Planned Parenthood Groups Urged To Continue Fight Former Federation Leader Denounces Clinic Bombing

Faye Wattleton, former leader of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, urged local leaders of the organization not to grow weary from recent violence.

She denounced the bombing of the Spokane Valley Planned Parenthood Clinic and encouraged Planned Parenthood of Spokane and Whitman counties to continue to fight for a woman’s right to choose.

“Violence of a movement that pronounces itself pro-life is the violence that every American should be terrified of,” Wattleton told a group of about 400 who gathered Saturday night at the Red Lion for Planned Parenthood’s second-annual gala dinner.

The invitation-only crowd cheered loudly when Wattleton asked why society cares so much about fetuses, but so little about children once they are born.

They listened intently when she talked of a teenage girl who “should have been more concerned about her make-up than the size of her misshapen abdomen.”

Wattleton, the daughter of a fundamentalist minister, was the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America for 14 years before stepping down in 1992.

During Wattleton’s administration, Planned Parenthood’s 170 affiliates provided medical and educational assistance to four million people each year.

She also steered Planned Parenthood into the role of advocate for abortion rights and low-income woman’s access to affordable health care.

“We don’t see the issue of parenting as a matter of convenience; we see the issue of parenting as a profoundly important decision, one that has lifelong implications,” Wattleton wrote in her recently-released autobiography, “Life on the Line.” “The whole debate over the rights of the unborn is ethically, morally, and religiously based. There is a wide range of views. The decision should be left to the individuals coping with the circumstances.”

Planned Parenthood has made progress, but still has a long way to go, Wattleton said Saturday. More than half of all pregnancies are unintended, she said.

The battle for the right of a woman to choose is not over, Wattleton said.

“Who will make the choices?” she wondered. “Will it be the woman? Will it the be government? Will it be the end of a terrorist act?”

Wattleton’s speech capped an evening that also saw Dr. Thomas Gilpatrick of Spokane honored as the 1996 Margaret Sanger Award winner for his defense of reproductive choice.

Wattleton closed her speech by telling the audience it is important to study both sides of the abortion issue.

“You cannot defend your rights if you don’t know what they are, where they came from and who wants to destroy them,” Wattleton said. “So much is lost when we cannot summon the courage of our convictions.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo