Wednesday July 28, 2010
Archbishop Urges All to Oppose Opening of New Planned Parenthood
By James Tillman
OMAHA, Nebraska, July 28, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) — Archbishop George Joseph Lucas of Omaha has released a statement asking “Catholics and all women and men of good will … to oppose the opening” of a new Planned Parenthood facility in Omaha both by prayer and by petitioning their elected officials. It would be the first Omaha Planned Parenthood to provide abortion.
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland (PPH) has announced plans to open an abortuary at 3105 N. 93rd Street in Omaha, the archbishop explained, which “will include among its services the killing of unborn children through abortion.”
The archbishop invited people to sign a petition, made by Nebraskans for Life and distributed to all Omaha parishes, expressing opposition to the new facility. Nebraskans for Life hopes to use the petition to demonstrate the need for City Council members and state lawmakers to intervene.
He also invited people to join him in prayer at the location of the planned abortuary on Saturday, July 31, 2010, at 1 p.m.
“Make your voice heard in opposition to the efforts of Planned Parenthood to expand the culture of violence and death in Omaha,” he said.
“Please pray for a greater respect for all human life, from conception to natural death.”
Jill June, CEO of PPH, responded to the archbishop’s words, saying that his statement contained some “very harsh rhetoric” and that they would continue to build the “beautiful Planned Parenthood clinic.”
“It is important that women have access to safe and legal abortions,” she continued, “because when they do not, they suffer and die from illegal and unsafe abortions.”
PPH has previously been criticized for conducting profitable “telemed” abortions, in which a doctor at a remote location conducts patient consultations over the internet before the patient receives the RU-486 abortion pill from a remotely unlocked drawer.
The RU-486 abortion pill has been responsible for the deaths of at least six women in the United States, and the law requires that a doctor administer it.
PPH has been investigated for conducting such “telemed” abortions without a physician present and has had a criminal complaint filed against it by Operation Rescue.
“Women and their unborn children deserve better than to suffer the violence of abortion,” Archbishop Lucas said in his statement.
He went on to recommended to any woman considering abortion a number of pro-life crisis pregnancy centers: Catholic Charities, Essential Pregnancy Services, A Woman’s Touch, AAA Crisis Pregnancy Center, Bethlehem House and Gabriel’s Corner.
Archbishop George Lucas was appointed the archbishop of Omaha in 2009 after Archbishop Elden Curtiss resigned. He was previously Bishop of Springfield, Illinois.