THE RYAN REPORT

Tipper Gore Speaks at Planned Parenthood Annual Meeting

Those who oppose the current administration's abortion agenda have always held some hope that one member of the "first two couples" could possibly become a PP opponent. This hope has now been dashed.

Tipper Gore, wife of Vice President Al Gore, was the keynote speaker last December at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) annual meeting. Newspapers reported that "Mrs. Gore's presence is in line with the session's emphasis on the politics of reproduction, including the volatile issues of abortion and contraception."

"This will be the official launch of our responsible choices action agenda," said PPFA President Gloria Feldt. As we explained in our August 1998 Ryan Report, that agenda calls for expanding family planning services and education, guaranteeing insurance coverage for contraception and protecting access to abortion.

Feldt pointed out what we first revealed in that Ryan Report-Planned Parenthood is preparing to take on a higher-profile political role. What it has not been able to win with the American people, PPFA now plans to win through politicians and the courts.

In commenting on her appearance at the PPFA Annual meeting, Gore said she was concerned that the abortion debate lately "has been reduced to murder and maiming."

In her speech, Tipper Gore supported a woman's "right" to abortion.

During the meeting, PPFA showed that it is still the number one promoter of abortion in the United States. It said it is gearing up its efforts to make abortions available as early as the first month of pregnancy and to provide more women with the newest drugs offering "post-intercourse contraception."

We told you last year that a Planned Parenthood doctor in Houston, Tex., has developed the Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) procedure of killing babies in the womb. In this procedure, the abortionist uses a large syringe and ultrasound to do an abortion soon after the baby implants in her mother's womb. Planned Parenthood told reporters that about a quarter of the women undergoing abortions at Planned Parenthood's St. Louis clinic were as little as three weeks pregnant. Previously, a woman had to wait until she was at least eight weeks pregnant.

Planned Parenthood also lauds this fall's marketing of Preven, a kit that allows fertilization to take place and then prevents the implantation of an already created human being. The "morning after" kit is the first to win approval from the Food and Drug Administration-although doctors and abortion providers have for years put together their own "morning after" regimens using birth-control pills.

Obviously, all the talk of abortion at the PPFA annual meeting is not surprising-especially in light of the significance of the abortion business to PPFA as revealed in last month's special edition of The Ryan Report.

It is obvious from the tone of the PPFA annual meeting that the organization will stress two themes in the coming year. The first is that the government needs to pass laws to get PPFA what it wants. The second is a religious theme, which will be discussed further on the next page.

We must be ready, in 1999, to fight PPFA initiatives in Congress and in state houses around the country. As we'll discuss later in this issue, PPFA's main political push will be the "pill bills." To find out more about these bills, and why you should oppose them, go to the American Life League web site at www.all.org and get the details. Inform your community on all the issues surrounding Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood Explores Religious Grounds for Choice—Clergy's Presence Underscored at Conference

The above was the headline in the St. Louis Post Dispatch on Sunday, December 6, 1998. The article revealed the overtly religious theme to this year's PPFA Annual Meeting.

The newspaper reported that some of the attendees wore buttons that read "I'm pro-choice and I pray." The closing plenary session was titled "The Theological Basis of Choice."

Rev. Tom Davis, chairman of Planned Parenthood's clergy advisory board and a member of the panel at this plenary session said that PPFA was not always welcome by churches, "but there is now a strong clergy presence in Planned Parenthood."

Another member of the panel, the Rev. Lauren Ekdahl, a Methodist pastor and interfaith leader in Lincoln, Neb., said issues of sexuality, abortion and contraception are ones that need to be addressed, not ducked, by church leaders.

"Jesus trusted women as persons of equal value to men and as moral agents capable of making responsible choices," Ekdahl said.

Panel member Rabbi Balfour Brickner, rabbi emeritus of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in N.Y., warned against letting religious conservatives capture the moral ground. "Sex is not dirty," he said. "Let that be said publicly and proudly."

A number of the religious speakers at this Planned Parenthood event reportedly took to task the American Catholic bishops and their recent call for Catholic elected officials to take a strong moral stance against abortion.

The religious theme of PPFA's annual meeting was carried right to the end when, at a banquet on Saturday, Rev. Howard Moody, minister emeritus of Judson Memorial Church in N.Y., was presented with the Margaret Sanger Award-the highest award PPFA gives each year.

PPFA noted that in 1967 Moody founded the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion, which helped women secure abortions before the Supreme Court made abortion legal in 1973.

A STOPP researcher (Daniel Vinzant of Waco, Tex.) provided us with some additional information on Rev. Moody.

Moody began his career of providing abortions in 1967 by allegedly brokering illegal abortions to women in N.Y. He is one of the founders of NARAL and for over 30 years has been a champion of making abortion legal. The Judson Church, with which he is associated, started as a Baptist church. Since 1952 they have been affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Congregational Church

They have a web site and with a membership of about 175, they "welcome full participation of lesbians and gays in church" and their goal of "ministry" is to be a "refuge for lively dissident spirits in politics and avant garde arts," to be a "diverse congregation of all religious backgrounds and sexual orientations," and their overriding dogma is to "embody the concept of a free social space." On their web site there is a sermon by Rev. Moody in which he refers to God as She/Her.

Moody was the man who encouraged Dr. Bernard Nathanson to become an abortionist. You can read about Nathanson and what he has to say about Howard Moody in his book, The Hand of God: A Journey from Death to Life by the Abortion Doctor Who Changed His Mind.

It was clear from PPFA's recipient of its most prestigious award and from the tone of the conference that PPFA intends to push religious support for abortion this year. It will be an ideal time for clergy members who support STOPP and oppose Planned Parenthood to speak out on the evils of abortion and birth control and to counter the claims that PPFA will be spreading in communities all across the country.

President Clinton Submits Budget With Substantial Family Planning Increases

The Clinton administration budget proposal is an outright endorsement of everything PPFA wants. It calls for significant increases in domestic family planning funding with $240 million slated for Title X-a $25 million increase from last year!

The budget includes an international family planning program proposal of $400 million-an increase of $15 million.

In addition, the budget seeks $25 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which would be used to spread abortifacient birth control to developing countries.

As if that were not enough to fill PPFA's coffers, the administration is requesting that Congress "fully fund" the Social Services Block Grant, also known as Title XX of the Social Security Act. You will recall that we reported in the January 1999 edition of The Ryan Report that Planned Parenthood receives $19.5 million from Title XX. If Title XX were "fully funded," it would receive $2.38 billion, which would be a $480 million increase over last year. Two percent of this funding would go to family planning-which would mean up to an additional $9 million available for Planned Parenthood!

The administration budget is not, yet, the official budget. Congress will spend much time reviewing all the components and making changes. Now is the time to contact your elected officials and let them know you do not want any of your tax dollars going to fund family planning-whether domestic, international, through the UN or through Social Security.

We suggest you focus initially on the funds to the UN and on Title X. Tell your members of Congress that you want these programs eliminated.

If you need further information on Title X, American Life League has prepared an excellent book titled: Title X-The Six Billion Dollar Scam. You can order it by calling 540-659-4171 and asking for the resource department.

You can bet that PPFA will be pulling out all the stops to try and get this budget passed with its dollars intact. Don't let them be the only voices heard.

The Return of EPICC

A bill requiring insurance companies that cover prescription drugs to include contraceptives will be introduced in Congress by Planned Parenthood supporters for the second time. The Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act (EPICC) would require contraceptive coverage nationwide in private, employment-related plans.

You will recall that Planned Parenthood tried to push this bill through last year. Through some last minute maneuverings in writing the Omnibus Bill, PPFA was able to get a contraceptive coverage requirement in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. This provision requires coverage of prescription contraceptive Drugs and devices for federal employees by all plans that cover other prescription drugs and devices. The way the bill is worded, it will force insurance companies to pay for RU-486 and any other abortion drugs approved in the future by the FDA.

In addition to federal coverage, PPFA is also pushing these "pill bills" at the state level. Prior to 1998, six states had adopted contraceptive coverage provisions. Hawaii and Virginia require insurers to include contraceptive coverage in at least one health plan they offer to employers, who may then decide whether to purchase plans that include contraceptive coverage. Montana, New Mexico, and West Virginia require managed care plans to include a basic package of health care services, defined to include "voluntary" family planning services. Texas requires insurance plans to cover oral contraceptives.

Last year, Maryland enacted a law requiring insurance providers to cover FDA approved contraceptive drugs and devices. Also, 22 states considered bills to improve insurance coverage of contraception. These bills generally require that insurers who cover prescription drugs include coverage for FDA-approved prescription contraceptive drugs and devices-along with associated medical services such as exams, insertion, and removal.

This year, PP plans to introduce this type of bill in as many state legislatures as possible. As mentioned earlier, you can find out more about the "pill bills" and some suggested arguments to use in opposing them on ALL's web site.

We urge all STOPP supporters to actively oppose these bills whenever they appear. 

PP Opens New Teen Web Site

As part of its continuing effort to peddle its philosophies and its products to our children, PPFA has created www.teenwire.org.

This is a site directed at teens. In its press release announcing the site, Planned Parenthood billed it as "the safe place in cyberspace about sexual health and relationships"

"In real life, real teens need real answers," said PPFA President Gloria Feldt. "Beginning today, teens can get the answers they need, 24 hours a day, from a source they and their parents can trust-Planned Parenthood. Teenwire will help millions of teens make responsible choices about their sexual health."

Can you imagine Planned Parenthood saying it is an organization that can be trusted? The purveyors of lies and deceit claiming to represent truth and honesty would be laughable if it weren't so serious. PP is so worried about this issue that they repeated it several times in its short press release:

• "Clearly, teens need our help in dealing with sex and sexuality," said Feldt. "They need responsible adults to give them honest information about how their bodies work, and help them develop healthy values about relationships."
• There is no shortage of sexual themes on the internet or in the broadcast media. But most teens have been unable to find a reliable, responsible source of information about sexual health. That is why we have developed teenwire.
• And parents can trust teenwire because it comes from Planned Parenthood.

Would you trust your teens with information they receive from Planned Parenthood? We certainly wouldn't.

In its press release, PPFA illustrated how slanted its information is. PPFA said, "Teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections are still widespread problems for American young people. Each year more than three million American teens contract sexually transmitted infections, and almost 900,000-one in 10 teenage girls-become pregnant."

PP insists on using the term "sexually transmitted infection" rather than "sexually transmitted disease." This is a major attempt at deception. PP has been unable to reduce the transmission of sexual diseases, so it has apparently decided that if it calls them "infections" they won't seem so bad. After all, everyone gets infections, but getting a "disease" is much worse. With semantic gymnastics like this in the press release, you can just imagine what the web site is like.

"The internet is an ideal place to help teens," said Feldt, noting that an estimated 75 percent of American teens will have access to the internet within three years. "Many teens are not getting the sexual health information they need in school or at home, and are too embarrassed to ask adults around them for help. Planned Parenthood is already working hard to help parents communicate with their kids about sex. Now, with teenwire, we will help millions of teens, in America and around the world, get the information they need on-line, in private, any time of day."

So what's the reaction of those who work with young people to the site? We asked Andrew Daub, associate director of Why Life? (the youth division of American Life League) to review the site. Here's what Andrew had to say:

Planned Parenthood's new teen web site adds to the net's pyramid of perversion

Looking for a teenager's guide to everything from lubricants to orgasms, from deviant sexual behavior to where to have your baby killed? Planned Parenthood's new Teenwire web site covers all the bases.

Contrary to what Planned Parenthood would have the world believe, young people want and need the truth-and that's nowhere to be found on Teenwire. In fact, the only people benefiting from this site are the perverts and pedophiles prowling the web for graphic sexual material.

"Am I Gay If I Dream About Girls?" supposedly written by a young woman in the throes of determining her sexual orientation and "She Wore Red Sunglasses," a fantasy piece in which a young man pats himself on the back for abstaining from sex until his senior prom and then describes his fall from grace two weeks later are two of the more entertaining and possibly arousing stories. The coup de grace is "Roll It On, Slip It Off: The Art of Using a Condom," an educational piece glorifying prophylactics by employing trendy terms and a zucchini-as-prop example to convey info on the proper fit, practice and utilization of the ever-unsafe and ineffective condom.

As if the tragically hip, extreme sexual content isn't enough, Planned Parent-hood, via Teenwire, does its best to portray parents as uncommunicative, old-fashioned, and ignorant in comparison to the "young people" who purportedly write the nonsense on this page. They'd have us believe that pure luck and a parental collision in the dark of night are responsible for our existence. The page has nothing to do with education or talking to parents about sex. It's about soliciting approval for a life of immorality.

For web surfers of all ages, it may be interesting to note that in 1996 Planned Parenthood joined with the ACLU to lead the fight against the Communications Decency Act, a bill designed to keep pornography off the internet. Hindsight would dictate that Planned Parenthood's executive fortune tellers were simply keeping their options open, knowing the bill would prove disastrous for the multi-million dollar pornography business and the profitability of selling sex via the net.

The family planning and abortion-service referrals throughout the web site, solely for Planned Parenthood's network of clinics, highlight their true motives. Teach young people (as soon as they can walk) about sex, show them how to use condoms, aggressively distribute the Pill at $15Ð$25 a prescription and then "terminate the pregnancies" that result from high birth control failure rates for an impressive $42 million annual profit.

Teenwire.com has nothing to do with sexual health, the best interests of teens or true love. No, this site is about nothing more than blood money-and the sexual agenda of Planned Parenthood.

Andrew worked with a radio station to set-up a debate between himself and the head of the Teenwire site. He wanted to discuss the supposed merits of the site directly with those responsible.

Although it initially appeared the debate would happen, the representative from Teenwire eventually backed out.

All STOPP supporters should make sure those involved with teens are warned about this site. Parents should monitor their children and make sure they're not exposed to this filth.

PP Holds Grand Opening Celebration of Abortion Clinic on Ash Wednesday

When Planned Parenthood scheduled a grand opening celebration for its new abortion facility in Bryan-College Station, Tex., it planned it to include participation by the local Chamber of Commerce. Pro-lifers reacted swiftly and got area businesses to deluge the Chamber offices with messages of opposition to the Chamber's participation in this PP event.

As a result of the tremendous outpouring of anti-Planned Parenthood information and sentiment the Chamber not only canceled its participation, it voted to remove Planned Parenthood from the Chamber of Commerce!

Planned Parenthood had to reschedule its grand opening. It did, and chose Ash Wednesday-the day Christians start their Lenten season in preparation for Easter-as the day to celebrate killing babies!

That Planned Parenthood would choose such a day to commemorate its gruesome business is regrettable, but not shocking. PP seems to have no regard for concerns other than those that would increase its own bottom line.

As if to highlight further its insensitivity to Christians and its efforts to put forth a religious appearance, Planned Parenthood invited Rev. Howard Moody to be the honored speaker at the grand opening event. This is the same Rev. Moody who we wrote about earlier in this Report.

The good news is that area pro-lifers, who have been adamant in their opposition to this death house, turned out in large numbers to protest this opening. One person on the scene reported to STOPP: "I am not good at [crowd] estimates but I would think before the day was over, that over 100 Christians had stood faithful at Planned Parenthood's ribbon cutting."

With the opening of this facility, pro-lifers are more determined than ever to educate on the truth about Planned Parenthood. STOPP spoke in the area in 1998, and Jim Sedlak has been invited back. By the time you read this, Jim will have completed his scheduled March 29 talk at Texas A&M-which is located in Bryan-College Station.

As Planned Parenthood continues to push its baby-killing agenda, it is meeting opposition across the country.

Abortionist Applauded at PPFA Annual Meeting

In case you had any doubt about where Planned Parenthood clergy people stood on abortion, you should know that, at their PPFA annual meeting, the Rev. Lauren Ekdahl, a Methodist pastor and interfaith leader in Lincoln, Neb., led a standing ovation for Dr. Winston Crabb, who performs abortions at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Lincoln.

Wattleton "Disturbed"

According to published reports, Faye Wattleton, director of the Center for Gender Equality and former president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the findings of a new poll "disturbing." She said of particular concern were the findings indicating an "erosion of gains made in reproductive rights"

The poll Wattleton was reacting to was a survey of 1,000 women over the age of 18 commissioned by her organization and conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates. The poll found American women are more accepting

of religious activism in politics and are moving toward more conservative attitudes, including a greater acceptance of restrictions on abortion.

On abortion, 53% said it should be illegal except in cases of rape or incest, to save a woman's life, or forbidden in all cases. Just "28% favor abortion on demand," 40% said it should only be allowed in cases of rape, incest or to save the mother's life and 13% said it should be banned outright.

Two years ago, only 45% thought abortion should be illegal except as noted above. That's a move of 8% in just two years.

The survey also found that women are becoming more religious, with 75% saying religion is important to them-up from 69% in 1996. Half of the Christian women identified themselves as evangelical or "born again," up from 44% in the last study. "

"The changes on abortion are pretty dramatic," said Diane Colasanto of Princeton Survey Research Associates. She added, "I don't feel that it is a blip."

STOPP supporters know that this poll is far from where we want it to be. Only 13% of those surveyed believed abortion should be banned entirely.

We need to get this number over 50%. But it does represent a slow change in position and a beginning that can be expanded-with constant education and increased visibility of the horror of every abortion. And anything that "disturbs" Faye Wattleton can't be all bad.

STOPP asks all its supporters to renew their commitment to educate people on the evils of abortion.

California Abortionist Sues Planned Parenthood

In what has to be one of the most unusual stories we have reported over the last 14 years, an abortionist in California has filed a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood.

Case Number 804615 of the Superior Court of the State of California In And Of The County of Orange was filed, on January 21, 1999, by Family Planning Associates Medical Group against Planned Parenthood/Orange and San Bernadino Counties, Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles, and Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside Counties.

The lawsuit charges that Planned Parenthood is not a professional medical corporation and is therefore prohibited by sections 2052 and 2400 of the California Business and Professional Code from practicing medicine in the state. It claims that PP's providing of medical services is, therefore, illegal.

The document specifically says "While Health and Safety Code section 1204(a)(1) provides a limited exception for community clinics operated by non-profit corporations, Planned Parenthood has gone beyond its original charitable purpose and has commenced to compete generally with private community physicians by offering compensated medical services to the general public in violation of section 2400 of the Business and Professional Code."

The document also specifically charges that the Planned Parenthood affiliates conspired to perform illegal medical services and are, therefore, guilty of an illegal "conspiracy."

Family Planning Associates seeks "actual damage in accordance with proof; an injunction against the violation of [the Business and Professional Code], and a judgement and order requiring that defendants make full restitution of all illegal profits resulting from their illegal conduct." In addition, the suit asks for "treble damages," punitive damages and recovery of legal fees.

Texas Bishop Opposes PP

Reprinted below is a letter published in the October 4, 1998, issue of The West Texas Catholic (the official newspaper of the Diocese of Amarillo).

To All the People of God, Diocese of Amarillo:

Let us proclaim the Gospel of life with honesty and love on the eve of the third millennium! Today (Sunday) is Respect Life Sunday. The month of October is Respect Life Month. In fact, we are Respect Life people, Respect Life families, Respect Life parishes, a Respect Life diocese and a Respect Life Catholic Church around the world-all year long-always has been and always will be!

"Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being." (Catechism, #2258)

Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical The Gospel of Life speaks of the "incomparable value of every human person" (section 2) and calls everyone "to respect, protect, love and serve life, every human life" (section 5). The Holy Father often speaks of a culture of death that has grown from Cain's murder

of his brother Abel until modern times when abortion, the killing of an unborn person, is

a "constitutional right" established by rebellious, blasphemous nations and civil courts.

Man against God: the root of the moral crisis in our nation and world. Pope John Paul II calls both Catholics and all mankind to establish "a new culture of life." The Gospel of Life is to imbue the whole of society. "To be actively pro-life is to contribute to the renewal of society," said the pope (section 101).

We begin to establish a new culture of life by acknowledging our being created in the image and likeness of God, male and female, in our sexuality. In marriage, the union of spouses achieves the twofold end of marriage:

1. Love-giving fidelity in an exclusive union until death and,

2. Life-giving fecundity, for conjugal love tends by nature to be fruitful (children).

"The two meanings or values of marriage cannot be separated without altering the couple's spiritual life and compromising the goods of marriage and the future of the family." (Catechism, #2263). Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life), the Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI, issued July 25, 1968, summarized the sacredness of the marriage act:

"The Church is calling mankind back to the observance of the norms of the natural law that every marriage act must be open to the transmission of life."

We live in a culture that is saturated with a mentality of contraception: "Contraception is contrary to God's plan because it artificially separates sexual love from its God-given power to create new life. By contrast, Natural Family Planning (NFP) involves abstaining from sex during the few days each month when a woman can get pregnant. NFP is not only highly effective (98%), but it's 'all-natural sex'; it doesn't place artificial barriers (devices or drugs) between a husband and wife, or between their lovemaking and God's will." . . . (Professor Thomas Lickona, Ph.D.)

What are the consequences of artificial birth control? Pope Paul VI in his encyclical Humanae Vitae 30 years ago predicted more adultery, the general lowering of morality, loss of respect for women, governments imposing immoral contraceptive practices on their own citizens and exporting these to other nations. Our U.S. government not only has spent billions on contraception, but on sterilization and abortion. "A nation which kills its own children is a nation without a future," Pope John Paul II, Kalisz, June 4, 1997.

Planned Parenthood is the nation's leading provider and promoter of abortion, promotes contraceptives to minors without the parents' knowledge, promotes emergency contraceptives that are used after an act of "unprotected" sex. The International Federation of Planned Parenthood is around the world promoting contraception, sterilization and abortion with millions and millions of American dollars. Helen Alvare, director of Planning and Information, Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, National Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C., states: "So why does Planned Parenthood-with its much vaunted PR message on 'preventing abortion' continue to pursue its condom-in-every-pocket campaign, when, in the United States, decades of hawking condoms and other contraception to teenagers and unmarried adults-via our tax dollars-have coincided with increased premarital sex, increased out-of-wedlock pregnancies, staggering increases in sexually transmitted diseases and skyrocketing abortion rates?"

Unfortunately, there are many Planned Parenthood centers (or Family Planning Centers) located in our Diocese of Amarillo. As your bishop and shepherd, I ask all Catholics not to use their services, not to belong to any of their boards, not to serve as a volunteer and not to be employed there. In resigning your employment there, I will be happy to assist you in finding employment elsewhere so you will not be cooperating in these immoral practices and being a source of scandal both within and outside the Church and community. I make this plea, in love, as my duty to continue the mission of Jesus Christ: to teach, to sanctify and to govern.

May the Holy Spirit give each of you the strength to follow His truths about the sacredness of life-and we are all called to bring about a new culture of life!

Sincerely in Christ,
+Most Rev. John W. Yanta
Bishop of Amarillo 

Planned Parenthood Forced to Consolidate Two Offices

In a move apparently forced by a lack of business to support two facilities, Planned Parenthood of North Carolina-West will consolidate its two Charlotte locations. The clinic and offices at 1341 E. Morehead St. will close after business hours March 27 and move to 4822 Albemarle Road, where Planned Parenthood operates a part-time clinic. On March 29, the Albemarle Road site will become a full-time clinic, offering non-surgical family planning services during daytime and evening hours.

As part of the move, Planned Parenthood will stop doing abortions (which it had done at the clinic that is closing). According to Dan Besse, Planned Parenthood's associate executive officer, abortion services will resume, either at the Albemarle Road site or at a new location, once the agency raises money to renovate space to accommodate surgery. The length of the suspension will depend on how long it takes to raise $200,000 to $300,000. "But we would hope less than a year," Besse said.

This streamlining of operation comes partly as the result of the fact that in January 1997, Planned Parenthood of the Southern Piedmont and Carolina Mountains, based in Charlotte, merged with Planned Parenthood of the Triad, based in Winston-Salem. The new organization has administrative offices and clinics in both cities. Abortions will still be performed at the Winston-Salem clinic.

The consolidation of the Charlotte offices is "an efficiency move," according to Besse. "We are trimming unnecessary overhead costs so that we can continue to provide high-quality health care services in Charlotte at an affordable cost."

This, of course, means that there was not enough income to support PP's abortion business in Charlotte. This closing and merging of affiliates and clinics is the kind of activity that has led PPFA to a 26% reduction in the number of affiliates and a 9% reduction in the number of clinics.

Although Planned Parenthood tries to put the best face possible on these moves, it cannot hide the fact that, if both these clinics were profitable and if the opposition of pro-life activists were not effective, both clinics would have remained open. But, because of pro-life activities, Planned Parenthood is hurting in Charlotte and around the country.

STOPP Web Site

Long-time STOPP supporters know we have been struggling for years to establish an effective web site. We are happy to announce that one of the most visible fruits, one year after the merger with American Life League, is the availability of our new site.

We believe STOPP supporters will be thrilled when they visit our web site at www.all.org/stopp. It is an outstanding site with lots of information on Planned Parenthood-and even more coming. In addition to our own material, you will find links to other organizations fighting Planned Parenthood.

A huge thank you goes to the American Life League staff especially David Brandao, director of publications, who developed the site and to Bonnie Seers who designed the graphics and the STOPP sign.

We want the site to be one that meets the needs of all our supporters. If you think we should add anything, please just use the "contact us" button on the site to let us know. We will do everything possible to post the information you need.

This Month's Action Items

• Be aware of Planned Parenthood's plans to work through politicians. Educate your local elected people on the truth about PP.
• Watch for the EPICC bill in your state legislature and do everything necessary to defeat it.
• Share this copy of The Ryan Report with your local clergy. Inform them of PP's plans to use religion to push its agenda this year.
• Fight Title X, Title XX and all family planning money in the federal government this year. Contact your members of Congress.
• Warn parents and youth leaders about www.teenwire.org.
• Send a tax deductible donation today to help us keep fighting Planned Parenthood.
• Pray that God will lead us in our work, and that we will always have the courage to do His will.

Back issues of the Ryan Report.