Spring Break
Planned Parenthood keeps killing them softly
Dan Fitzpatrick
Issue date: 7/23/08 Section: Forum
I'm surprised the Black community in Portland isn't up in arms right now - one of their new neighbors has a proven track record of anti-Black bigotry and violence. A new Planned Parenthood center is being built in Northeast Portland on Martin Luther King Boulevard.
The process has become heated because in June, the construction company set to build the center pulled out of the project due to continuous pro-life protests. But the developer isn't worried, as The Oregonian reported: "James Adamson, one of the associates in Beech Street [the development company], said that, however uncomfortable, he respects that protesters have the right to voice their opinion. 'And we also have fair protection under the law,' he said. 'It's basically a big exercise of free speech.'"
Sadly, this latent snobbery exists in many Oregonians. They have nominal respect for free speech but have little regard for what is actually being said. How tragic that monstrous things are being done in Northeast Portland, with most of the victims likely to be black, and the only reaction is dismissing it all as "an exercise." It's certainly much easier to pretend that a new PP is a good thing, but the facts tell a different story. The Oregonian article calls the company a non-profit (despite the $336 million it receives in tax dollars and its $115 million per year profit margin) that provides 38 percent of its patients with contraception, 29 percent with STI treatment, and 3 percent with abortions. If its biggest seller is allegedly effective contraception and barrier methods (meant to prevent disease and pregnancy), then why do a third of its patients come in for STI treatments or abortions?
PP essentially operates as a racket: It sells people contraception that often is ineffective, so when it fails, its customers can return and demand medical treatment. Convincingly sell people a problem, and there's a good chance they'll return to buy the solution.
But it's not even a matter of windfall profits or shady business practices. The issue is the product. PP claims to sell sexual responsibility - implying that clients should use contraception or abort unplanned children because it's the responsible thing to do. But just as latent smugness has bled into Oregonians, so has subtle bigotry leaked into feminism and the abortion industry.
The process has become heated because in June, the construction company set to build the center pulled out of the project due to continuous pro-life protests. But the developer isn't worried, as The Oregonian reported: "James Adamson, one of the associates in Beech Street [the development company], said that, however uncomfortable, he respects that protesters have the right to voice their opinion. 'And we also have fair protection under the law,' he said. 'It's basically a big exercise of free speech.'"
Sadly, this latent snobbery exists in many Oregonians. They have nominal respect for free speech but have little regard for what is actually being said. How tragic that monstrous things are being done in Northeast Portland, with most of the victims likely to be black, and the only reaction is dismissing it all as "an exercise." It's certainly much easier to pretend that a new PP is a good thing, but the facts tell a different story. The Oregonian article calls the company a non-profit (despite the $336 million it receives in tax dollars and its $115 million per year profit margin) that provides 38 percent of its patients with contraception, 29 percent with STI treatment, and 3 percent with abortions. If its biggest seller is allegedly effective contraception and barrier methods (meant to prevent disease and pregnancy), then why do a third of its patients come in for STI treatments or abortions?
PP essentially operates as a racket: It sells people contraception that often is ineffective, so when it fails, its customers can return and demand medical treatment. Convincingly sell people a problem, and there's a good chance they'll return to buy the solution.
But it's not even a matter of windfall profits or shady business practices. The issue is the product. PP claims to sell sexual responsibility - implying that clients should use contraception or abort unplanned children because it's the responsible thing to do. But just as latent smugness has bled into Oregonians, so has subtle bigotry leaked into feminism and the abortion industry.
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Viewing Comments 1 - 9 of 11
buffybioe
Kevin
posted 7/23/08 @ 6:54 AM PST
Dan Fitzpatrick, you are an idiot. Do you really think that the entire of the proportion of patients that come to PP for STI treatment are the same folks that go there for contraception? I find it much more likely that those who come for the former do so because they didn't for the latter. (Continued…)
Renee
posted 7/23/08 @ 9:53 AM PST
Mr. Fitzpatrick,
I am a healthy, 24 year old white female who has graduated from college and will soon be moving to Portland to pursue further education. (Continued…)
wellerl
Lisa
posted 7/23/08 @ 11:37 AM PST
Dan, you are so selfish. If you feel negatively about PP and want to write an article about it, use solid (complete) facts to support your opinion, not facts that you can add assumptions to in order for them to fit your story. (Continued…)
Azriella
Azz
posted 7/23/08 @ 5:39 PM PST
Great article!! It's nice to see a more realistic view of abortion for once. People are so quick to approve of women's rights through abortion, but disregard the idea that fetal women have rights too! Can you imagine if amazing people like Helen Keller, Beethoven, and Einstein had been aborted because it was just too inconvenient for their mothers?! Maybe someone aborted the one who would find the cure for cancer. (Continued…)
Freedom fighter
Freedom fighter
posted 7/23/08 @ 7:22 PM PST
Although I appreciate the small print after Mr. Fitzpatrick's emesis,
warning readers that the Barometer does not necessarily agree with his
opinions,I would think that a University paper would check his facts. (Continued…)
wellerl
Lisa
posted 7/23/08 @ 9:59 PM PST
Azz~
Setting aside all opinions of abortion, this article was embarrassing because of the fabrication of "facts", and the misuse of quotes that he took out of context. (Continued…)
Nicole T.
Nicole T.
posted 8/06/08 @ 6:58 PM PST
Dan do you realize how many people you could be hurting by writing this kind of stuff? People who have open minds and open hearts and then you go tear down a group of people and an organization with skewed facts? What if someone actually believes what you say? Bashing Planned Parentood and lying is only going to give rise to more bigots like you. (Continued…)
Lopez
posted 8/26/08 @ 10:05 AM PST
To all those PP supporters with open minds and open hearts, I think you should also open your wallets to take the burden off the rest of the tax payers. (Continued…)
AL walker
AL
posted 10/20/08 @ 3:59 PM PST
I just can't believe people still think this way. Mr. Fitzpatrick, you may have been wanting to get a rise out of people for this article. but I think you're a liar, a bigot and a racist. (Continued…)
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