August 9, 2004

For the past two weeks, the province’s major newspapers, excluding the Edmonton Journal, have been running stories, columns and letters to the editor on the infamous Planned Parenthood T-shirts. The US $15 shirts proclaim “I had an abortion” and were apparently designed to respond to the very popular Rock for Life shirts and hoodies which say, “Abortion is homicide.”

The controversy began when Calgary Bishop Fred Henry called the shirts “callous.”  He said it was the equivalent of saying, “I killed my baby.” (There oughta be a law against Bishop Henry types, who insist on using clear, straightforward language.)

Others, including “pro-choicers”, chimed in, and most were offended that Planned Parenthood would use abortion in such a tacky way.

I’m puzzled why people would be so offended. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which is marketing the shirts, is in the business of selling abortions. With almost 200 private abortion clinics in the U.S., it is the biggest abortion provider in the country. In 2002, PP reported performing 227,375 abortions and earned $288 million in income from clinic operations. Its market share is about 20% of all U.S. abortions.

Like any other business, PP must promote its product, especially when an opponent is trying to discredit the company. Think of a fast food outlet, for example, whose products are criticized by health groups or animal rights activists.

So, when you have young Americans (and Canadians too) wearing T-shirts that scream “Abortion is murder”, the firm needs to fight back, to restore its “reputation.” Thus, PP struck on the brilliant notion of proud women in their “I had an abortion” T-shirts. It’s like the Molson beer “I am Canadian” campaign. It works on so many levels for patriotic Canadians and beer drinkers.

The problem, it appears, is that the abortion shirts don’t work on any level. PP, which has performed over 3 million abortions since 1977, doesn’t know its own customers. Very few women will wear a shirt proclaiming news about the most agonizing, painful and unforgettable (and for some, unforgivable) decision they have ever made. Abortion advocates can pretend that the judgment of others causes women pain, but the reality is that women know the truth about abortion.

What surprises me about the T-shirt story is that Albertans (and Canadians) can get worked up, even passionate, about this American story. Planned Parenthood doesn’t sell the shirts in Canada. The Canadian arm of PP doesn’t actually perform abortions; it just promotes, advocates and refers people to hospitals and private clinics that do perform them. It does all this with taxpayer money from all levels of government and besides that, it has a charitable tax number for donations. That’s another taxpayer subsidy. Where’s the outrage about that?

In addition, Canadian taxpayers pay for almost all of the 106,000 abortions performed every year in this country. It outrages us that the American abortion industry would sell tacky shirts, but doesn’t seem to bother us that we keep the business afloat here in Canada. No need for PP to sell T-shirts here. They get all the money they need directly out of our pockets.

Linda Capperauld, executive director of the Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada, wrote on Aug. 5 in the National Post to clarify her group’s position on abortion. “For almost 40 years,” she said, “we have worked nationally and internationally to ensure that people have access to unbiased and reliable information and services in order to make informed decisions about their health.”

The PP website, www.ppfc.ca, has a whole section called “Finding a reliable counseling centre.” This is a small part of the “unbiased and reliable information” contained in that section.

Unfortunately, not all pregnancy counselling centres support a woman's right to reproductive choice. Some fraudulent counselling centres provide false medical information, make moral and religious judgments and show graphic videos or material that misrepresents abortion to coerce women into continuing a pregnancy. Fraudulent counselling centres potentially put women's health at risk by forcing them to continue a pregnancy at all costs.

The group is talking about Christian and pro-life counselling centres. It actually warns women against centres that have religious funding. They would be biased, unlike PP counselling, which is unbiased because it supports abortion, abortifacient contraceptives, and access for teens to “reproductive health services” (that means abortion and contraceptives without parental consent).

Any outrage about that?

On the international front, PPFC is an affiliate of International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). IPPF is the largest provider (I prefer to think of them as sellers) of abortions in the world. It supports, along with the UN, population control programs in many underdeveloped countries. These programs often include forced abortions and sterilization and the rigid adherence to one-child programs. Again, any twinges of anger among Canadians?

Alberta PP Executive director, Laura Weshler, asked in the Calgary Herald, “Why has this statement of fact [“I had an abortion”] elicited such fear and loathing from so many?” 

I think it’s because many people feel a deep revulsion about abortion—a reaction reflected in 30 years of Gallup polls on the question and, more recently, in Leger polls. As polite Canadians, we’re reluctant to criticize our politicians, doctors, and others for their support and promotion of this grisly industry. That would be unseemly and possibly embarrassing. But when we hear about a T-shirt sold in the U.S. we can vent all that disgust and carry on sending our taxes to pay Canadian abortionists and their cheerleaders at Planned Parenthood.

That’s what outrages me.

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