“Pro-Life” or death

Violence and Death Threats Spike As Result Of False Planned Parenthood Smear Campaign

By Kimberley Johnson 

New research from the National Abortion Federation (NAF) shows a direct connection in the uptick in death threats against abortion providers and the release of the deceptively edited videos by the Center for Medical Progress last year.

The report states in part:

“Our 2015 statistics reflect a dramatic increase in hate speech and internet harassment, death threats, attempted murder, and murder, which coincided with the release of heavily-edited, misleading, and inflammatory videos beginning in July. Since 1977, there have been 11 murders, 26 attempted murders, 42 bombings, 185 arsons, and thousands of incidents of criminal activities directed at abortion providers.

“Three of those murders happened in November 2015, when Robert Dear opened fire at an abortion facility in Colorado Springs, killing three people and wounding nine others. This clinic is part of the Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains affiliate, which was featured in the highly-edited, inflammatory videos. When police arrested Dear, he made a reference to part of the video smear campaign.

“… After each video, social media, blogs, and news websites were filled with inflammatory comments about the doctors who were misrepresented in the videos, including that they were ‘evil,’ ‘vile,’ ‘unhuman,’ ‘murderers,’ and that abortion providers ‘deserve everything they have coming’ to them.”

The NAF report also noted: “Following the videos, one member received a voicemail that said someone planned to, ‘…pull a Columbine and wipe everyone out…’ and an unknown male called a hospital switchboard in North Carolina saying, ‘We will kill all [hospital] abortion doctors…’”

Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden condemned the report in a statement Tuesday saying, “NAF and Planned Parenthood’s insinuation that free speech equals hate speech is an attempt to shut down a debate they are losing and silence hundreds of millions of pro-life Americans. CMP’s videos have a powerful message of non-violence and raise serious legal and ethical questions about Planned Parenthood and NAF’s unaccountable abortion-for-baby-parts business.”

Nearly a dozen investigations, not including one federal investigation, into Planned Parenthood’s selling of fetal tissue have shown no evidence of wrongdoing, and, in February 2016, a Texas Grand Jury looking in to those allegations instead chose to indict Daleiden.

Kimberley Johnson (BIO) is the author ofAMERICAN WOMAN: The Poll Dance & The Virgin Diaries and an activist for women’s rights. Like her on Facebook, Twitter or follow her on FB