Thursday, June 2, 2011

Planned Parenthood Coming to Norfolk

by Al Riskowski, Nebraska Family Council

Last month Planned Parenthood of the Heartland announced their intentions of opening six more clinics in Nebraska, with one planned for Norfolk. Currently Planned Parenthood has a total of three clinics in Lincoln and Omaha, and two of them perform abortions.

Planned Parenthood continues to receive $363 million in federal money. The total annual budget for Planned Parenthood is $1.1 billion dollars(-Omaha World Herald Article, ‘Planned Parenthood tells of expansion’). Planned Parenthood performs over 325,000 abortions each year in the United States. The number of abortions in Nebraska has doubled since 2005 with over 1,000 abortions performed in 2010.

Planned Parenthood has 16 clinics in Iowa doing webcam abortions with plans for more.

We are concerned that Planned Parenthood will use these satellite clinics to perform chemical abortions without an attending physician, called webcam abortions. In Iowa a patient can talk to a doctor via the Internet on a private computer. The doctor can then remotely open a container to provide the patient with pills used to induce an abortion. A Legislative Bill, LB 521, introduced by Senator Tony Fulton, would require a physician to be physically present for the administration of such a chemical abortion.

Iowa currently has 16 Planned Parenthood clinics that perform webcam abortions. Planned Parenthood announced last month they are planning to open six additional clinics in Iowa. We want to prevent Planned Parenthood from placing clinics all across Nebraska that preform webcam abortions.

LB 521 is now before the full Legislature with the expectation it will be passed into law this month. The passage of LB 521 would send a strong message to Planned Parenthood of the Heartland that they are not welcome in Norfolk or other cities across Nebraska.

You Can Make A Difference
Help Stop Planned Parenthood’s Expansion!

Pray! LB 521, which would prohibit webcam abortions in Nebraska, is before the Legislature. Pray that it will become law. This would send a strong message that Planned Parenthood isn’t welcome in six more Nebraska communities.

Contact State Senators and ask them to vote for LB 521. (for a list of State Senators go to http://nebraskalegislature.gov/pdf/senators/2011_roster.pdf)

Be Informed! Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in America and federally funded.

Take Action! Contact key individuals in Norfolk. Let the City Council know that you don’t want Planned Parenthood to locate in Norfolk. (Contact Mayor Sue Fuchtman at (402) 379-1440 or sfuchtman@ci.norfolk.ne.us. Contact information for City Council members at www.ci.norfolk.ne.us.)

Get Involved! Join others in forming a grassroots coalition to stop Planned Parenthood.

For additional information contact Nebraska Family Council toll free at 1-888-777-5188 or email at info@nebfc.org.