Response to caller 'a serious mistake,' says Planned Parenthood of Idaho

cnredd · #1 (**permalink**) 03-16-2008, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Planned Parenthood of Idaho officials apologized Wednesday for what they called an employee's "serious mistake" in encouraging a donation aimed at aborting black babies.

They also criticized The Advocate, a right-to-life student magazine at the University of California-Los Angeles, for trying to discredit Planned Parenthood employees in seven states in a series of tape-recorded phone calls last summer.

The call to Idaho came in July to Autumn Kersey, vice president of development and marketing for Planned Parenthood of Idaho.

On the recording provided by The Advocate, an actor portraying a donor said he wanted his money used to eliminate black unborn children because "the less black kids out there the better."

Kersey laughed nervously and said: "Understandable, understandable. ... Excuse my hesitation, this is the first time I've had a donor call and make this kind of request, so I'm excited and want to make sure I don't leave anything out."

On Tuesday, The Advocate released transcripts and audio recordings of this phone call and another to fundraising representatives in Ohio.

The student editor-in-chief of The Advocate said she's not surprised by Planned Parenthood's response and that the unedited recordings speak for themselves. The activist students think Planned Parenthood targets minorities and minority neighborhoods.

On Wednesday, Planned Parenthood of Idaho "firmly and unequivocally" denounced racial bias, admitted making a mistake and said the group had taken corrective action.

"A fundraising employee violated the organization's principles and practices when she appeared to be willing to accept a racially motivated donation," said CEO Rebecca Poedy in a written statement. "We apologize for the manner in which this offensive call was handled. We take full responsibility for the actions of the fundraising staff member who created the impression that racism of any form would be tolerated at Planned Parenthood. We took swift action to ensure that each of our employees understands their responsibility to communicate clearly with donors about the fact that we believe in helping all individuals, regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation, make informed decisions about their reproductive health care."

A spokeswoman for the organization would not say whether further disciplinary action was taken against Kersey, saying that was a personnel matter.

A longtime anti-abortion activist and conservative lobbyist - Idaho Values Alliance Executive Director Bryan Fischer - called Kersey's response in July reprehensible and said she should have been fired.

"It turns out that blatant racism is alive and well in Idaho, but it's not coming from the Aryan Nation types - it's coming from way-left organizations like Idaho's own Planned Parenthood," Fischer said. "They should have stridently rebuked that donor for being a racist and a bigot and refused to take that money."

The national Planned Parenthood office did not return phone calls Wednesday, but local officials denounced the editor of The Advocate as "a known anti-choice extremist."

"While the actions of our staff member were unacceptable, it's also unacceptable for opponents of abortion to use racist, deceptive tactics to smear Planned Parenthood," Poedy said. "The race-baiting tactics on display in this case are not news 'exposes,' but rather the product of the most cynical form of politicking."

Lila Rose, the UCLA student who led the Planned Parenthood investigation as The Advocate's editor-in-chief, said it is sad that the organization would focus on what the students did.

"They do not change their ways," Rose said. "They attack the whistleblower."

This is pretty sad...

chuck7251 · #2 (**permalink**) 03-17-2008, 11:32 AM

I am curious if PP had been accused of racism before.

Or if this was fabricated in the mind of some over zealous reporter who created the racism to have a story.

I know the PP in my area is located discreetly in an affluent, mostly white, business area.

cnredd · #3 (**permalink**) 03-17-2008, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuck7251

IOr if this was fabricated in the mind of some over zealous reporter who created the racism to have a story.

They have it on tape and PP admitted it's "mistake"...

chuck7251 · #4 (**permalink**) 03-23-2008, 12:49 AM

maybe I worded that wrong. Was there reason to believe, prior to the "interiew", that racism was occuring?

AlicornsPrayer · #5 (**permalink**) 03-23-2008, 01:15 AM

Personally, I wonder how many clinics they called before getting the response they were fishing for. Afterall, the article itself says they were calling clinics in 7 states.

And anyone with sense knows if you call up alot of people looking for something to go 'ah ha!' over, eventually you'll get an idiot on the other end that's going to give you that 'ah ha!'...

One out of several clinics contacted throughout 7 states, took the bait it seems...It would seem to the intelligent person that all those not accepting the 'donation' would speak more for what PP stands for then just the one fool at the end of one phone line that did?

saltwn · #6 (**permalink**) 03-23-2008, 03:23 AM

I'm against abortion in most cases myself, but the sad fact is when abortions became legal it was mostly white middle class types who moved in droves to have the proceedure done. I wonder if the right to lifers would have organised as forcefully if the first benefactors of this law had been minority women?
I think the caller was wrong to bait PP. And I think the PP worker was wrong not to straight away hang up.

foundit66 · #7 (**permalink**) 03-23-2008, 10:39 AM

Brings to mind the words of Bill Bennett.
Ironically, he was the Secretary of Education under Reagan, and he had this to say...

BENNETT: Well, I don't think it is either, I don't think it is either, because first of all, there is just too much that you don't know. But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.

Media Matters - Media Matters exposes Bennett: "[Y]ou could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down"

(Context is at the link...)

Although, to be fair to Bennett his statement was sort of in a purely clinical and detached way.

saltwn · #8 (**permalink**) 03-23-2008, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by foundit66

Brings to mind the words of Bill Bennett.
Ironically, he was the Secretary of Education under Reagan, and he had this to say...

BENNETT: Well, I don't think it is either, I don't think it is either, because first of all, there is just too much that you don't know. But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.

Media Matters - Media Matters exposes Bennett: "[Y]ou could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down"

(Context is at the link...)

Although, to be fair to Bennett his statement was sort of in a purely clinical and detached way.

One more reason to loath the Regan administration. Good riddance!

Idealogically Promiscuous · #9 (**permalink**) 03-24-2008, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuck7251

maybe I worded that wrong. Was there reason to believe, prior to the "interiew", that racism was occuring?

Planned Parenthood has its origins in the eugenics movement of the early 20th century. Its founder was a woman named Margaret Sanger and she believed that "racial hygeine" should be promoted through a policy of "negative eugenics". In other words, birth control methods should be used to hinder the genetically unfit from procreating. While she didn't support the means Nazi Germany was using to enforce genetic purity, she still believed in the final result of eugenic philosophy. It is important to note, however, that she did not apply her philosophy of negative eugenics within racial boundaries; all races and ethnicities were called upon by her to promote racial hygeine and Sanger aggressively raised the battle standard around the concept of empowering women with tools to determine their own reproductive autonomy.

Sanger is often misquoted by radical pro-life groups and when she is quoted correctly, it is often taken totally out of context. She has been portrayed as having supported Nazi Germany and falsely accused of opening family planning clinics in minority neighborhoods for the purposes of making abortion convenient to minority women so as to entice them into aborting their minority into extinction.

Planned Parenthood has been vilified since its beginning by radical pro-life organizations as being a front group for the continued operation of eugenics loyalists and has been falsely accused of having a racist agenda driving its whole operation.

chuck7251 · #10 (**permalink**) 03-27-2008, 05:04 PM

I guess my other question would be... was the fund raiser new? Did the person just want to get the donation, or were they racially motivated in taking the call and not hanging up?

I guess I am just seeing much ado about nothing.

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