Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com
Idiots
On Saturday morning I went to the rally for Planned Parenthood at its new location in midtown Phoenix, which was held in response to an anti-choice protest planned to be held outside. Abortion opponents were there as part of a nationwide protest of Planned Parenthood locations (several of which don’t actually perform abortions, as pro-choice advocates noted on social media). I showed up at the Phoenix event fully prepared with water and sunscreen for what was to be a brutally hot August morning. I was pleasantly surprised to find that our rally was to be held in the parking garage where we’d be warm but at least out of the sun. And those of us who showed up in support of Planned Parenthood were treated to donuts and rousing speeches and music, which was blasted on to the anti-choice crowd outside.
The anti-choicers weren’t so lucky but it was their decision to hold their protest outside the Planned Parenthood building so they could block Pierson Street, which was ridiculous because the building was still easily accessible from 15th Street and Pierson is not even remotely a major thoroughfare. I hear that a few protesters collapsed from the heat (not surprising). It was rage-inducing to see how several of the antis brought their youngsters with them to roast in that hot sun, including one Father of the Year strutting around showing off his toddler and baby, both of whom were uncovered and the baby wasn’t even wearing a hat. If grown idiots want to make themselves martyrs to the cause of anger over women having unpunished sex, that’s one thing, but endangering non-consenting children like that is simply criminal.
Many of the signs the protesters held up contained the usual messages declaring abortion to be murder, likening it to various genocides and massacres throughout history, claiming that abortion harms women (cuz they love us dontchaknow), and deprives men of their God-given ownership of women (“Men Regret Lost Fatherhood!”). Because the national day of action was ostensibly to call attention the bogus claim that Planned Parenthood is profiting from the sale of fetal tissue, there were also several signs about that. It was amusing when, at one point, a woman with a sign listing “sales” prices for various fetal organs ranging from $30 to $60 was standing near another woman whose sign had those same organs going for $300 to $600. The inflation in the fetal organs market is rapid, apparently.
Of course, people with the dimmest grasp of reality (and I include those who want to sob about the collection process in that group) know that Planned Parenthood isn’t selling any tissue to medical researchers and the money they do get is reasonable reimbursement for storing and transporting it. But the signs at the protest and the speeches by the right wing politicians at the protest made it clear that anti-choicers have fully sewn the “Planned Parenthood is selling baby parts!” claim into their ever-expanding quilt of urban legends.
The war on women goes on…
Those busybodies are terribly annoying and misguided. Don’t like abortion. Don’t have one. Simple.
Thank you for going…sorry you had to stare at stupid and hateful all day…gee, wonder if they would have preferred Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease and diabetes? All things that have been treated and better understood because of fetal tissues…You can’t fix stupid.