Sacramento picketers call for end of taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, Univision provides coverage News from the Trenches At noon on Tuesday, March 1, a small group of pro-lifers stood at a busy corner in front of the Robert Matsui Federal Courts Building in Sacramento as part of a nationwide series of vigils calling on Congress to cut off federal funding to Planned Parenthood. The picketers standing in front of the 16-story tall building were seen by large numbers of lunch hour pedestrians and drivers on downtown Sacramento’s busy I Street. Participants included representatives from the Knights of Columbus, several churches, 40 Days for Life, and area pro-life activists. The building houses offices for U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer and U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento. Both Boxer and Matsui are ardent pro-abortion voters and have opposed any cuts to Planned Parenthood. “Vigils for Victims”
While news releases were sent to local media to advise them of the reason for the event and to encourage them to provide information to their viewers about defunding Planned Parenthood because of its victimization of young girls and women, most news organizations shunned the vigil. There was one exception – Spanish-language Univision Channel 19. Univision Channel 19 sent Nelson Castillo, an award winning photo-journalist, to cover the vigil. Univision 19 now has more viewers in the Sacramento TV market than any of the four network stations, which compete with each other for English-speaking viewers. Univision broadcast coverage of the picketers displaying Spanish and English signs asking for the defunding of Planned Parenthood on its nightly Noticias (news) broadcast. The Sacramento vigil contingent displayed picket signs in both English and Spanish with the messages:
Tell Congress: NO TAX $ For Planned Parenthood
(¡NO MAS FONDO$$$ FEDERALES PARA PLANNED PARENTHOOD!)
Planned Parenthood is UNSAFE For Women & Girls
(¡PLANNED PARENTHOOD -- PELIGROSO PARA LAS MUJERES Y LOS NIÑOS!)
Planned Parenthood is AIDING & ABETTING Underage Sex Trafficking WITH YOUR TAX $
(¡PLANNED PARENTHOOD FACILITA EL TRAFICO SEXUAL DE NIÑAS!) Planned Parenthood Protects Sex Predators For good visibility, the messages were printed in black and red. (To obtain your own copies of the signs, request them by email at VIGILSforVICTIMS@gmail.com. Encouraged over the past few weeks by Live Action video exposés of Planned Parenthood staff offering to facilitate sex trafficking of underage girls, the nationwide program Vigil for Victims of Underage Sex Trafficking has held vigils outside Planned Parenthood and congressional district offices starting on Valentine's Day, Monday, February 14. The Vigils for Victims have continued as a grassroots movement to expose Planned Parenthood, especially in providing abortions and sex services to young girls, and facilitating further exploitation of women and girls. The Vigils have been held from noon to 1 p.m. since the lunch hour is the optimum time for vigil picket signs to be observed in most cities. The project is continuing in order to pressure the U.S. Senate and the Obama Administration to join in action taken by the House of Representatives on Friday, February 18, when the House voted 240 to 185 to cut off federal funds to Planned Parenthood. For more information on the campaign to defund Planned Parenthood, Click Here.
Monday, March 7, 2011
News from the Trenches:
