Demonstrators Gather On Liberty Avenue To Protest Planned Parenthood
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – About three dozen people assembled on Liberty Avenue to protest Planned Parenthood on Saturday morning in recognition of the National Day of Prayer and Protest.
The pro-life rally, locally organized by 40 Days for Life Pittsburgh, is one of more than 100 taking place outside Planned Parenthood centers across the United States.
"Planned Parenthood is on the warpath but too few Western Pennsylvania residents know the truth about this controversial organization," said Tim Barr, of 40 Days for Life Pittsburgh. "Planned Parenthood claims American women rely on them for healthcare, but in reality, four out of five women will never set foot in one of their centers.
"Planned Parenthood provides less than 1 percent of annual pap tests and zero mammograms, but they've cornered 35 percent of the U.S. abortion market. They've also been caught shielding child predators, defrauding Medicaid, and harvesting fetal tissue for profit. This facility has reported they conducted over 2,000 abortions 2016."
Planned Parenthood's mission statement reads that it works to educate and empower communities, provide quality health care, lead the reproductive rights movement, and advance global health.
According to a release from 40 Days for Life Pittsburgh, the protest is an effort to fully defund Planned Parenthood of all federal tax dollars - about $430 million annually.
"The effort to defund Planned Parenthood has nothing to do with taking healthcare away from poor women and families," Barr said. "It's about taking tax dollars away from the nation's largest abortion chain."
