| December 29, 2008 | Volume 84, Number 5 | |
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Gift certificatesIt probably should not come as a surprise in this secular society, but it still rankles when we learn that Planned Parenthood programs in the Midwest conducted a holiday gift certificate campaign at Christmas which entitled the recipient to services the agency offers, including birth control or abortion. The Planned Parenthood gift certificates were advertised as “the gift of health.” Promotion for the certificates used the slogan “Give the gift of health this holiday season.” Recipients can redeem them for “services or the recipient’s choice of birth control method,” according to the organization’s press release. The certificates, ranging in value from $25 to $100, are redeemable for health services at clinics throughout Indiana and Illinois and can go to any service offered, including abortion. Planned Parenthood “decided not to put restrictions on the gift certificates, so it’s for whatever people feel they need the services for most,” said Chrystal Struben-Hall of Planned Parenthood of Indiana. Betty Cochrum, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Indiana, promoted the gift certificates as ideal “for women’s health.” As the annual March for Life in Washington approaches (to be held Jan. 22, this year marking the 36th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling which outlawed most state restrictions on abortion), many women would dispute that abortion is “good for women’s health.” A good many of them regret the abortion they had. Besides physical complications, many say they still suffer emotionally from the experience for which they were not prepared. Women who participated in the Rachel’s Vineyard retreats offered in the Diocese of Richmond testify to this as they seek healing offered to them through a loving and prayerful environment. It’s not easy for some to even make initial contact by calling the telephone number which promotes the retreat.
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