Friday, May 11, 2012

Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell calls us 'forces of darkness'

See who Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell called 'forces of darkness' at event that had condom in press kit | MLive.com: Heartwell, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, credited Planned Parenthood of West and Northern Michigan with giving more than 6,000 Grand Rapids women access to health care and 8,300 coming-of-age teenagers information and tools to prevent pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases last year. In other words, shedding light in a dark world.

"What's not to love about that?" said Heartwell, also a former Planned Parenthood board chairman. "Yet every year the forces of darkness seek to deprive women" of the health care and reproductive education they get through Planned Parenthood."

Editor: Here's what I sent the mayor
Dear Mayor Heartwell,
It was jarring to hear you call me ‘a force of darkness’ on the evening news. I think it’s really disrespectful of you to label me that way. I’m not some evil entity ‘out there.’ I live in this community. Your characterization was offensive. I hope you extend a public apology.
You can promote Planned Parenthood all you want, but I think it’s foolish of to alienate such a large segment of your constituency. For what it’s worth, the pro-life organization I work for recently held a banquet at the same venue and had more people in attendance, as did another pro-life group just a few nights before the PP banquet. We are the ones who sacrificially fund pregnancy care centers, and volunteer our time and skills so that women have alternatives to the lies and bondage of Planned Parenthood. We don’t get any tax funding. We don’t expect it or seek it.
Planned Parenthood has been called into account recently for good reason. Look beyond their spin. I urge you to read Abby Johnson’s book Unplanned for her detailed record of what went on in one of their Texas clinics. Find out whether they are really the honorable organization they profess to be.
According to Isaiah 59, the real forces of darkness are those who "trust in confusion and speak lies," who "hasten to shed innocent blood." If that doesn't describe Planned Parenthood, I don't know what does. No wonder they (and you) "look for light . . . but walk in blackness."
Thank you for your time and consideration. 
Respectfully,
Michele D. Shoun
Related: Mayor's Planned Parenthood speech draws rebuke from MLive readers, old political foe

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