Counter-protest messages from a Maine Family Planning sign-making party

Maine’s Christian Civic League – the group that brought us Prohibition and decades of anti-gay bigotry – sent out an email blast yesterday with the subject “Prayer defunds abortion in Maine.”

They claim that because Maine Family Planning in Augusta raised less money this year during the organization’s “Pledge-A-Picketer” campaign ($5,360, compared to $10,014 last year) that God must be acting on the CCL’s prayers.

The fundraising campaign is a reaction to the annual picket of abortion providers by conservative christian groups during the 40 days of Lent. During this period, protestors turn out in droves to harass and intimidate women going to clinics with posters featuring graphic images of aborted fetuses and lies like the false claim that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer. According to their email, the Christian Civic League also protests clinics that “offer abortion referrals and provide birth control.”

I would imagine that the difference in annual fundraising numbers has more to do with greater attention to women’s reproductive health issues last year (it was an election issue and states across the country were attempting to pass restrictive anti-abortion laws) than with divine intervention against providers of safe abortion services.

But perhaps we should take the League at their word. If God truly speaks through fundraising totals, then obviously more donations to Maine Family Planning right now would be a sanctified repudiation of their repugnant tactics.

To that end, my wife and I have just given a donation to Maine Family Planning and I invite you to do the same. Together, we can make a statement the Christian Civic League will understand while helping to provide safe reproductive health care services to Maine women.

Access to safe family planning and abortion services isn’t just a women’s rights and health care issue. Making sure women have control over their own bodies is a community and economic issue that affects all of us. Most women who are trying to prevent an unintended pregnancy do so because they’re attempting to provide for their families, hold down a job, or finish a degree. A majority of women who access abortion services are actually already parents. They know their family finances and know they can’t afford another child. One of the best ways of strengthening our economy is to make sure that all women can make these choices safely and do what’s best for their families.

The fact that these decisions are usually so carefully considered is likely the reason why studies show that clinic protests like the CCL’s don’t have any real affect on women’s choices. They only serve to harass women who are already experiencing a stressful time.

Here’s that link again. Let’s do some good.