Planned Parenthood often at heart of culture wars

New York — As a leading defender of abortion rights and comprehensive sex education, Planned Parenthood deals daily with some of America’s most contentious issues, and is well accustomed to receiving verbal threats.

Some of the organization’s supporters say Friday’s deadly shooting at its clinic in Colorado Springs shows that the vitriolic rhetoric could be inspiring actual violence.

“It is time to stop the demonizing and witch hunts against Planned Parenthood, its staff and patients,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat.

But critics show no signs of backing away from an offensive against Planned Parenthood, keeping protests There have been eight murders and more than 220 bombings and arson attacks at abortion facilities in the U.S. since 1977, according to the National Abortion Foundation.

and a congressional investigation on their agenda for the coming year.

The man arrested in the attack that killed a police officer and two civilians uttered the phrase “no more baby parts,” a law enforcement official said.

Authorities have not elaborated on the gunman’s motives, but Planned Parenthood said witnesses described him as an abortion opponent. The “body parts” phrase echoed rhetoric that surfaced last summer, when anti-abortion

activists began releasing undercover videos they said showed Planned Parenthood personnel negotiating the sale of fetal organs.

The anti-abortion group that made the videos, the Center for Medical Progress, condemned the “barbaric killing spree in Colorado Springs by a violent madman.”

Planned Parenthood said any payments were legally permitted reimbursements for the costs of donating organs to researchers, and has since stopped accepting even that money. Though the videos have inspired multiple investigations in Congress and in several states, none has confirmed any law breaking by Planned Parenthood.

Since the videos surfaced, threats have become even more frequent, abortion-rights leaders say.

“We’ve seen an alarming increase in hateful rhetoric and smear campaigns against abortion providers and patients over the last few months,” said Vicki Cowart, president of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains.

There have been eight murders and more than 220 bombings and arson attacks at abortion facilities in the U.S. since 1977, according to the National Abortion Foundation.