DV Journal

At a webinar shortly after the Nov. 5 election, Planned Parenthood officials announced they plan to endorse and fund candidates for school board in Pennsylania’s upcoming local elections.

Now pro-life supporters are sounding the alarm, asking why an organization that promotes abortion would be active in elections for offices that oversee school spending and classroom curricula?

While Planned Parenthood PA Advocates, the nonprofit’s political action committee, has previously funded various candidates, the only time it funded school board candidates in Pennsylvania was in a Lancaster County district in 2023, said Michael Geer, president of the Pennsylvania Family Institute. And those candidates won, Geer said.

“It’s a relatively new–and very troubling–venture for the abortion and sex giant,” said Geer. “What sort of back-scratching arrangement does Planned Parenthood expect if their endorsed candidates win seats on local Pennsylvania school boards? And what will this mean for our children?

“We really don’t have to guess. And I’m sure you won’t like what it would likely mean: Explicit, perverse sex ‘education’ brought into the schools, with Planned Parenthood speakers welcomed into the classroom to promote their agenda and ideology to our children.”

Also, “the promotion of LGB and transgender ideology, teaching even the littlest children they can change their sex, requiring teachers to hide ‘transitions’ from parents, abandonment of personal privacy in bathrooms and locker rooms, and more.

“Installation of school-based ‘health clinics’  where minor children can get access to contraceptives, abortion referrals, and guidance on embracing a new ‘sexual identity.’”

And “hiring of like-minded superintendents and other top staff who align with this worldview and will implement it – and resist the efforts of parents and children who are troubled by it,” said Geer.

Amanda Greenberg, who ran for the West Chester Area School District school board in 2023, called the news “horrible.”

“Abortion has nothing to do with school boards and their duties. This is just another ploy to make every election about abortion when our public schools are basically houses on fire, and the kids are stuck on the third floor. There are far more pressing issues like administrative bloat, plummeting test scores, violence and terrorism being promoted in schools, lack of transparency in curriculum and budgets, and  so much more.”

Rich Booker, a tax lawyer who served on the Radnor School Board and as a township commissioner, said changes in the tax code should be made to prevent nonprofits from donating to candidates through their affiliated political action committees, as is the case with Planned Parenthood.

“More needs to be done to correct this type of activity, as we should not allow nonprofit special interest groups to unduly influence our local politics,” said Booker.

Signe Espinoza, executive director of Planned Parenthood PA Advocates, defended the organizations’ actions.

Espinoza said, “Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania PAC endorses candidates who are committed to protecting and expanding access to sexual and reproductive health care. Whether we endorse candidates running for school board or a State House seat, our goal is to ensure that we are working to elect sexual and reproductive health care advocates up and down the ballot.

“Planned Parenthood PA Advocates (PPPA), the statewide c4, does not receive funding from any school districts,” she said.

Bruce Chambers, former president of the Great Valley School Board, said, “If Planned Parenthood Action Fund intends to exert influence over school board elections in Pennsylvania, it would be just another attempt to indoctrinate school children to the left’s progressive messaging.  The School Boards already seek to indoctrinate the kids with their views of culture, DEI, and LGBTQ “rights.”  Look at the Great Valley School Districts “goals” and you will see that the school board has twice as many goals for “culture and well being” than they do for “academics.” They spend more time on the use of bathrooms for “transgender students” than they do on the fact that only 46 percent of Great Valley Middle School and High School students are proficient in math.

“Pennsylvania schools are no longer educational institutions.  They have become indoctrination centers. So, perhaps, Planned Parenthood will seek to influence the school boards to include in their indoctrination programs the murder of unborn children and other ‘reproductive rights.’ Parents need to wake-up and pull their children out of the public schools. There are so many alternatives now for parents, and if it is true that Planned Parenthood is getting involved in school board elections, it is just another excellent reason to take their children elsewhere for a real education.”

Tina Descovich, a former school board member and co-founder of parental rights group Moms for Liberty, said, “The reason Planned Parenthood wants to endorse candidates is because they’ve been pushing radical gender ideology and comprehensive sex education. It’s profitable for them to put it in the classrooms and for schools to spend money on curriculum to put that into classrooms.

“I think it’s absurd that Planned Parenthood is endorsing school board candidates, and I think people will outright reject candidates that are endorsed by Planned Parenthood,” said Descovich.

Geer said, “Targeting our children is a growth industry for Planned Parenthood — whether through encouraging sexual experimentation that creates demand for their abortion business — or fostering gender confusion, which feeds Planned Parenthood’s exploding business of providing puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones for teens and adults.

“They even provide referrals for destructive, disfiguring surgical procedures like double mastectomies on the healthy bodies of teen girls struggling with gender dysphoria. Awful,” Geer added.

Bucks County pro-life activist Mark Houck was acquitted of all charges by a jury in federal court in Philadelphia on Monday afternoon.

Houck, 48, had been charged with violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for incidents on Oct. 13, 2021, where he pushed a volunteer escort at a Planned Parenthood clinic on Locust Street in Philadelphia. The escort, who had been confronting Houck’s 12-year-old son, Mark Jr., was not seriously injured. Philadelphia courts declined to prosecute Houck, but after Roe v. Wade was overturned about a year later, the U.S. Department of Justice brought charges.

“We are, of course, thrilled with the outcome,” said Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive vice president and head of litigation who helped represent the Bucks County father of seven. “Mark and his family are now free of the cloud that the Biden administration threw upon them. We took on Goliath – the full might of the United States government – and won.”

Houck had faced up to 11 years in prison if convicted.

After the verdict, Houck thanked his family and supporters “all over the world,” including the financial support that he received.

“How do you not feel the blessing of that?” he asked. And he thanked the lawyers from the Thomas More Society, along with local defense attorney Brian McMonagle

The circumstances of the case raised questions about possible political motives behind the Biden administration’s decision to prosecute. The judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Gerald Pappert, asked during the trial if the FACE Act wasn’t “being stretched a little thin here.”

The prosecutors declined to comment after the verdict.

Before the trial began, Breen noted the federal government’s decision to swarm Houck’s home and make a high-profile arrest rather than send notice that he needed to turn himself in.

“Think about that. Twenty-five FBI agents go to his home as if he were somehow a danger,” said Breen, who added the lawyers had offered to bring Houck in “at no cost to the U.S. taxpayer.”

“It’s clear that intimidation is one of the tactics being used by the federal government,” said Breen. “And I can tell you that I received calls from sidewalk counselors that were intimidated. They’re wondering, ‘Am I going to be next?’”

Christine Flowers, a Philadelphia pro-life commentator and an attorney,  shared those concerns.

“While Houck’s attorneys deserve a great deal of praise for their exceptional advocacy, I think the most important takeaway from this victory is that Americans can detect when a prosecution is being waged for political reasons and not because there is a legitimate cause of action. The Biden administration has been sent a very clear message: stop trying to crush the pro-life movement under the guise of protecting women’s access to healthcare,” said Flowers.

“As a lawyer, I am always deeply gratified when I see the justice system work as it was designed to work: Protect the innocent and convict the guilty. With the acquittal of Mark Houck, it is clear that the jurors who heard this case understood that essential principle.”

The Biden Justice Department has brought several FACE Act cases against pro-life activists. But now under scrutiny by the Republican U.S. House of Representatives, it recently charged two pro-choice activists for allegedly vandalizing pro-life pregnancy centers.

In dramatic testimony on Friday, Houck, a Catholic, said clinic escort Bruce Love had cursed at him and his son and baited him with remarks about pedophile priests and masturbation.

Mark Jr., now 14, testified Love stood within feet of him and told him that his father was “a bad person.”

Houck, who runs a pro-life ministry called The King’s Men, spends several hours every week in front of that clinic doing sidewalk counseling to deter women from having abortions. He testified that he had been doing this for years, knew the rules, and never blocked a clinic entrance.

During his closing argument, defense attorney Brian McMonagle argued the case was about Houck’s First Amendment rights to free speech, religion, and assembly.

Many supporters had packed the courtroom in the trial before Judge Gerald Pappert. Several held rosaries as they listened intently to testimony and arguments in the case. They also held prayerful protests outside the courthouse and outside the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

Pastor William Devlin, a fellow pro-life activist and Houck’s friend, led supporters in prayer and singing for Houck, and spoke at the protests.

Devlin said he believed God heard their prayers.

“We thank God that Mark has been exonerated,” said Devlin. “That the jury understood the decision and Mark Houck was found not guilty. It was the result of persistent prayer and worship and we thank Jesus for allowing the not guilty verdict.”

Breen said, “This is a win for Mark and the entire pro-life movement. The Biden Department of Justice’s intimidation against pro-life people and people of faith has been put in its place.”

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Activists on both sides of the abortion issue are fighting in Harrisburg over the legal future of the controversial procedure, and they’re both  leveling accusations of “extremism” to make their case.

Supporters of legal abortion point to a proposed amendment to the state constitution from abortion opponents, “providing that there is no right to abortion or funding for an abortion.” The resolution, condemned as “extreme” by its opponents, passed the GOP-controlled legislature last week.

In order for it to take effect, it must pass again in the next legislative session, and then voters must approve it in a referendum, possibly in 2023.

Gov. Tom Wolf (D) has jumped into the fray, issuing an executive order that the state would refuse to honor any warrant from another state for a person charged with a criminal violation involving reproduction. The order also protects healthcare professionals. Wolf stated in a press release he has vetoed three abortion-related bills.

Pro-life organizations called Wolf’s actions “extreme.”

“With his vetoes on these pro-life bills, Gov. Wolf brags about his support of late-term abortion, as well as his support for ripping babies apart limb by limb, aborting babies that have Down syndrome, and putting women with ectopic pregnancies at more risk,” said Dan Bartkowiak, director of communications for Pennsylvania Family Institute. “This is an appalling display of extreme pro-abortion politics that are out of touch with Pennsylvania families. Sadly, this has come to be expected from a governor that is a former volunteer for Planned Parenthood and has received significant campaign contributions from the abortion industry.”

Marlene Downing, deputy director for Pennsylvania for the Susan B. Anthony List, said, “The majority of Pennsylvanians who are pro-abortion do not want the restrictions already in place to go away.” These include the 24-week limit and preventing minors from undergoing the procedure without parental consent.

“Hopefully, the constitutional amendment will be passed,” she said. The amendment would not ban abortion in Pennsylvania, but it would help prevent current limits on abortion from being removed by a future legislature, she said.

Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates Executive Director Signe Espinoza took the opposite position. She said in a statement the legislature has “taken a significant step toward forcing their radical anti-abortion agenda into the Pennsylvania Constitution.” She complained the process was rushed and the vote taken “under the cover of darkness.”

“Anti-abortion legislators have advanced a bill that will take rights out of our constitution. The bill can pass again in January, be on the 2023 primary ballot, and lead to abortion bans by this time next summer.

“This is the most expedited timeline possible, and we know that these extremists have been planning for this since they stacked the United States Supreme Court with the sole goal of overturning Roe v Wade. This process was not transparent, and that was intentional by a far-right majority dead-set on advancing a fringe ideology,” Espinoza said.

The group plans to take “accountability actions” with legislative leaders and also unveil digital billboards, a spokeswoman said.

Downing said the Susan B. Anthony List has been going door-to-door throughout the state, passing out pro-life literature. Some 225,000 households had been reached by early July, she said. Their volunteers also speak with people about their pro-life message when someone is at home.

The literature attacks Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Josh Shapiro as “too extreme on abortion.”

“Fetterman opposes all limits on abortion and even defends late-term abortion and taxpayer-funded abortion and denying babies who survive abortion life-saving medical care,” the brochure said.

“Shapiro is a pro-abortion activist who opposes all limits on abortion,” it continued. “Shapiro supports abortion on demand up to the moment of birth, all at taxpayer expense.”

Ironically, both the Fetterman and Shapiro campaigns are running attack ads on television against Dr. Mehmet Oz and Sen. Doug Mastriano, the Republicans running for senator and governor, that call them “extreme” for their pro-life positions.

“We are just educating people about candidates who are extreme on abortion,” said Downing, who is also on the board of the Pro-Life Union Pennsylvania. “Our goal is to talk to Pennsylvanians.” Most residents are “not against abortion or for abortion. They like restrictions on it, that middle ground…We’re talking to all the voters we can.”

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