Houston Abortion Protest – Ongoing Coverage
In Brief, US Monday, January 18th, 2010We’re watching the news so you don’t have to. In this post, we’ll collect all the ongoing coverage we find of the Houston protest of the new Planned Parenthood headquarters. We’ll put the latest updates at the TOP.
If you find something we’ve missed, please let us know in the comments so we can add it!
The future Planned Parenthood facility in Houston
9:30 PM PST:
Houston Chronicle has a substantial story on the protest:
In the largest anti-abortion protest held in Houston in years, several thousand people on Monday marched, prayed and kept silent.
The protesters scrawled the word “life” on red tape across their mouths to convey their opposition to what they called an “abortion super center” that Planned Parenthood will open in a six-story building on the Gulf Freeway in March.
After the protesters had walked silently through the Third Ward and encircled the sidewalks of the new six-acre facility, organizer Lou Engle used the Martin Luther King holiday to accuse Planned Parenthood of locating the new facility in a predominantly Hispanic and black area to target minorities for abortion services.
“Planned Parenthood is devaluing minorities. The organization sees them as more economically vulnerable to their community of death,” said Engle, adding that a disportionate number of minorities have abortions compared to whites.
Planned Parenthood, however, said the former Sterling Bank building was chosen as its new flagship and administrative headquarters because it is easily accessible and will double its space.
“There is an increasing need for affordable health care in Houston and Harris County because we have more uninsured residents than any other area in the nation,” said Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Rochelle Tafolla.
But anti-abortion speakers told a parking-lot full of protesters waving flags and signs before the march that the new clinic was the next civil rights battleground.
Rates among minorities
According to Planned Parenthood, last year slightly more than 8,000 abortions were performed in its Houston region, which includes two clinics in Louisiana. The agency reported 34 percent of the abortion clients were Anglo; 25 percent were black; and 34 percent Hispanic. The black and Hispanic abortion rates were slightly higher than their overall population percentages in Harris County.
“This is because minorities often have more unintended pregnancies. Perhaps because they do not have the same access to birth control,” Tafolla said.
She pointed to a 2008 nationwide report that showed a 29 percent increase in women below the poverty level having unintended pregnancies compared to a 20 percent decrease in women 200 percent above the poverty level.
Houston currently has Planned Parenthood clinics in Midtown (which will be replaced by the new one), Greenspoint and Bellaire, and there are also some in far outlying areas such as Lufkin, Huntsville and Bryan.
Protesters on Monday also questioned why Houston was selected for the Gulf Freeway clinic that they believe will be the largest abortion facility in the Western Hemisphere.
However, Tafolla disputes that point. While the new facility will be Planned Parenthood’s largest health care center in the U.S., only two floors will be dedicated for clinical space. The facility also will be the organization’s administrative headquarters for 35 counties in Southeast Texas and Louisiana and provide other services from birth control to screening for cancer and sexually transmitted diseases.
…
The new facility can perform abortions up to the 24th week — which upsets opponents — but Tafolla said the new center won’t do any past the 19th week.
Engel and friend, in the majority-white crowd, continue to cynically claim that Planned Parenthood sited within a minority-dominated location not because the location was affordable and accessible, but because they are racist and trying to exterminate black and Hispanic people.
KHOU 11 provided no substantive updates, continuing to lead with a much smaller number than “several thousand”:
Hundreds of pro-life activists gathered in Houston Monday to protest a new Planned Parenthood clinic they’re calling an “abortion supercenter.”
The protesters, some of whom came from out of state, have been planning the rally for weeks. It was organized by The Call to Conscience, a pro-life group.
ABC 13 has an updated video and write-up. As noted below, ABC 13′s videos will not embed here (our site doesn’t recognize the coding). We apologize for the inconvenience.
The video closes with:
These protesters weren’t here just to protest the fact that abortions will be performed in this building. They also protested where this clinic is located, in the heart of two minority communities in Houston. [We'll get into that, and tell you a little about what these protesters said, tonight at 6.]
The promised additional coverage on the 6:00 PM newscast did not make it to the website, and the bracketed sentence was stricken from the printed transcript on the website.
Click2Houston.com still has no coverage.
MyFoxHouston.com did not update coverage.
foxnews.com’s latest includes a rebuttal from Planned Parenthood regarding the siting issue:
“Planned Parenthood chooses locations based on the greater community’s need for our services and there is great demand in the Houston area. More than 1 million residents in Harris County lack health insurance and half are of reproductive age. Clients come to our health centers from all over Harris County, not just the neighborhoods near our facility.
“Women need to have a voice in what happens to their own bodies, which is why abortion remains legal right now,” the statement reads.
2:45 PM PST:
First national coverage, on Fox News.
You’ll note that Fox News estimates 3,000-4,000 protesters, as compared to the 5,000-10,000 projected by organizers.
Please follow the above link to view the video. Unfortunately, Fox News does not allow for embedding of their videos. We apologize for the inconvenience.
2:10 PM PST:
Local coverage appears to be turned from the press conference at the future Planned Parenthood facility due to a two-alarm fire presently destroying a car dealership. We hope no one was injured.
12:10 PM PST:
MyFoxHouston.com has coverage, but not on the front page, not even the “local” top stories. Their video coverage is sponsored by A-Better Bail Bonds . . . and hasn’t been updated since early this morning. It’s a fairly balanced coverage giving good background, and including a clip of an interview from Planned Parenthood pointing out that only 5-7% of Planned Parenthood’s business is abortion-related.
11:35 AM PST:
New video at KHOU:
A write-up covering the same information is available at theKHOU-11 website.
ABC 13 now has a video with aerial footage showing the “prayer circle” (our term, not theirs) surrounding the facility. It appears to be a single-file line.
Protest organizers are reported as complaining that Planned Parenthood is siting this clinic within an 80%-racial-minority area, and tied this to accusations of racism. Planned Parenthood responded that the location was based on need for health services and the availability of real estate.
It is noted later in the report that the clinic is also located very near the University of Houston.
At 2:40, the anchorwoman (Melanie) asks a tough question of reporter Ted Oberg; he stumbles in trying to respond:
Melanie: “Ted, I’ve gotta ask you, you say they’re concerned about the building going up in a minority neighborhood. Do you know how many of the protestors are minorities?”
Ted: “Uh, I, I, I would say a good number, Melanie, but I, um, the, you know, it’s hard to tell, because all you can ever see is what’s in your immediate area, er, uh, I would say it’s m- predominately an Anglo crowd, but uh, there is a good number, er, there is a large representation from Latino and African-American communities.”
(Unfortunately, the embed link from ABC 13′s video does not work on this site. Please follow the link below to watch the video. Our apologies for the inconvenience.)
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/video?id=7225037
At present, KPRC 2 (click2houston.com) has no coverage.
9:30 AM PST:
So far, other than last night’s news, the most we’ve found is KHOU-11′s soundless helicopter video of the pre-march rally:
More to come, no doubt! Check this post regularly for more . . . and if you find something we’ve overlooked, please let us know in the comments so we can add it!
Related articles:
- Anti-Abortion Groups to Use MLK Day to Protest Houston "Abortion Supercenter"
- Abortion: What Would Jesus Do?
- Fundamentalist Fake Pastor Begs Christians to "Boycott Houston"
- Anti-Abortionists Play Race Card Again
- Why Christians Should Support Abortion
Jenny Donati is webmistress and co-editor of Secular News Daily. Jenny is an outspoken secularist who believes firmly in the separation of church and state. She demands evidence to support arguments, and holds herself to the same standard. She doesn't write about herself in the third person . . . but there's a first time for everything.You can follow comments on this article through the RSS Comment Feed. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry.
Is this really investigative reporting? What a total fly over of this group says vs that group says. Where is the true journalism? That building has a whole floor dedicated to partial birth abortions. Yeah, viable babies with their spines cut to end the life before they gasp for air. PP has all of their plans filed with the city. They found a place in a totally non white area of town so that they can continue their agenda of eugenics and racial *cleansing*. Read PP mission statement if you think I’m whacked. Read their founder’s comments which you can find all over the internet. You cant make this stuff up!
Actually, it’s a review of the coverage presented by the various local and national media. I’m sorry if the title or lead-in led you to think that it was anything other.
BTW, at 19 weeks (PP’s limit), a fetus is not viable; the area is 80% minority, not 100% minority; and as has been stated, it is located where they could afford the real estate and have access to freeway and public transportation so that lower-income people can access their services.
Would it make sense to put a free health clinic (STD testing, counseling, birth control distribution, prenatal care) out in a wealthy suburb, where the residents already have health insurance and don’t need the services provided?