Anti-abortion groups are organizing a social media campaign and protests at abortion clinics for Planned Parenthood’s 100th anniversary on Sunday.
On Wednesday, the Family Research Council, Susan B. Anthony List, March for Life and eight other groups will announce a coordinated effort over the weekend to criticize the women’s health and abortion provider for its role in performing more abortions than any other group in the U.S. and push for stripping it of federal funds.
“Planned Parenthood’s 100-year anniversary is a tragic milestone for our nation and a reminder of the millions of unborn children who will never have a birthday,” the groups said in a joint statement provided to the Washington Examiner.
“We mourn these children, as well as the women who have been hurt and exploited by the nation’s largest abortion chain,” the statement said.
The groups have created a Tumblr website with images they’re encouraging supporters to share on social media using the hashtag #100YearsofAbuse.
Activists also are planning to hold prayer vigils outside Planned Parenthood clinics around the country, organized by the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League. Executive Director Eric Scheidler said his group has organized 115 vigils around the country, exceeding its original goal of 100 vigils for every year of Planned Parenthood’s existence.
Scheidler said he doesn’t know how many people plan to participate, as local leaders are handling recruitment, but said “it will certainly be in the thousands, coast to coast.”
One of the vigils will take place in Washington, where activists plan to gather outside Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, near Gallaudet University.
Planned Parenthood already celebrated its anniversary in June, with a gala at the Washington Hilton hosted by comedian Cameron Esposito where entertainers Kesha and Shamir performed.
The group announced Tuesday it is planning its own social media celebration for the weekend, using the hashtag #100YearsStrong. It also said it would hold more than 150 community events worldwide including an event in New York City this weekend to commemorate the opening of the first clinic by Margaret Sanger in 1916.
“We’re thrilled to be 100 years strong,” Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said. “We’ve made incredible gains during our first century and we’re just getting started. We will build on our proud legacy and launch our second century with as much passion, courage and conviction as our first.”
While Planned Parenthood provides a range of healthcare services including contraception and screenings for cancer and sexually transmitted diseases, the group also performs more abortions than any other provider in the country. In 1997, its clinics performed 12 percent of abortions in the U.S. but now provides more than one in three abortions, making it a key target for abortion opponents.
Activists over the weekend are likely to especially push messages about Sanger, who supported the eugenics movement and specifically targeted blacks for birth control education through her “Negro Project.”
Several of the graphics they also will be posting make the argument that were Planned Parenthood to lose federal funds, chiefly through Medicaid reimbursements, plenty of federally qualified health centers providing more comprehensive services would be able to fill in.
Planned Parenthood has emerged largely unscathed after a period of heavy political fire, prompted by a series of undercover videos highlighting its role as a supplier of aborted fetuses. Republicans in Congress tried and failed last year to strip the group of taxpayer dollars, and in June, the Supreme Court struck down abortion clinic regulations Planned Parenthood had strongly opposed.
