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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Pullman Planned Parenthood rallies draw hundreds

Supporters and protesters of Planned Parenthood line the intersection of Bishop Boulevard and state Highway 270 in Pullman. The rallies drew roughly 1,000 demonstrators. A Planned Parenthood clinic in Pullman was damaged in early September in what investigators call an arson attack. (Chad Sokol photo / <!-- No credit provided -->)

PULLMAN – Supporters and protesters of Planned Parenthood lined a busy intersection Saturday morning in Pullman, where a health center run by the embattled health care provider was damaged last month in what investigators call an arson attack.

Toting signs that accuse Planned Parenthood of selling “baby parts” for profit, protesters echoed the concerns of Republicans in Congress who have threatened to cause a government shutdown if there aren’t enough votes to defund the organization.

Supporters waved pink signs urging passers-by to “Stand with Planned Parenthood” – a phrase that has spread on social media since a series of secretly recorded videos surfaced online, purportedly showing Planned Parenthood executives discussing plans to market aborted fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood officials have denounced the videos, saying they are heavily edited.

The dual rallies drew roughly 1,000 people to the intersection of Bishop Boulevard and state Highway 270, about a mile away from the Planned Parenthood health center that was severely damaged after someone threw a flaming object through a window on Sept. 4. The center did not provide abortions.

Each side claimed one side of the street. The opposing crowds were similar in number, including men, women and children. Passing drivers honked, chanted and jeered. The demonstrations were civil, for the most part; supporters and protesters engaged in discussion, and only a few debates escalated into noisy arguments. Police and sheriff’s deputies made regular trips through the intersection in patrol vehicles.

Julia Pusateri, a graduate student at Washington State University, said she received birth control from the center and was upset at the behavior of some who protested Planned Parenthood.

The center was “the only place where I felt comfortable” receiving some health care services, she said.

Planned Parenthood will open a temporary center Monday at 745 N. Grand Ave., No. 108, in Pullman to provide annual exams, birth control, testing for sexually transmitted infections and other services, the organization said in a news release. Reconstruction of the damaged center will take about four months and is expected to cost the organization about $250,000, the release said.

Pusateri also took issue with the actions of conservatives in Congress who are attempting to cut federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Abortions are a right of women who believe they aren’t ready to raise a child, she said.

“It’s always the choice of the individual, and the government doesn’t get to decide what’s best for the individual,” she said.

Robert Tetzlaff, a member of the Evangelical Free Church of the Palouse in Moscow, Idaho, was there in opposition.

“God values the life of every person,” Tetzlaff said. “He knows them even in the womb.”

Moscow resident Allen Frazier added, “We live in a culture that treats the most helpless and innocent people with brutality and death. I think our culture has a problem.”

Diane Lowe, a deacon at the St. James Episcopal Church in Pullman, said women are entitled to health care.

“My role as a deacon – and as a Christian – is to protect women,” she said. “We all need to choose life, and on that we agree. I firmly believe that all life is precious, but that’s my belief. I believe that we can provide access to health care.”

No suspects have been identified in the attack on the Pullman health center, one of four attacks on Planned Parenthood facilities that occurred over two and a half months. The latest was an arson fire at a Planned Parenthood clinic in California on Sept. 30.

“These protests are meant to threaten and intimidate patients from seeking vital health care services from Planned Parenthood, including lifesaving cancer screenings, testing and treatment for STIs, safe and legal abortion services, and family planning and birth control,” the organization said in a recent news release.