Largest Abortion Center Opens Today

>> Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Hey all,

It is with deep sadness that I ask you to pray for the protection of the unborn in our country, particularly now that the largest abortion clinic in the western hemisphere opened today in Houston Texas.

The Clinic is a "78,000 square foot facility that will include a surgical wing equipped to provide late-term abortions. It’s an abortion super center,” Lou Engle, founder of the pro-life group The Call to Conscience, which is organizing the rally, told CNSNews.com.

In a public statement from Planned Parenthood: "There is an increasing need for affordable health care in Houston and Harris County because we have more uninsured residents than any other area in the nation," Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas, Inc., said in a statement."

According to this article from cbn.com: "In public statements, Planned Parenthood downplayed its abortion services at the new center. It's a common theme, one that was revealed in a CBN News interview last year with Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards.

"At Planned Parenthood, we see 3 million patients a year," Richards said. "Ninety-seven percent of the health care is preventative."

However, the money trail shows that abortion, while comprising a small 3 percent of overall services, provides a big chunk of revenue. Jim Sedlak of the American Life League analyzed a recent Planned Parenthood annual report. He found abortions made up 37 percent of clinic income.

"It is the highest-priced item they sell," Sedlak noted
."

According former Planned Parenthood Director, Abby Johnson, "They are going to be charging anywhere from $500 to $2,500 per abortion procedure," she explained. "So it's a very, very lucrative part of their business and that's really what keeps them afloat."

It's difficult to estimate how much increase in abortion a clinic of this sort would lead to, but I think it's safe to say the increase will be significant. Please pray that God would protect the unborn, that the church in America would step up and step out to support and love mothers who need support and love, and that this new clinic would wither and die a speedy death.

God bless and veritas supra omnis!

11 comments:

Anonymous May 11, 2010 at 6:49 PM  

Hello Mark,

I hope all is well with you. I just thought I might make a comment as to the accuracy of the description of the Planned Parenthood facility. It would appear that your source might be overstating the size of the new clinic. Overstatement is effective at getting people fired up, but it also causes many to dismiss your concerns because of the inaccuracy.
According to my reading, Planned Parenthood is moving their administrative headquarters and health clinic into a new 78,000 square foot facility. The clinic will use about a third of that space(26000 square feet). With 3 percent of the services offered being abortions, the term "abortion clinic" may be somewhat of an overstatement as well.
I believe that I understand and share your concern about abortion(although I might act on that concern differently than you). However I have become increasingly troubled as I see folks on both sides of controversial issues using inaccurate statements to try to "strengthen" their position.
If you find that the information that I have presented on this clinic matter is incorrect, then I look forward to seeing what the real facts to story are.
Take care.
Andrew Hipps

Mark Hutchins May 11, 2010 at 10:17 PM  
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mark Hutchins May 11, 2010 at 10:31 PM  

Mr. Hipps (Andrew),

Thanks for your contribution! You raise good questions and I’ll cut to the chase in answering them. :-) To be honest, I’ve read a good number of articles on this new clinic and while I don’t know everything about it by any means, I’m not relying on one source only. None of the articles I have read mentioned specifically that it will only be using only a third of the property they own (6.1 acres to be exact), but I may have missed that and am definitely open to correction on that point. However, on their website Planned Parenthood, is advertising the new clinic as being 78,000 square feet (I’ve pasted the link below) so it seems that is the size they want advertised and believe it to be. It might be that not all of that will be used for actual medical or abortion purposes specifically and will instead be used for parking, offices, and such (Planned Parenthood touts the safe parking lot on their site) but the fact remains that this clinic is elaborate and is the second largest “clinic” in the world (there is a larger one in China) regardless of how you slice it and is extremely likely to lead to a greater number of abortions performed. That’s the point I’m trying to make and I believe it is a fair one.

As to whether it is fair to characterize it as an “abortion clinic”: I realize that technically only a small percentage of their services are actual abortions, but the vast bulk of the non-abortion services they provide can be obtained through other organizations or facilities and abortions are very profitable. Planned Parenthood is the spear head of the pro-abortion movement in our country. Without performing abortions it loses its distinction and place in the pro-abortion movement. Approximately 8,000 abortions are performed in Houston every year, I believe (haven’t fact checked that one extensively so please correct me if I’m wrong). The number of abortions combined with the distinction of place of abortion in Planned Parenthood “clinics” leads me to believe that the term “abortion clinic” is fair.

Can that statement be parsed? Sure, and I realize that your view of abortion is going to formulate a rational bias and I don’t dismiss people who disagree with that characterization as being pro abortion. But the bottom line, I believe, is that it is a clinic of death. My intention was not to strip my views of abortion from my post… and I am not just “concerned” about abortion…I believe it is deeply abhorrent.

I hope that made sense. If it didn’t I can take another stab at it. :-)

I definitely share your concern about misinformation and try hard to avoid propagating it myself. At this point, I think the characterizations made and information given in this post are fair and accurate, but will be happy to edit them if I can be shown otherwise. :-)

Thanks for your comments! It is important to make sure people keep their facts and characterizations accurate and fair!

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pphset/moving.htm
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pphset/images/Houston-Southeast-Texas-Health-Centers/FAQs_Prevention_Park.Jan2010.pdf

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/health/6821521.html

http://www.lifenews.com/state4699.html

http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/culture/family/2708-nations-largest-abortion-mill-to-open-in-houston

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2010/May/Abortion-Supercenter-Set-to-Open-in-Houston-/

Nicole May 12, 2010 at 4:17 AM  

Regarding whether it is justified to call this new clinic an "abortion clinic," if I might weigh in, I would say it certainly is. At the Nazi death camps during WWII, they provided food and clothing and jobs, in addition to killing the unwanted -- yet we correctly call them death camps.

I pray that the Gospel will be made so real to us that the true Church, and those who would join our ranks were they to simply hear the Good News in full, cannot help but step out and demonstrate the sacrificial and adoptive love of God to all those in need. May we be as God calls His Church to be, even as the early church was, and even at a great cost to ourselves, both in battling evil from the victory Christ already won over death and in living out pure and undefiled Christianity as the Body of Christ upon this earth.

Andrew Hipps May 12, 2010 at 11:26 PM  

Mark,

Thanks for clarifying your views about the Planned Parenthood story. I went back and found the statement that mentioned the area of the building that the clinic would be using. It is here. http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pphset/files/Houston-Southeast-Texas/Statement.January_18_2010.pdf
I would agree with you that facts should be accurate(an inaccurate fact wouldn't be a fact would it?). Can facts be fair? As far as characterizations being fair, due to their subjective nature, what seems fair to one party may not seem fair to a different party with a different perspective.

Nicole,

Thanks for sharing your perspective on the matter. I have wondered about something that you mentioned. How might the love of God be shared with someone who may be on the "wrong" side of a matter, perhaps a worker at a Planned Parenthood facility or someone who performs abortions?

Andrew

Nicole May 13, 2010 at 12:03 AM  

Actually, that's a great question, Andrew! You can "adopt" a local abortionist -- see this short article for details: http://prolifeaction.org/about/closed38.php

I'd also suggest praying like crazy and being a peaceful, loving example of Christ outside local clinics -- offering help via your church or local crisis pregnancy center to girls in need, providing positive facts and information about the development of the child and available options such as adoption, etc.

I'd start with asking yourself how Jesus loved you when you were on the wrong side -- He wasn't cruel and hateful, but He also wasn't just nice and didn't just drive around with a bumpersticker, He was radically sacrificial and loving as He shared the truth and brought people to repentance and a relationship with Him. Then pray and seek to "be" Jesus to them. :)

Mark Hutchins May 13, 2010 at 12:45 AM  

For those interested...Andrew was referring to the following from his link: "One-third of the building will be dedicated to providing health services and the
remaining two-thirds will be for administrative, education and training purposes."

So, the entire facility will be used. If I'm not mistaken, Andrew's point is that not enough of the facility is being used for abortion specifically for it to be fairly characterized as an "abortion clinic".

I disagree about it being a mischaracterization, but I understand Andrew's point.

Andrew Hipps May 13, 2010 at 7:24 AM  

I went back and read my first post to see what point I was really trying to make. I think my point is this.

To present a characterization without pertinent facts does not inform your reader, but invites them to share your view without question or.... there is the assumption that the reader shares your view and there is no need of a broader picture. I guess the intentions of the writer come into play here. Is the writer of a piece intending to inform and offer an opinion or perspective or to merely lead the reader in a particular direction.
In the case with this clinic, to inform one might have included the information contained in this statement from Planned Parenthoods website.
"Our new building on the Gulf Freeway will be the largest
Planned Parenthood building in the U.S. It will be our administrative headquarters for 35 counties in
Southeast Texas and Louisiana, and will house a flagship family planning health center,
a surgical suite for abortion care and vasectomies, a clinical research center, an HIV testing and
counseling area, education and training rooms, a large call center, and a secure, enclosed parking area.
“Almost all of the services Planned Parenthood provides – about 93% - are focused on prevention.
Women and men turn to us for affordable, high-quality and confidential health care services like annual
exams, birth control, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, breast and cervical cancer
screenings and more. One-third of the building will be dedicated to providing health services and the
remaining two-thirds will be for administrative, education and training purposes."
One might add that the building that they will be using is 78000 square feet.
Then the writer may share his/her opinions, characterizations, conclusions, etc. The reader may agree with the writer, but is also allowed the opportunity to draw his/her own conclusions.
Another option for a writer is to just lead the reader with loaded statements that do not really inform. Such as:
"Planned Parenthood just opened a 78000(huge) square foot "Super Center" abortion clinic."
Which approach offers the opportunity for an evenhanded discussion of the topic?
Sorry for going on so long and maybe sounding "teachy".

Mark, this is not intended to pick at how you write and treat topics. It is meant to be a general statement. I have appreciated the thoughtful way you address your topics.

Nicole, thanks for your response. I'll have to get back with you on it later since I have rambled on so long here.

Andrew

Eric Novak May 13, 2010 at 7:28 AM  

Mark,
Don't give up hope brother. Jesus is supreme and through him all things will be made possible. Including stopping the abortion movement.

Though I would rather it not happen this way, Abortion is slowly eradicating itself. Since children tend to follow their parents beliefs, pro-lifer's kids will mostly be pro-life. Pro-Choice kids are aborted so there aren't anymore to carry on the line of thinking. In a sense, (if we believed in it) evolution is selecting the fittest and weeding out the unfit via natural selection.

Mark Hutchins May 14, 2010 at 12:56 PM  

Eric: thanks for the comment and thought!

Andrew: I understand what you are saying and appreciate the analysis. I guess maybe I didn't do as good a job writing this post as I was aiming to so I'll be sure to keep your critique in mind. I don't necessarily agree with all yours points, but your coming from the right direction and I appreciate that.:-)

Andrew Hipps May 14, 2010 at 1:57 PM  

Mark,

In a way, I'm glad you don't agree with all my points. That allows for a broader discussion of whatever the topic may be. If we achieve an understanding of one another's perspective, I think that's worth more than agreement.
What I shared is just my opinion. If it is helpful to someone, great. If not, well, that's ok too.

Andrew

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