Will You Help ‘Slay’ for Planned Parenthood?

Planned Parenthood wants supporters to “slay” by sharing its new ad, directed by Hollywood screenwriter Joss Whedon.

“Every single one of us has a hero inside; and it’s our responsibility to use our superpowers to slay,” states a Planned Parenthood donation page. The abortion group highlights some of Whedon’s best known works, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The appeal, flanked by an online petition, closes by asking people to “watch it, add your name to join Joss Whedon in standing with Planned Parenthood, and then share, share, share, using #IStandWithPP. That’s how we slay, that’s how we win.”

As The Daily Caller noted, the call to “slay” is a play on the “vampire slaying” that took place in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The word “slay” has also risen in recent popularity as a slang term for “succeed” or “dominate.”

Pro-life groups noted the dark irony of Planned Parenthood adopting the slang term to promote its services. Planned Parenthood performs nearly 35 percent of U.S. abortions (323,999 total in 2014).

“UNLOCKED”

The ad, released Wednesday, features three primary characters. Entitled “UNLOCKED,” it supposedly previews a world without Planned Parenthood.

One teen girl becomes pregnant and is seen crying as she opens a scholarship letter to a university. Another girl appears unable to stop her friend from having sex at a party. Her friend ends up with an STD. A middle-aged mother dies from cancer that was noticed too late. The ad works backwards from the point of tragedy for each character (the scholarship letter, the STD, the death) until you see the three women approaching a Planned Parenthood facility at the same time, only to find it closed and the door locked.

The ad then imagines what would happen had the facility been open. The first teen gets a pack of birth control pills. The second teen takes a sex education course, which she shares with her classmates. The middle aged woman is screened for cancer and is shown celebrating her next birthday.

“If politicians succeed in shutting down Planned Parenthood, millions of people lose access to basic health services. STD testing, birth control, cancer screenings … how can these be at risk?” Whedon said.

Untruthful?

However, data reveals that Planned Parenthood’s non-abortive services are declining, while their abortions continue to rise. Pro-life group Live Action noted in a video last month that the organization performs less than 2 percent of the nation’s cancer screenings. But between 2004 and 2014, its number of annual abortions rose 27 percent.

Most women will never visit Planned Parenthood. Eric Scheidler, executive director for the Pro-Life Action League, previously told The Stream that “four out of five women will never step foot” inside one of its facilities. Additionally, other comprehensive care facilities for women and their families outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities 20 to one.

In April President Donald Trump signed a bill allowing states to stop funding family planning services, including Planned Parenthood. But the nonprofit still receives $500 million annually in government funding. Pro-life advocates have called for a reallocation of those funds to comprehensive health care centers. (For more from the author of “Will You Help ‘Slay’ for Planned Parenthood?” please click HERE])http://joemiller.us/2017/05/will-help-slay-planned-parenthood/