Independent Abortion Providers Say They Are Suffering from Planned Parenthood Scandal

Olivier Douliery/Getty Images/AFP
File Photo: Olivier Douliery/Getty Images/AFP
Dr. Susan Berry

With Planned Parenthood—the “big department store” of abortion providers—going through another tough scandal, it’s the “mom and pop” abortion clinics who are feeling the pain.

Since Planned Parenthood’s scandal of baby parts harvesting, the numerous independent abortion providers and their staffers across the country are speaking out to unite and celebrate the “social value of abortion.”

“There is stigma for people seeking abortion care, but also stigma for those working in abortion care,” said Kim Chiz, executive director and director of nursing for the Allentown Women’s Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in an interview with left-wing media Common Dreams.

“It is time for all of us to stand up and say what we do is good. We are not ashamed. We help people and help families. We do it with love,” Chiz added. “It has always been the time, but now more than ever is the time.”

Citing Media Matters, Common Dreams refers to the recent exposure of Planned Parenthood’s apparent practice of harvesting the organs of unborn babies for sale as a “video smear campaign” and says the upshot has been a negative “climate” for independent abortion clinics, which are “responsible for well over half of all abortions performed across the United States.”

The latest Planned Parenthood scandal is not the only difficulty with which independent abortion clinics must cope. Common Dreams says, “new laws or policies that regulate abortion providers,” “debilitating requirements,” and “burdensome regulations” are all a cause for concern.

Nevertheless, abortion clinics and their supporters seem to be turning to art to bolster their spirits.

For example, volunteers are arriving to chalk affirming, positive messages and drawings onto sidewalks at an abortion clinic in Fargo, North Dakota. Another abortion clinic in McAllen, Texas, is also engaged in a large mural project that it hopes will turn the wall of the abortion clinic into a ‘message of peace, justice, and reproductive freedom.’”

Similarly, Clinic Vest Project in Chicago is offering free, color-coordinated clothing to over 55 nationwide organizations that provide support services for abortion clinics so that volunteers and escorts can have a more positive look. The colorful vests say, “Pro-Choice Clinic Escort.”

“Independent clinics provide the majority of abortion care in our country and independent clinics are closing at an alarmingly high rate,” said Heather Ault, a visual artist and graphic designer who launched the campaign 4,000 Years for Choice, where one can purchase cards with slogans on them such as, “Good Women Have Abortions,” and “I [Heart] My Local Abortion Provider.”

Ault, according to Common Dreams, is preparing to launch a new poster series in partnership with the Abortion Care Network, a coalition of about 70 abortion clinics, to celebrate abortions provided by independent clinics.

“Independent clinics are just creative, innovative, and true heroes in their communities providing abortion care,” said Ault.

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