I work as a volunteer intern with PP, so I'm used to hearing those accusations and equally used to feeling boggled by the fact that anyone might believe them. I can assure you that Planned Parenthood is anything but rich, and works on a VERY tight budget. A vast majority of their budget does not go towards abortions, and far from making money off of them, it's not unusual for a clinic to actually lose money on a procedure.

So yeah. As someone who knows how bogus it is, I want to laugh. As someone who knows that most other people don't necessarily realize how bogus it is, I want to cry.

Didn't you hear? Planned Parenthood is out to get rid of black people!

I live in South Dakota, home of the famous no-exception-for-rape-or-incest abortion ban, and I saw a crapload of anti-abortion fliers hanging around when it came time to vote on the ban. My favorite was the one that said Planned Parenthood's real goal was to kill black babies. I don't know where the fuck they got that from, but I laughed for a long, long time.

I work full time at a Title X funded NON PROFIT family planning clinic also, and I know that within the last few months we were getting accusations in our local editorial section about how we (along with Planned Parenthood) were out for profit, and the same stupid allegations. I also find it ridiculous because I know first hand how often we get reiumbursement for our supplies/services. People should educate themselves better before launching such outrageous campaigns.

"I work as a volunteer intern with PP"

What's that like? I won't be able to transfer to Berkeley without some huge amount of volunteer work, so I may as well start with a good cause.

OT...but i have been considering trying to volunteer for a planned parenthood or something here on o'ahu...is it difficult to get taken on there? i imagine there might be some background check or something?

anyhow...it mystifies me in a crazy way that people think p/p is "lining their pockets w/ coiffers full of money from pushing these abortive drugs on young girls"! where is all that money they supposedly have? is it the money that is being used to open the sprawling state of the art clinics across the nation full of crazy liberal minions ready to kill babies for fun? cuz i am pretty sure that i read somewhere that planned parenthood and similar clinics have gone from over 2000 nationwide to less than 800 in only a few years...(correct me if i am mistaken...i tend to read *too much*)

and i want to give you all this link to chew on...found it on a link from a link from 'trailerpark feminist' yesterday about how the anti-choicers are beating us at our own game and we don't even know it...grr...
http://shop.wnd.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=2018

it is full of crap...could some of this shit about doctors refusing to perform abortions be b/c...oh i don't know...there are constantly being ridiculous laws penalizing them every step of the way? or b/c there isn't enough money to cover costs anymore?
but i guess that is a rant for another day...just a little food for thought...

"get[s] young girls hooked on their birth control pills, which don't work." I wasn't aware that hormonal birth control was addictive.

Killing babies for profit? What a horrid notion and so far from the truth.

I too was a volunteer intern with Planned Parenthood. Last summer I interned with the education department of Planned Parenthood of Central and Northern Arizona, and I was in a peer education theatre troop with them my senior year of high school. In all my years of work with them, they always claimed that Planned Parenthood is the only organization trying to put themselves out of business by ensuring that the only people getting pregnant are the ones who want to be.

Pro-life? Pro-choice? Why aren't we all pro-education???

this is kinda offtopic...

i've been reading feministing for months now and i really love it! but i'm still very new to all of this. i was wondering if some of you could recommend good feminist forums or message boards for someone like me (who's still learning), where i could go to ask questions about feminism, and just chat with other feminists.

thanks

Dee, there's a Feminism 101 Blog that would probably fit the bill:

http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/

*eyeroll* Like PP is some shadowy group of mobster hitmen.

In the real world, the biggest motivation for abortion is the lack of resources with which to raise a child. So, logically, if their "consumer base" is poor, and abortion isn't cheap, how are they getting so "rich?" *sigh* It almost makes me wish "no child left behind" worked, so that they could do some math.

Nevermind that the whole suite of prenatal care is more expensive than your average abortion. If anything, PP should be forcing women into continuing pregnancies if they want some cold, hard cash!

Though don't try telling that to the antis, they're convinced that women go to PP to have their monthly abortion from those evil, evil doctors/drug dealers.

Jeremy and Ouyangdan,

I imagine that the rules are different for every PP affiliate. With my affiliate, they really just did a basic interview, asking me about why I wanted to work with PP, what I would like to do, etc. I think that from that interview, they get a feel for whether or not you're sincere. They may do background checks on interns . . . my situation is slightly unusual, because I was a volunteer with PP for some time before I took on the intern position, so they may or may not have skipped a step or two. In some areas, internships are probably fairly competitive.

In any case, I recommend it highly. I love my internship, and really couldn't care less whether or not I'm being paid, because of my sense of accomplishment. There are a ton of other volunteer opportunities, my personal favorite being a clinic escort. To get started, you just have to go to your PP affiliate website and find the section on volunteers!

Didn't you hear? Planned Parenthood is out to get rid of black people!

I love that this claim can most often be heard in places like South Dakota or rural Virginia and stuff. Where they don't even HAVE black people or like black people. Racists pretending to give a hoot about minorities.

Ouyangdan, I used to work at the O'ahu PP clinic, and I encourage you to give them a call if you want to volunteer - they're a bunch of great women (and some great men as well). They're pretty careful about making sure that everyone working there is pro-choice, but I don't think it goes as far as a background check.

When I was there, they always had a million things that they could have used a good intern/volunteer for, and never enough takers, so you could probably do a lot of good there!

I can't wait til tonight when I get to crush, heat up, and inject my birth control pill. It's almost like I want to take 7 at a time, they make me so high.

I wish Planned Parenthood would stop killing my preconceived babies!!!

Here's a wonderful site!
(Copy and paste). It's a satire of the anti-choice argument

http://www.geocities.com/preconceivedbabies/

My usually perfectly sane mother-in-law also tried to convince me that Planned Parenthood made a profit killing babies and selling their parts. I was flummoxed. Where do people come up with these things? I really hate when people bash PP or assume they just do abortions. When I was 19, completely broke, no insurance, in a new city, and needed my first gyno exam, I had it there. And I was taken care of and given birth control that I could afford, free condoms, brochures, everything. When they asked me to donate to help needy girls afford birth control, I did, because that's so important! I have to pass the main office in Houston every day on my way to class, and when I see the protesters out there I always yell a word of encouragement to the volunteers escorting people into the building and away from those crazies.

My usually perfectly sane mother-in-law also tried to convince me that Planned Parenthood made a profit killing babies and selling their parts. I was flummoxed. Where do people come up with these things? I really hate when people bash PP or assume they just do abortions. When I was 19, completely broke, no insurance, in a new city, and needed my first gyno exam, I had it there. And I was taken care of and given birth control that I could afford, free condoms, brochures, everything. When they asked me to donate to help needy girls afford birth control, I did, because that's so important! I have to pass the main office in Houston every day on my way to class, and when I see the protesters out there I always yell a word of encouragement to the volunteers escorting people into the building and away from those crazies.

After having gotten pregnant in HS, my daughter went to PP for the first time for birth control, after she had a steady boyfriend. She never could have afforded birth control without PP. I think those pills were very addicting for her. She was totally hooked. She kept taking them day after day, while having sex every weekend. I wonder why she didn't get pregnant?

But if their birth control pills don't work, shouldn't the forced pregnancy advocates be supporting them? Isn't it better to fool the little sluts into thinking they're not going to make any babies than to actually give them functional contraceptives?

But if their birth control pills don't work, shouldn't the forced pregnancy advocates be supporting them? Isn't it better to fool the little sluts into thinking they're not going to make any babies than to actually give them functional contraceptives?

I hate it when they say that people get 'hooked' on birth control. I was on in from August 2005 through January 2006, then off from February 2006 through early November 2006, when I got back on (and am still on). During the TEN MONTHS when I was off it? No side effects. No weird cravings for hormones or whatever they think will happen. Oy.

I hate it when they say that people get 'hooked' on birth control. I was on in from August 2005 through January 2006, then off from February 2006 through early November 2006, when I got back on (and am still on). During the TEN MONTHS when I was off it? No side effects. No weird cravings for hormones or whatever they think will happen. Oy.

The beginning of the claim by Colorado Right to Life VP Leslie Hanks tells us to "face it, they're in the business to kill babies for profit,"

The same people that believe that Planned Parenthood kills "babies" "for profit" can't seem to figure out that, despite the overwhelming evidence, Halliburton, Blackwater and L3 all kill full-grown adults for profit--with our tax dollars. Oh, and they burn 47 gallons of gasoline per contractor and GI per day doing it.

Protect our unborn troops. Feh.

Regarding the snarky little comments laughing at the idea or the suggestion that Planned Parenthood and other "birth control" groups havent in the past and present had genocidal eugenecists programs twds people of color why dont you pick up the Color of Violence Antholgy, or if that's too long (after all if they were really women they'd be white) you can read http://clem.mscd.edu/~princer/ant440b/paper_04.htm
you make me sick

read also: http://clem.mscd.edu/~princer/ant440b/paper_04.htm