by Hayley Bifulco
With five days before the nationwide event, #ProtestPP, I noticed that the largest affiliate on Long Island, Planned Parenthood of Nassau County, was not listed as a location to protest on the national protest’s website: protestpp.com. I heard some talk from local pro-life activists about spreading the word and just showing up on the event day to protest. I decided to take what I had learned at CEC for Life this summer and organize an official protest.
I registered online as the local leader to protest the Hempstead clinic. Most of the residential neighborhoods of Hempstead, N.Y. consist of minority, low-income people. Down the road from this Planned Parenthood are two college campuses, where in which Planned Parenthood tries to recruit students as supporters and clients. This affiliate performs surgical abortions two days a week. In New York State, the law permits a woman to choose an abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Planned Parenthood participates in the illegal selling and trafficking of aborted baby body parts.
By registering as the leader, pro-lifers searching for a location were able to contact me through protestpp.com. This network, along with contacting known local pro-lifers and creating a Facebook event, helped this protest have about 100 people in attendance. We even had a counter-protest of about 30 Planned Parenthood supporters. About five other locations on Long Island had protests.
In those few days prior to the protest, I contacted the few Long Island news outlets with a press release provided by #ProtestPP. The day before the protest, I called them to make sure they received my email and that they would cover the event. None of them told me they were coming. They either said the decision is at the producer’s discretion or, “We got it, thanks.” I couldn’t believe it when two of the bigger outlets, Newsday and Verizon Fios 1, showed up. The Fios 1 video package aired on the six o’clock news. It was awesome.
Even more awesome was being one of the 78,000-plus people peacefully protesting Planned Parenthood in 354 locations in the United States and six other countries. God has called us to be a voice for the voiceless and stand up for injustice. It is up to us to respond.
I couldn’t believe it when two of the bigger outlets, Newsday and Verizon Fios 1, showed up. The Fios 1 video package aired on the six o’clock news. It was awesome.
Planning a protest in five days stressed me out a little bit, but I always had the peace of God with me. I knew that it didn’t matter how many people would show or if the press covered it. I knew that most of my friends that follow me on social media or knew what I was planning didn’t agree, with apathy or passion, with me.
Yes, this protest was about calling the government to take action to defund Planned Parenthood and criminalize them for breaking the law. Yes, this was to raise awareness about the true character of Planned Parenthood as they try to hide behind the curtain of women’s health. No, this fight is not over.
This is the time for pro-lifers to stand together and say, “No more! The sanctity of human is being violated and women deserve honest healthcare— not Planned Parenthood.” This is the time to fervently pray in the armor of God against the enemy’s attack on the family and our nation.