash between the Abortion Establishment and younger pro-abortion feminists on multiple occasions. And we’ve mentioned that the label de jour for the up-and-comers replacing “pro-choice” is “reproductive justice,” which is intended to corral a host of issues in one holding bin.
In late January, Planned Parenthood—citing the results of focus groups—says its “newest messaging will be moving away from the language of choice,” according to Anna North at buzzfeed.com.
“Reproductive Justice,” perhaps? No. North explains:
“Rather than selecting a new term to replace ‘pro-choice,’ Planned Parenthood hopes to move beyond such terms entirely and present abortion as something too complicated to be divided into two sides. A soon-to-be-released Planned Parenthood video takes this new approach, casting labels like pro-life and pro-choice as limiting and abortion as a complex and personal decision. ‘We just don’t know a woman’s specific situation,’ says the ad (not yet online). ‘We’re not in her shoes.’”
But isn’t Planned Parenthood part of the “pro-choice”/pro-abortion consortium that claimed it carried President Obama over the finish line?
According them, isn’t the public, more than ever, on the side of “choice”?
If everything’s going your way, why would you toss the “pro-choice” label overboard two months after gaining seats in the Senate and re-electing the most pro-abortion President in our history?
Probably because, for all the pro-abortion complaints about TIME magazine’s cover story notwithstanding, they grasp that their wins in the Senate and for the presidency were a function, not of a sudden embrace of the abortion cause , but a reflection of endless amounts of money, a wholly-in-the-tank mainstream media, and hugely insensitive comments made by two pro-life senatorial candidates which fundamentally altered the trajectory of the 2012 elections.
Much of the attention paid to Kate Pickert’s TIME Magazine story “What Choice? Abortion-rights activists won an epic victory in Roe v. Wade. They’ve been losing every since” dealt with the in-house battles in the pro-abortion community over its direction.
But what was more important (and indirectly conceded by Planned Parenthood’s attempted facelift) is that they are losing the battle in the states.
Pickert enumerated many examples, including
“There are fewer doctors willing to perform the procedure and fewer abortion clinics open for business.”
“Pro-choice activists have been outflanked by their prolife counterparts, who have successfully lobbied for state-based regulations that limit access.”
“Scores of states now require women to undergo counseling, waiting periods or ultrasounds prior to obtaining abortions.”
“Minors across the country must often get permission from their parents if they want to terminate pregnancies.”
“And pro-life state legislators are passing laws that require clinics to comply with arcane requirements—such as a hallway having to be more than five feet wide— that make it difficult for them to stay open.”
Most important of all, North writes over at BuzzFeed: “Part of the reason is the public is siding more and more with their [pro-abortionists’] opponents. …Although three-quarters of Americans believe abortion should be legal in some or all cases, most support state laws regulating the procedure and fewer and fewer are identifying themselves as ‘pro-choice’ in public opinion surveys.”
A much clearer and more honest explanation of almost all recent polling data is that a majority of Americans oppose the reasons that over 90% of all abortions are performed.
Which is why Planned Parenthood is retreating from fuzziness—“pro-choice—to total obscurity.
When you’re facing the reality that the American public are becoming more and more aware that “choice” is just code for unrestricted abortion for any reason, you’ll do anything you can to try and obfuscate, deflect and otherwise try and hide your true and real agenda.
Join us tomorrow as we continue our discussion of Planned Parenthood’s latest marketing strategy – and why it’s bound to fail.