The star of Planned Parenthood Golden Gate's "A Superhero for Choice" cartoon, who gleefully blows up nonthreatening pro-lifers, is based on a real-life person: Dian J. Harrison, the president and CEO of that Planned Parenthood chapter.
You may already know Harrison—or, as she's known in the cartoon, "Dianysis"—from her response to Monty Patterson, whose 18-year-old daughter, Holly Patterson, died after a Planned Parenthood Golden Gate branch gave her the abortion drug RU-486. According to the Web site San Francisco Faith, "After Holly's death on September 17 [2003], Dian Harrison of Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, the affiliate that runs the Hayward clinic, issued this statement: 'We extend our deepest sympathies to the family. We wish them strength and support in this tragic time.' Yet, Monty Patterson says that Planned Parenthood hasn't offered his family any support. 'They haven't offered anything,' Patterson said. 'They don't even return my calls.'"
What you don't know about Dian Harrison is that the same year Holly Patterson died, the Planned Parenthood president reaped a windfall under circumstances that sound, at the very least, odd for the head of a nonprofit.
On February 27, 2003, the drug firm Calypte (which trades on the American Stock Exchange) issued a press release announcing that Harrison, in her capacity as president and CEO, had authorized Planned Parenthood Golden Gate to use Calypte's HIV test. The same press release announced that Calypte had appointed Harrison to its board of directors as of February 24.
Considering that the press release also states that Planned Parenthood Golden Gate had 65,000 annual patients, the acquisition of that organization as a client represented a significant account for Calypte.
On March 10, 2003—two weeks after the company's announcement—Calypte gave Harrison a non-qualified "right to buy" option for 200,000 shares of its stock, at 5 cents a share. (Calypte closed yesterday at 17 cents a share.)
Harrison's tenure with Calypte lasted just over three months. On June 2, she quit after the company's president, her good buddy Nancy E. Katz, resigned. I don't know what effect, if any, her departure had on her stock options.
I don't pretend to be an expert in the stock market. But it seems to me that the head of a nonprofit organization that—as you can read at the bottom of my earlier entry—receives 53 percent of its income from government funds and contracts should not have the appearance of a conflict of interest. And it does appear to be a mighty conflict of interest if "Dianysis" had the opportunity to reap personal financial rewards from her position of being able to choose which HIV test was used by her organization.
In other words, who was paying for those HIV tests while Harrison had the opportunity to line her pockets with their maker's profits? You and me.
No wonder Harrison wants to blow up pro-lifers. The chastity dividend would mean bankruptcy to her.
If you would like to do further research on this story, it appears that the words "Calypte" and "troubled" go together. Fr. Jim Clark did a little digging and believes Harrison may have done a Hillary.
Join other Dawn Patrol readers in getting this Sunday's newspapers to cover Planned Parenthood's vile cartoon. Click here for details, including five simple things you can do to get out the word.
UPDATE, 8/11/05: Planned Parenthood Golden Gate has removed the link to "A Superhero for Choice" from the front page of its Web site, with no explanation. However, as of right now, the link to the animation on PPGG's Web site is still working. Some Dawn Patrol readers are hosting the cartoon as well, in case the PPGG link fails; click here for links to those sites that are currently hosting the animation.
