Planned Parenthood Golden Gate 'beginning layoffs'

So says a new blog reportedly started by a former employee of the notorious San Francisco chapter of the abortion giant.

Regular Dawn Patrol readers may recall that Planned Parenthood Golden Gate once boasted on its Web site of covering up the rape of an 11-year-old girl.

PPGG also produced the "Superhero for Choice" video that I exposed in 2005, in which a cartoon version of the chapter's president, Dian Harrison, blows up peaceful pro-lifers. Your and my tax dollars helped pay for it.



FURTHER READING: See the complete archive of past Dawn Patrol entries on PPGG.

Free speech ends at the Golden Gate

In other Planned Parenthood Golden Gate news, the chapter is currently attempting to censor the USCCB's pro-life ads.

In fairness, the Planned Parenthood chapter has censored itself in the past, like when it took down a "Real Story" from its Web site when it was caught boasting that it covered up an 11-year-old's rape, or when it quietly removed its own "Superhero for Choice" video in the face of public outcry.

RELATED: Canada's Metrobus caves in to pressure to ban pro-life ads.

Poverty's final solution

Planned Parenthood Golden Gate President Dian "A Superhero for Choice" Harrison describes how one of her clinics helped a young pregnant woman out of poverty — by sticking a pair of scissors into her baby's brain:

After much thought, Patricia decided to have an abortion. She asked to speak with Planned Parenthoods chaplain, the Rev. Lisa Sargent, who provides counseling and support to patients at Planned Parenthoods health centers throughout the Bay Area. Patricia shared that she simply could not imagine how she would provide for and care for two children by herself and what she needed to do now was to go back to school and create a better life for her son.

Planned Parenthood. Breaking the cycle of poverty. One baby at a time. (And on the taxpayers' dime.)

TRACKBACK: Athos of Chronicles of Atlantis observes that Planned Parenthood's solution "demands more and more victims."

RELATED: See Harrison blow up peaceful pro-lifers with her condom gun at taxpayers' expense in the notorious "Superhero for Choice":

Planned Parenthood fights bid to force it to report child rape

Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, the very same one that boasted on its Web site that it covered up the rape of an 11-year-old girl, now wants its supporters to "take action" against a "dangerous new initiative" that would force it to report child rape. From its action alert:

The California Attorney General's office recently issued an official title and summary for a new anti-choice ballot initiative. The title of the new initiative is "Mandatory Reporting of Pregnancies and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Minors as Abuse."

This dangerous new initiative seeks to amend the constitution and current law to require mandated reporters, like Planned Parenthood, to report any diagnosis of pregnancy or sexually transmitted infection in patients under 16 as abuse, regardless of the age of their sexual partner.

The estimated financial impact to the state is approximately $11 million for health and social services costs and costs to local law enforcement and the courts.

Note that Planned Parenthood Golden Gate gives a figure for the "estimated financial impact" of reporting such abuse. Apparently we taxpayers would be far better off if sex crimes against children were never reported.

This, from the heavily taxpayer-subsidized Planned Parenthood branch that funded the notorious "Superhero for Choice" animation, which depicted a Planned Parenthood "superhero" murdering peaceful pro-lifers:

Going to the chaplain and we're ... gonna get hoodwinkedBy Guestblogger C.J.

Is Planned Parenthood a faith-based organization? The Dawn Patrol has reported on Planned Parenthood's efforts to get cozy with pro-abortion church groups, but examples of how the nation's leading abortion chain is positioning itself as in sync with religion are on the increase.

Planned Parenthood's New York City affiliate is showing how this is done in a most subtle way on a web page devoted to promoting birth control. In addition to a group of ethnically diverse posters that push contraception, PPNYC is offering free "planning is power" buttons that are available to hand out at your "office, organization or religious institution" (right along with votive candles and rosaries? Hmm. Don't think so).

More Planned Parenthood affiliates are now employing chaplains. Planned Parenthood Golden Gate (yes, the folks who shot pro-life demonstrators with a condom bazooka in an online cartoon) even offers an online form where one can make a confidential appointment with Chaplain Lisa, who will call teenagers at home surreptitiously to guarantee that Mom won't get suspicious.

Planned Parenthood knows an opening when it sees one. It was recently reported that even among Catholics, the bishops admit that 96% of married couples of childbearing age employ some type of birth control that runs counter to church teachings, all the while considering themselves good Catholics, no doubt.

This is what those who promote chastity are up against. All this talk of religion is designed to shore up the Planned Parenthood view that birth control and abortion are mere "choices," not the grave and intrinsic evils referred to in Catholic teaching. The bishops' statistics unfortunately suggest that Planned Parenthood has an audience that is willing to pay attention -- even among people who should be listening to a higher Authority instead of Chaplain Lisa.

Planned Parenthood Covers Its Tracks

Planned Parenthood Golden Gate has removed from its Web site all traces of the testimonial from a girl who lauded the organization for treating her after she was raped at age 11 without telling her parents or, presumably, the authorities. The American Life League and the Family Research Council have called upon the California Attorney General to investigate. Visit ProLifeBlogs for updates.

The organization's attempt to remove evidence from its site is reminiscent of what happened several months ago when the very same Planned Parenthood chapter created an animated video showing a "Superhero for Choice" blowing up peaceful pro-lifers.

Planned Parenthood Boasts It Covered Up an 11-Year-Old's Rape

UPDATE, 12/15, 4:52 p.m.: PLANNED PARENTHOOD GOLDEN GATE IS COVERING ITS TRACKS! The organization has removed the link to the "It Keeps Us Safe" story (described below) from its "Shared Stories" page and has removed the actual story, which used to be at this link. (As of this writing, you'll see a blank page when you click there.) To see what was originally on that page,  click here to see it via the Internet Archive.

THE AMERICAN LIFE LEAGUE AND THE FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL ARE CALLING ON THE CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE TO INVESTIGATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD'S COVER-UP. For updates, visit ProLifeBlogs.com.

Original post follows:

The Web site for  Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, the San Francisco chapter of  Margaret Sanger's organization, features a section of  "Shared Stories,", which it describes as  "real stories" from its customers. Here is what was, at the time this post originally appeared (Dec. 12), the top story listed in the section, exactly  as it appeared on the site (before Planned Parenthood Golden Gate covered its tracks):

It Keeps Us Safe

I was raped at 11, by my 17 year old boyfriend. I chose not to tell my parents because I didn't think their involvement would help, that was the right choice for me. Planned Parethood helped me deal with the aftermath of the rape allowing me to deal and cope as best as I could in my own way. I was 14 when I decided to start having sex, the day I made that choice I made an appointment to get birth control pills. I'm 17 now, I've been with my current boyfriend for about two years. During that time i've been HIV and STD tested four times. Right now I'm sitting in the waiting room while my boyfriend gets the results for his HIV test. We love each other so we're responsible and Planned Parenthood helps us to do that.

- name withheld -

"It Keeps Us Safe"? Safe from  what? Safe from parents finding out their little girls were raped? It certainly doesn't keep children safe from rapists.

To recap: An 11-year-old girl walked into Planned Parenthood, saying she had been raped. Not just statutory rape, either; forcible rape.

Planned Parenthood assured the girl that it would not contact her parents, and it was true to its word. Likewise, it must not have contacted the authorities either, otherwise the parents would certainly have been notified.

Thanks to Planned Parenthood, the rapist remained at large, still free to attack other little girls.

(Meanwhile, the girl decided at 14 to have sex and has been on oral contraceptives ever since, thanks too to Planned Parenthood. The National Cancer Institute reports that girls who begin menstruation before age 12 and take oral contraceptives are at a higher risk for breast cancer. If Planned Parenthood's rape-victim client was pregnant when she sought treatment at age 11, she would fall into that risk group.)

Planned Parenthood is  required by law to report statutory rape and other forms of sexual abuse.

According to  a U.S. government report, "in California, all sexual activity involving minors is illegal...[T]he reporting requirements only apply to the violations of certain criminal offenses—namely, those addressing situations involving victims under 16 years of age where there is an especially large difference in the age of the two parties."

There's no doubt that in this case, the age difference between the 11-year-old victim and the 17-year-old rapist was wide enough to warrant informing the authorities. In any case, the authorities should have been notified because it was a forcible rape.

The idea that Planned Parenthood would not only flout the law by hiding the girl's rape, but then openly congratulate itself by putting the girl's story on its site, is beyond belief.

Then again, what would you expect from the Planned Parenthood branch that produced  "A Superhero for Choice"—the animation featuring a heroine who gleefully slaughtered peaceful pro-lifers?

RELATED:

• If you live in California and are outraged at Planned Parenthood Golden Gate's intentional coverup of child molestation, you can  file a complaint with the attorney general online and demand he investigate. (Thanks to  Choose Life for the information.)

The Washington Examiner Slams Planned Parenthood's 'Superhero'

Project Max—the Dawn Patrol's campaign to enlighten the news media to Planned Parenthood's vile "Superhero for Choice"—bears unexpected fruit today with "Planned Parenthood Takes Low Road," an editorial in the Washington Examiner.

The placement of the editorial in a Washington, D.C., paper is noteworthy because it's sure to be read by someone on Capitol Hill. As reader Ranting Raven discovered during a visit to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson's office, politicians do not take very kindly to seeing taxpayer-funded organizations depict them as numbskulls who should be re-educated in boiling oil.

The Examiner's editors write:

Apparently, the lesson to be learned [from "A Superhero for Choice"] is that abortions are OK, especially if it means less welfare payments later. The animation ends on the high note of referring to the Rev. Jerry Falwell as a "schmuck."

The video is a shameful and disrespectful take on the very sensitive issue of abortion and reproductive rights, where good, reasonable people disagree for good and reasonable reasons. By taking the low road and appealing to the lowest - and juvenile - common denominator, Planned Parenthood demeans its opponents and, even more, its supporters.

If you haven't yet seen the video, it's still accessible through Planned Parenthood Golden Gate's Web site. The organization's simply hidden the link so that it's no longer advertised on its page—but the cartoon is still housed on PPGG's server. If they've taken it down by the time you read this, a number of bloggers have taken it upon themselves to host the cartoon, making sure Planned Parenthood can't cover its tracks. You can also read a transcript of the animation via Shoutlast.com (click on one of the links on that page for the format you prefer).

Click here to see how "A Superhero for Choice" was featured on PPGG's Web page before the organization removed the link with no explanation and no apology.

'A Superhero for Choice':Behind the Music

[Note: This entry describes a grotesque and juvenile film that's only tangentially related to the Planned Parenthood cartoon. Not for the weak of stomach.]

James Taranto writes to me that a tipster (perhaps blogger R.F. Burnhertz) informed him of a bit of trivia regarding Planned Parenthood's "A Superhero for Choice."

The composer of the cartoon's music is Nick Vasallo, whose Web site became a place for people to see the animation after Planned Parenthood Golden Gate removed the link to it from their Web site.

Taranto points out that the second video down on Vasallo's Web page features a disgusting depiction of the desecration of an unborn child's corpse.

The video is a trailer for the ultra-crass gore flick "Sinful Wives" (its title has since been changed to "Mine"), and it is the last thing Vasallo did before working on "A Superhero for Choice." In it, as couples chat at a dinner party, a husband suddenly trots out his wife's late-term fetus—which he's apparently been saving in the freezer. He talks about how much it means to him, because it's his too.

The irate wife shows hubby that it's her body to do with what she will, not his. She doesn't say that in so many words, however. Rather, she demonstrates it—by putting the dead baby in the kitchen sink and torching it, while her emasculated hubby weeps in a fetal position.

You know the scene in "The Producers," during the cast tryouts, where Zero Mostel jumps up and shouts joyfully, "That's our Hitler"? I picture Planned Parenthood Golden Gate President Dian J. "Dianysis" Harrison watching the "Sinful Wives" trailer, jumping up, and shouting joyfully, "That's our composer!"

'Animated' Discussion

Thanks very much to everyone who participated in Project Max. Although most of the media continues to ignore Planned Parenthood's violent cartoon fantasy, "A Superhero for Choice," a few outlets have picked up the story. In addition, the American Life League today renewed its call for Planned Parenthood to apologize for the cartoon.

As of yet, neither Planned Parenthood Federation of America nor its Planned Parenthood Golden Gate branch, which created the animation that shows a PP "superhero" blowing up pro-lifers, has acknowledged the outcry over it.
Meanwhile, the California ProLife Council has called upon the state's attorney general to investigate if taxpayer funds were used to make "A Superhero for Choice."

In related news:

• Diogenes of Catholic World News' Off the Record mentions "A Superhero for Choice" in a great piece that touches on the hypocrisy of hate-speech laws.
• The Washington Times' "Inside Washington" column covered the outcry.
• Michael Medved discussed "A Superhero for Choice" on his radio show. Michael Savage also picked up the topic, plus I've heard that Bill O'Reilly did so as well—can anyone confirm?
• Planned Parenthood Golden Gate still features the cartoon on the front page of its Web site, but the link on that page does not work. The organization's own link to the cartoon is still active, but only available to those in the know—like schoolchildren in PPGG's sex-ed programs, perhaps?

Ask Them if You Get to Use Their Condom Gun

Planned Parenthood Golden Gate is looking for a "volunteer clinic escort."

"Persons of color, men and others of traditionally underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply."

I guess that makes them an equal opportunity destroyer.

It's Time to Play 'Shame That Toon'!

The mainstream media has taken its first nibble! See update below.

Today is Day 2 of Project Max, the action plan to get stories about Planned Parenthood's vile cartoon into Sunday newspapers across the country. If you haven't yet read yesterday's introductory post about the plan, including step-by-step instructions on what you can do to get the word out, please read it now.

Thanks to the efforts of the pro-life community, the news about "A Superhero for Choice," which depicts a Planned Parenthood "superhero" gaily blowing up pro-lifers, continues to spread throughout the Web. As I write, it's currently the top Planned Parenthood story on Google News, with 15 news articles listed, and that's not even counting the syndicated CNS News story (which includes a link to the cartoon). Google also lists a total of 125 Web references to "A Superhero for Choice," nearly all from blogs or publications critical of the cartoon.

UPDATE, 1:07 p.m.: The mainstream media has taken its first nibble! Gaylon Parker, op-ed writer for the Mississippi Press (owned by Newhouse), covers the cartoon in "Trapping government waste in the 'Net.'

Radio has also picked up the story—kudos to Frank Pastore, Relevant Radio's Drew Mariani (who interviewed me yesterday), and Michael Savage.

Two issues have been coming up in the news and blog coverage of this story which are important to keep in mind as you approach your local newspaper, talk-radio show, or TV station about covering it:

• Planned Parenthood Golden Gate is trying to stifle its own animation. It removed the link to the cartoon from its Web page, with no explanation. (A link is there, but it only takes you back to the same page.)
  
  Clearly, Planned Parenthood is on the run. They know they screwed up. We have to push this issue to the point where newspapers, TV, and radio start asking them questions. Questions like, how could they use public funds to create a cartoon that glorifies hate crime (considering that 53 percent of their annual budget comes from taxpayers)?


• The other important issue that's being raised about "A Superhero for Choice" is that it comes at a time when Planned Parenthood's friends at NARAL are spending $500,000 on ads falsely depicting John Roberts as supporting an abortion-clinic bomber. It is outrageous hypocrisy for the abortion industry to falsely accuse Roberts of supporting violence, while openly advocating it themselves.

If you've been following the uproar over "A Superhero for Choice" since I first posted about it early Saturday morning, it may seem as though the story's been played out. After all, Michelle Malkin, NRO's The Corner, Spirit Daily, Christianity Today Online, and many others have already covered it. But remember this: It often takes the mainstream media weeks to catch on to a story after it's hit the blogs. It's highly unusual for mainstream news outlets to catch onto a story quickly. They just don't work that way. Most reporters and editors do not comb the Web beyond Drudge, CNN.com, and whatever pops up on their AOL launch page.

However, we can't wait weeks for the mainstream media to pick up on this story. Planned Parenthood, as mentioned, has already removed the link to the cartoon from its site (and it's only a matter of time before it takes down its now-hidden direct link to the animation as well). Most people are discovering the animation through the links provided by bloggers, who are hosting it on their own sites—at risk of a lawsuit—in a remarkable display of grassroots activism.

If "A Superhero for Choice" doesn't get into this Sunday's paper, Planned Parenthood may succeed in covering its tracks, and the story could go down in history, if at all, as just one of those wacko pro-life myths. That's why we have to take action—today.

So, please reread the five-step plan for action, contact your local newspaper, and leave a comment in the comments section of the original Project Max post to let others know which paper you contacted and whom you contacted there.

Also, it's very important to contact the Associated Press. If they pick up on the story, it will be everywhere. Here again are the people to contact there—remember to personalize your e-mail for each of them, rather than sending a group e-mail: Burl Osborne, AP Chairman, bosborne@ap.org;Tom Curley, AP President and CEO, tcurley@ap.org; and Kathleen Carroll, AP SVP/Executive Editor, kcarroll@ap.org.

If you're in California, contact the California Pro-Life Council to see how you can help their efforts to raise awareness of the cartoon. Yesterday, they issued a press release calling on Attorney General Bill Lockyer to investigate Planned Parenthood to see if taxpayer funds were used to make the animation, which the CPLC rightfully terms "hate speech."

Thanks very much to everyone participating in Project Max. You really can make a difference. All it takes is just one mainstream newspaper to pick up the story. Then others will follow, and Americans will learn something of the true nature of Planned Parenthood.

How to Make Planned Parenthood's Cartoon Blow Up in Its Face (Nonviolently, of Course)Announcing Project Max

Thanks very much to all the visitors and bloggers who gave this site its most readers ever yesterday—10,400 hits. If even a fraction of those readers come back today, we all have an opportunity to do something very exciting and very important to show America the true nature of Planned Parenthood.

This Sunday, August 14, is the feast of Maximilian Kolbe, patron saint of two groups that one doesn't often think of together: pro-life advocates and journalists. He is also perhaps the only Catholic who is called a "saint" by the Jewish Virtual Library, which says of him, "One Christian man who died [in Auschwitz] became a martyr to the truth of evils of Nazism—a true hero for our time, a saint who lived what he preached, total love toward God and man."

Kolbe was a Polish Franciscan priest from the 1920s through his death in 1941, who believed in using all available media to spread his faith's message. He oversaw the publication of a daily newspaper that reached hundreds of thousands of people, as well as magazines in both Poland and Japan with a total circulation of over 800,000.

At a time when Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger was touting such "racial purity" initiatives as forced sterilization for the "feeble minded"—a message very much in line with Nazi beliefs—Kolbe wrote passionately against abortion. While Sanger and her fellow eugenicists were fighting to keep Jewish refugees out of America, Kolbe sheltered thousands of Jews at his Polish monastery,

But it wasn't sheltering Jews that got Kolbe on the wrong side of the Nazi authorities. It was his writings. He was arrested after writing an article in his monastery's publications, The Knight, whose message would be radical even today. It said in part:

No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hecatombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?

Kolbe was sent to Auschwitz, where he died in a manner consistent with the way he lived: He gave his life for a fellow prisoner. The details of his sacrifice make for a deeply touching story, which is well told on the Christian History Institute's Web site.

Regardless of one's faith, the 64th anniversary of Maximilian Kolbe's death is a fitting day to raise people's consciousness about what what we, as taxpayers, are funding when we fund Planned Parenthood.

With that in mind, I hereby propose Project Max: an action plan with the goal of getting this Sunday's newspaper, in every major U.S. city, to tell its readers about Planned Parenthood Golden Gate's "A Superhero for Choice" cartoon, and how the shamed organization is trying to cover its tracks by removing the animation from its site. Americans should also know that Planned Parenthood Golden Gate receives 53 percent of its income from the government.

The following are five things you can do to take part in Project Max. Even if you can do only one of these, it will make a significant difference in getting the message out:

1. Today (August 11) and tomorrow, contact the largest newspaper in your area and tell them about "A Superhero for Choice."

• The best way to contact the newspaper is to first send an e-mail to the editor or to a reporter whom you believe may be interested in the story, then follow up by phone. Newspapers will usually publish a general e-mail address for news tips—you might find it shown in a box on Page 2—or their editorial page will contain an e-mail address for letters.
• If your newspaper lists reporters' or editors' e-mail addresses, it's OK to write to more than one, but send out the e-mails one at a time, personalizing each one with "Dear [Reporter's name]." This is important because people are more willing to read an e-mail that looks personal, plus newspapers' spam filters often filter out bulk e-mails.
• There are three important points to put across in your e-mail and in your phone conversations with journalists: the fact that the Planned Parenthood cartoon depicts its superhero blowing up pro-lifers; the fact that Planned Parenthood is trying to stifle the cartoon; and the fact that this animated hate-crime fantasy is a flagrant misuse of taxpayer funds. (While we don't know if taxpayer money was used directly on the cartoon, there's no question that Planned Parenthood Golden Gate's taxpayer money freed up funds to create the animation.)
• Include a link in your e-mail to my entry on where to find the cartoon online, so that the recipient will be able to see the animation for himself. Or just copy one of the links to the cartoon from that entry—but test it first to make sure it's still working.
• Follow up the e-mail by phoning the newspaper and asking to speak to the editor or reporter to whom you sent the e-mail. If he or she is not available, ask politely, "Who's working the desk right now?" or "Who's the duty editor?" When you ask that, the operator will assume you are an insider, and will likely connect you with the editor on duty. If all else fails and you can't speak to an editor or reporter, leave a detailed message, and, again, at all times, be polite.
• After you've contacted your local newspaper, leave a message in the comments section below with the name of the paper you contacted and the person you contacted there, so that others in your area may read it and reach the same person. The more people contact the same editor or reporter, the more chance there is that he or she will realize that this is an important story.

2. Contact the Associated Press.

• The Associated Press is the U.S.'s largest wire service. If they pick up the story, it'll be in every major newspaper around the country. Personalize the e-mail you sent to your local paper and send it to Burl Osborne, AP Chairman, bosborne@ap.org;Tom Curley, AP President and CEO, tcurley@ap.org; and Kathleen Carroll, AP SVP/Executive Editor, kcarroll@ap.org.

3. Call into your favorite talk radio show and tell them about the cartoon.

• Stress the same three things mentioned above: the fact that the Planned Parenthood cartoon depicts its superhero blowing up pro-lifers; the fact that Planned Parenthood is trying to stifle the cartoon; and the fact that this animated hate-crime fantasy is a flagrant misuse of taxpayer funds.

4. Inform a leader of your house of worship about the cartoon—and also tell someone who has a different faith than yours, or who is not religious at all, about what the cartoon is and why they should care.

• One of the defining characteristics of Maximilian Kolbe was that he would speak to anyone about his faith, regardless of their own religion. Moreover, he did so without being belittling or abusive. He shared his faith because he truly cared about people and he wanted them to know the truth.
• Likewise, we owe it to our neighbors to tell them the truth about Planned Parenthood—how the organization takes our tax dollars while openly fantasizing about blowing up its opponents. People of many faiths would be outraged if they knew about this cartoon, some even if they favor abortion rights, because it is wrong to spend government money advocating hate crimes.
• In addition to telling someone you know, you can also notify a local house of worship other than your own about the cartoon. If you know the name of another denomination's church or temple in your town, you can get their contact information from their Web site, or just send a letter. Tell them that you think their congregation should know about the cartoon because it depicts a Planned Parenthood superhero blowing up people of faith. When one group is attacked for its peaceful demonstration of faith, all people of faith are attacked.

5. Contact a pro-life organization and find out what you can do to help them, through giving of your time or money.

• Several pro-life organizations have already drawn attention to "A Superhero for Choice," including the American Life League, Life Decisions International, National Right to Life, the Family Research Council, and the American Family Association.
• Other groups that do important work to protect the unborn are Priests for Life, Silent No More (which increases awareness of what abortion does to women, men, and families), and Helper's of God's Precious Infants. (If anyone has a pro-life group they'd like to see added to this entry, please mention them in the comments, or e-mail me, dawn at dawneden.com.)

Thanks to you readers and the bloggers who linked to my original entry, Planned Parenthood's vile cartoon has already received an enormous amount of attention. Let's take this to the masses. Just do one thing on the list above and see what happens when the newspapers hit the stands this Sunday. St. Max would be proud.

UPDATE: David Brandao of the American Life League recommends contacting your local TV station's news department as well:

It would be really cool to get the video on TV. Many of your suggestions about contacting the newsroom also apply to the television side, though some TV stations are rather provincial and the "it's not a local story" hurdle is a tough one to jump. The federal tax dollar angle is worth pursuing with TV newsrooms, since we're all federal taxpayers.

Calling the station and asking for the assignment desk (or the producer if the desk is unoccupied, which may be the case on weekends at small stations) will usually get one past the receptionist. Asking for a specific reporter by name (reporter, not anchor) is also a good way in the door. If the station has a Web site, check to see if the names of the assignment editors and producers are posted. Again, asking for a person by name is better than simply asking for the desk. These are the people who generally make most of the story decisions. Asking for the news director usually doesn't work.

The fact that you're aiming for a Sunday is promising, as middle-to-small market TV stations often feed their viewers a steady diet of police beat stories and features on the weekend. Working against the airing of the video, however, is the fact that it's not broadcast quality and doesn't expand to full-screen size very well. But if the station decides to go with the story, then a local pro-life leader could certainly be recruited for an interview.

Where to Find Planned Parenthood's 'A Superhero for Choice'

Many thanks to everyone who's offered to host the animation that I wrote about on Saturday*. Watch this space for links to sites that host the cartoon; I'll keep putting them up as they arrive.

UPDATE, 9/20/05: Since Planned Parenthood Golden Gate has removed "A Superhero for Choice" from its Web site, the best place to find it is by clicking the "video" link in CNS News' article on the animation.

And now, for links to Dawn Patrol readers hosting the cartoon:

• Saint Kansas offers what he calls a "zipped, postage-stamp-sized Windows Media version that's only 3 MB—small enough to e-mail."
• David McKendrick of Shoutlast.com put a link to the video on one of the site's discussion threads, both as a full-sized download and as a ZIP file (scroll down to the fourth and fifth posts).
• ArrMatey, fighting judicial activism on the high seas of CourtZero.org, offers this direct link to the animation in Windows Media format because "it needs to be seen."
• Joel Helbling has put a copy of the cartoon up on putfile.com.
• Greg Wolkins of the delightfully named Catscape has a copy of the cartoon available as a Windows Media ZIP file.

[UPDATE, 8/11/05: Join 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.]

On a related note, Christianity Today Online's Rob Moll has an article on the animation, "Planned Parenthood Affiliate Quietly Removes Cartoon Advocating Violence Against Pro-lifers," which includes this great quote:

"NARAL is doing ads blasting John Roberts and accusing him of promoting violence in abortion clinics, which he has not," says Pia de Solenni, director of life and women's issues at Family Research Council. "And at the same time you have Planned Parenthood clearly promoting violence against anyone that thinks differently than they do. The irony is just striking."

If you're hosting "A Superhero for Choice" on your site, and your site's family-friendly, please feel free to mention that in the comments—thanks! Remember that if you host it, you do run the risk of unprotected contact with a Planned Parenthood lawyer.

*My post about the cartoon first appeared early Saturday morning; I later changed the date to Monday to keep it at the top of the page.

Got Bandwidth?

I'm very happy to see so many bloggers—including, most recently, Amy Welborn, The Curt Jester, Kathryn Lopez at National Review Online's The Corner, and Jill Stanek—publicizing Planned Parenthood's animated murder fantasy "A Superhero for Choice." (If you haven't seen the cartoon, it depicts Planned Parenthood's superhero blowing up nonviolent "anti-choicers.")

Planned Parenthood must be holding closed-door damage-control meetings as we speak—yesterday the cartoon disappeared from where it was featured on the Web site of the organization's Golden Gate (San Francisco Bay Area) branch.

When I last checked, "A Superhero for Choice" could still be seen on the Web site of its soundtrack's composer (you'll find the link to that site at the top of my original blog entry on the cartoon). [At the composer's request, I must add that he is only the cartoon's composer—not its producer.] However, I don't expect that link to remain functional for long, which is why I'd like to make a request:

If you've got some extra bandwidth on your Web site—and are willing to risk a nasty phone call from Planned Parenthood's lawyers—would you be willing to host "A Superhero for Choice"? If you are, I'll not only link to the cartoon on your site, but (assuming your site's family-friendly) I'll also include your site in my blogroll and write something nice about it in this here blog.

Please leave a comment or e-mail me (dawn at dawneden.com) if you're interested. More than one taker is fine—the more, the merrier. I wish I could put up the cartoon myself, but my friend who hosts this blog tells me his server charges more than most for extra bandwidth. I hope someone steps in, because more and more people are interested in seeing what Planned Parenthood's animators hath wrought.

Planned Parenthood Golden Gate Prez May Have Used Her Position for Profit

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.