Did a Planned Parenthood throw pizza parties if abortion quotas were met?

February 7, 2017 CNA Daily News News Briefs 0 Print

Washington D.C., Feb 7, 2017 / 12:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Planned Parenthood clinics had monthly quotas for abortions or abortion referrals, according to two former clinic workers in a new Live Action investigative video.

“I trained my staff the way that I was trained, which was to really encourage women to choose abortion; to have it at Planned Parenthood, because it counts towards our goal,” Sue Thayer, a former Planned Parenthood manager at Storm Lake, Iowa, revealed in an interview with the pro-life group Live Action.

“We would try to get the appointment scheduled for abortion before they left our clinic.”

Thayer was dismissed from her job with Planned Parenthood of the Heartland in 2008, and is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the affiliate. The Storm Lake clinic at which she worked closed in 2012.

Her lawsuit claims Planned Parenthood of the Heartland defrauded Medicaid by billing for birth control before it had been prescribed and overcharging, and that they illegally billed Medicaid for abortion-related services. A federal judge ruled in June 2016 that the lawsuit could proceed to trial.

The video is the third report in the Live Action’s new investigative series on Planned Parenthood, “Abortion Corporation.” The group has in the past published reports on Planned Parenthood for America and conducted undercover investigations of its clinics.

The group claimed previously that, according to their own inquiries of Planned Parenthood clinics, 92 of 97 Planned Parenthood clinics across the country admitted they did not offer prenatal care for women.

In the third video, a former center manager and a former nurse described how their clinics set monthly quotas for the number of abortions to be performed – or if they did not offer abortions, the number of abortion referrals to be done.

They would offer employees incentives such as pizza parties or extra paid time off for meeting these quotas. Center managers would be recognized by upper management if their centers consistently met their quotas.

“So there were incentives built in, and it sounds kind of crazy but pizza is a motivator,” Thayer said.

Thayer described how they would pressure poor mothers into having abortions.

Clinic workers would discuss prices for services like pregnancy tests with expectant mothers. If mothers couldn’t make the minimum payment for services, clinic workers would ask her how she expected to pay for child care once she had the baby.

“If they’d say, ‘I’m not able to pay today,’ then we would say something like, ‘Well, if you can’t pay $10 today, how are you going to take care of a baby? Have you priced diapers? Do you know how much it costs to buy a car seat?” Thayer recalled telling pregnant mothers.

“‘There’s no place in Storm Lake, or whatever town they were in, you know, where you can get help as a pregnant mom. So really, don’t you think your smartest choice is termination? We can take care of that, set it up for you,’” she continued, referring to her advice for the mothers.

Marianne Anderson, a former nurse at Planned Parenthood, admitted, “I felt like I was more of a salesman sometimes, to sell abortions.”

“And we were told on a regular basis that you have a quota to meet, to keep this clinic open,” she said.

Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action, insisted that Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, should be defunded and that Tuesday’s report was further proof that it must.

“Planned Parenthood doesn’t have quotas for adoptions. It doesn’t have quotas for prenatal care. But quotas for abortions? Absolutely,” she stated.

“It’s time to redirect our tax money toward local health clinics that actually provide real care to women, instead of to Planned Parenthood, a corporation focused on upping its abortion numbers.”

President Trump has promised his support of stripping Planned Parenthood of federal funds, and House Speaker Paul Ryan announced early in January an effort to defund the organization in a budget bill repealing the Affordable Care Act. A bill has also been introduced in the U.S. Senate to redirect federal funding away from Planned Parenthood to women’s health care providers which do not perform abortions.

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Knights of Columbus to raise $2 million to rebuild Iraqi town

August 2, 2017 CNA Daily News 1

St. Louis, Mo., Aug 2, 2017 / 10:10 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Knights of Columbus on Tuesday announced it will raise and donate $2 million to re-settle Iraqi Christian families displaced by the Islamic State in their home town of Karemlesh on the Nineveh Plain.

“The terrorists desecrated churches and graves and looted and destroyed homes,” Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, said in his Aug. 1 remarks announcing the $2 million project.

“Now we will ensure that hundreds of Christian families driven from their homes can return to these two locations and help to ensure a pluralistic future for Iraq,” he said. In order for Iraq to have such a future, he said Christians must be treated as “free and equal citizens” and not suffer the “religious apartheid” of previous years.

Anderson addressed the 135th annual convention of the Knights of Columbus held in St. Louis, Mo. Aug.1-3. 90 bishops and 12 cardinals were present, along with Knights councils from all over the world.

The Knights of Columbus is an international Catholic men’s organization founded, in Anderson’s words, to “strengthen the faith of Catholic men” and “protect their families.” Over 1.9 million are members of the organization, founded in 1882 by Venerable Fr. Michael J. McGivney.

The four pillars of the organization are charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism.

An international aid organization as well, the Knights’ Christian Refugee Relief Fund has provided over $13 million in aid to persecuted Christians since 2014, mostly in Iraq and Syria. In 2014, forces of the Islamic State overran large swathes of Syria and Iraq, killing or displacing many Christian families.

The group has since been forced back, losing much of its territory, including the Nineveh Plain where many Christians lived.

Around 1.5 million Christians lived in Iraq before the U.S. invasion in 2003, but that number has fallen to below an estimated 250,000. The situation for Iraqi Christians is so dire, Anderson said, that “without substantial assistance” in the next two months, many of them might leave Iraq for good.

Christians have lived in the area for centuries, tracing their communities back to almost the beginning of Christianity. Some speak Aramaic, the language Jesus would have spoken, and various ancient shrines existed in the region, including the tomb of the prophet Jonah which was destroyed by Islamic State.

“These Christian communities are a priceless treasure for the Church and for humanity,” Anderson said on Tuesday. He called the Knights’ drive to raise money for them a “concrete step” to aid the beleaguered Christians.

The amount of $2 million would also match the donation of the government of Hungary, which has helped resettle around 1,000 families in the Iraqi village of Telskuf.

The Knights will partner with the Chaldean Archeparchy of Erbil to help rebuild Karemlesh, which is just 18 miles east of Mosul.

Anderson said that while the town was controlled by Islamic State, homes were vandalized or destroyed and churches were desecrated. “We will give them and many others hope for the future,” he said.

The Knights will also partner with the U.S. bishops’ conference to sponsor a national day of prayer and a “week of awareness” for persecuted Christians, starting Nov. 26.

Those wishing to make a tax-deductible donation to the project for Karemlesh can do so at www.ChristiansAtRisk.org, or by phone at 1-800-694-5713. 100 percent of the donations will go to the project.

In his annual address, Anderson noted other work the Knights had accomplished, including more than $177 million in donations and over 75 million volunteer hours.

Local Knights councils had responded to various disasters and tragedies, including providing drinking water and sandbags to families in Louisiana after over 60,000 homes had been flooded by record rainfall, Anderson said. The Knights provided more than $100,000 in emergency relief after Hurricane Matthew caused hundreds of deaths and billions of dollars in damage in the Caribbean and the United States.

The Knights also worked to provide for the spiritual life of families, he said, as the family which Fr. McGivney grew up in “was a true domestic Church.”

He said that Knights councils had organized pilgrimages in various dioceses for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, and had introduced a spiritual program for men based on a pastoral letter by Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix, “Into the Breach.”

Knights had also organized “Warriors to Lourdes” pilgrimages, taking wounded veteran soldiers to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes for healing.

Anderson called the Knights to stand against the “polite persecution” of secular society, quoting Pope Francis.

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