LINDA VALDEZ

Women are target, not Planned Parenthood

Linda Valdez
opinion columnist
Pamphlets used in Planned Parent outreach about sexually transmitted infections.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's vow to defund Planned Parenthood is out of an old playbook.

Anti-choice groups have been going after abortion providers for decades. Some attacks have been violent and illegal. Abortion clinics have been vandalized and bombed. Abortion providers have been stalked, harassed, kidnapped and murdered.

Some attacks happen in legislative bodies. Rules and regulations aimed at abortion clinics have forced closures.

The idea is simple: If you can’t outlaw abortion, eliminate the providers.

The result is insidious: Women have fewer choices when exercising their right to choose.

The release of clandestinely made videos by the anti-abortion group, Center for Medical Progress, was designed to show abortion provider Planned Parenthood in a very unflattering light.

It worked. And there’s more to come.

I won’t defend Planned Parenthood.

I do defend a woman’s right to choose.

They are not the same.

Yet attacks on Planned Parenthood are intended to limit a woman’s access to abortion services, so the two are connected.

The videos were cringe-worthy. The apparent lack of compassion or respect shown in the videos was inexcusable. Planned Parenthood’s response was tone deaf.

But Republican senators who clamor to defund Planned Parenthood demonstrate a convenient lack of philosophical consistency and an utter disregard for the safety of women.

How can they not recognize the impact of reducing the number of abortion providers?

Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortion provider. If it goes away – as many of them would like – where will women turn for an abortion?

The hope of abortion opponents is that those women will miraculously decide to start crocheting booties. That is both unrealistic and unfair to the women who make a painful choice for reasons that are none of anybody else’s business.

Republicans have been after Planned Parenthood since Ronald Reagan. In 2011, the GOP tried to defund Planned Parenthood during a fight over shutting down the government. Then-Sen. Jon Kyl, said on the senate floor that abortion was “well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does." It was a gross overstatement. Republican Kyl’s office later said his comment “wasn't intended to be a factual statement.”

The strategy continues.

Those who claim the moral high ground should be ashamed of an end-justifies-the-means approach. It is unconscionable to continue to restrict access to services until women are forced into unsafe settings.

Those who made horror-movie videos in an attempt discredit Planned Parenthood distort and pervert the discussion. They seek to win by shocking the sensibilities with ugly words and pictures.

But Planned Parenthood is not the real target of this attack. It is the collateral damage.

The target is a woman’s right to choose. The weapon of choice is the systematic elimination of access to safe abortions.