Group protests Planned Parenthood meeting at Chinn library
Donnie Biggs/News & Messenger
Katie Walker, left, Marie Hahnenberg and Johanna Dasteel, all with American Life League, protest outside of Chinn Park Regional Library on Tuesday in Woodbridge. The group protested a Planned Parenthood training session for volunteers.
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By Amanda Stewart
Published: July 15, 2008
A group of about half a dozen pickets gathered in front of Chinn Park Regional Library on Tuesday evening to protest a Planned Parenthood meeting.
The protesters, many of whom held purple signs that said "Planned Parenthood Steals Souls," were protesting a Planned Parenthood volunteer training session being held inside
the library's community room.
"We're here to let people know that Planned Parenthood is not liked in the community," said Marie Hahnenberg, a researcher with American Life League, the group that organized the protest.
Planned Parenthood volunteers organizing the
training session said they had no comment on the protest.
Hahnenberg said the protesters were concerned that Planned Parenthood would be targeting young people in the training session.
According to a Web site for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, Tuesday's event was a training session for people interested in volunteering for Planned Parenthood events such as the Occoquan Riverfest, farmers' market and summer concerts.
The training session taught volunteers about the group's missions and services, its campaign for affordable birth control and specific volunteer opportunities, the Web site stated.
Hahnenberg said she and the other protesters were also concerned about Planned Parenthood meeting at the library.
"They should not be at a public library," she said.
According to the Prince William Public Library system's policy on public use of library community rooms, the library does not discriminate against individuals or groups for any reason, including "the political, religious, or social aims expressed by the individual or group, or by any group's members."
Any government agency or non-profit group can apply to use the meeting rooms, as long as the events are open to the public and no fundraising occurs, the policy states.
Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014.
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( COLE29 ) on July 21, 2008 at 4:33 pm
There are many alternative organizations that provide free resources regardless of the decision that you make if you are experiencing an unplanned pregnancy.
http://www.lifechoicesrc.org/options_abortion_what.html
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Posted by ( susan ) on July 21, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Hey thetruth - Please let me know where you are so that I can make sure I am nowhere around you when he strikes you down. You will be judged one day and I only pray you have asked for forgiveness before he takes you.
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Posted by ( susan ) on July 21, 2008 at 2:42 pm
kindns - I for one would be more than willing to register and to assist these women with their children. And if they do not want there children there is a little program called adoption!! Remember God will not put more on you than you can handle. Ladies if you are reading this please continue to keep strong.
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Posted by ( thetruth ) on July 21, 2008 at 2:22 pm
God is no more real than Santa or the Easter bunny. You were all told about God and his truths as children. As you grew up you learned that Santa and the Big bunny were just stories to make you feel good and special. Well, it’s wake-up call time. There might be a God. To say there is not, would be as foolish to say there is. The pope knows God no more than a child molester or the ant at your feet. All we know, is what we’re told. Unless, you think for yourself. Common sense tells us all that abortion is wrong. Common sense also tells us that stopping education on sex is fueled by an ignorant culture amongst the faiths. Let’s all grow up and be good to each other. After all, thats all we can depend upon… eachother, but we must wake-up from this foolish box we’ve all painted God to live in.
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Posted by ( kindns ) on July 21, 2008 at 1:11 pm
When “Pro-Lifers” are prepared to compile a registry of their names and addresses, and be willing to take in all the children whose mothers cannot afford to raise/feed/educate/medicate them once they are born….and sadly therefore choose termination..well then hey….I will back you up.
If you are not ready to accept responsibility for these young lives you want to force into existence…..then mind your own business and leave these women alone.
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Posted by ( PB514 ) on July 21, 2008 at 7:51 am
It has been almost a week now since this article was posted on-line as a top new story. The Potomac News should be able to find more current news to post.
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Posted by ( QuestionAuthority ) on July 21, 2008 at 5:32 am
Let our government wage an unjustified war in which a half million innocents die and 4 million are displaced and a policy of torture is implemented and the Christians wave the flag and cheer.
But let sex happen outside the strict context of modern Christian dogma and they writhe and rage.
What kind of impoverished morality condones war and torture but can not tolerate giving a teenager a condom?
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Posted by ( kgotthardt ) on July 20, 2008 at 5:04 pm
“However to allow women to “choose” abortion as a form of birth control is such a contradiction. These ladies made their choice when they decided to have unprotected sex.“
I suspect the number of women who actually use abortion as birth control is fairly low (not that it’s a justification because in my mind, it isn’t). My understanding is that women who use abortion as birth control are encouraged to consider other options and are REALLY encouraged to use “real” birth control. Multiple abortions are unhealthy and can be dangerous, and a decent clinic would make sure the woman understood that and prevent it. I don’t know if they would actually deny the person an abortion or not. Does anyone know?
That said, some women who might appear to use abortion as birth control really are not. There might be other things going on that we don’t don’t about. For example, I know of at least two mentally ill women kept getting pregnant. Abortion, in these cases as in many, is the symptom of a larger societal disease—here, the disease is inadequate or nonexistent mental health care.
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Posted by ( jandb ) on July 18, 2008 at 5:49 pm
It is a sad state of affairs that our country is in. What has happened to the sanctity of human life. I am a pro-life advocate. However, I do not always agree with the practices envoked by the ALL. I do, however, find this issue to be contradicted by our own laws. How is it that when someone murders a pregnant woman, this country can charge that person with TWO murders, when everyday in this country many women go to PP or other “clinics” and do the same thing? How can one be legal, and not the other? Just because one baby was “wanted” and the other one was not? I don’t understand how that can be justified. I think that person SHOULD be charged with two murders, and get equal punishment for both, they are two separate human lives. However to allow women to “choose” abortion as a form of birth control is such a contradiction. These ladies made their choice when they decided to have unprotected sex. How is their murder any different from someone off the streets. I never have and never will understand it. Just because it is legal doesn’t make it moral, by any stretch of the imagination….just look at the everyday goings on in Washington!!
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Posted by ( ldeyo ) on July 18, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Planned Parenthood isn’t solely about abortions. As parents, we need to stop putting our heads in the sand and make sure that our children have as much education as possible about pregnancy prevention. I, for one, do not want my son to get his pregnancy prevention education from a friend on the playground. These organizations provide the education that so many parents don’t, and why do you think we’re seeing so many young girls as mothers and the lack of protection during sex. I’d much rather have Planned Parenthood providing the services they do than to read one more story about a 13-year-old having a baby; children abused and neglected by parents who don’t care; or a child left in a trash can by an uninformed parent. It’s time to stop being so afraid of knowledge and realize that as a society, it’s our responsibility to make sure our children get the education they need to prevent more unwanted, abused and neglected children, and more women living on welfare without an education, unable to provide for their children.
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