More than 250 Organized Protests Against Planned Parenthood Set for Saturday, August 22; Five Taking Place in Tennessee
More than 50 groups around the country that are concerned for the unborn are backing protests at Planned Parenthood locations nationwide this weekend, with more than 250 events thus far in 47 states and the District of Columbia, including five protests in Tennessee.
Since mid-July, six disturbing undercover videos have been released by the Center for Medical Progress, all detailing Planned Parenthood practices that point to the sale and harvesting of the tissue and organs of unborn babies.
The Tennessee Pastors Network (TNPN, www.tnpastors.net) is encouraging Christians in the state to stand for the sanctity of life by seeking out ways they can protect the unborn.
“We cannot ignore the recent videos that have exposed the gruesome abortion business, and the abhorrent practices of Planned Parenthood should move all people of faith to action,” said TNPN President Dale Walker. “The organized protests around the state and throughout the nation on Saturday are a chance to not only exercise our First Amendment rights of assembly and peaceful protest, but to also take a tangible stand for life. Millions of unborn babies need our show of support now.”
The latest Center for Medical Progress video, according to LifeNews.com, shows how the abortion business sells body parts of aborted babies without patient consent. “The video,” reports LifeNews, “features Holly O’Donnell, a licensed phlebotomist who unsuspectingly took a job as a ‘procurement technician’ at the fetal tissue company and biotech start-up StemExpress in late 2012. … The new video (released Aug. 12) includes O’Donnell’s eyewitness narrative of the daily practice of fetal body parts harvesting in Planned Parenthood abortion clinics, describing tissue procurement workers’ coordination with abortion providers, the pressure placed on patients, and disregard for patient consent.”
“The Tennessee Pastors Network stands firm on the issue of the sanctity of life,” Walker added, “and this issue will never be won until churches divest themselves from all companies that profit from, promote or philanthropically support abortion. We have seen that abortion is a gruesomely profitable business and, therefore churches must screen their funds in a biblically responsible manner. The church must ask how much of God’s money is acceptable to be invested in any manner associated with abortion. Not one penny!”
Protest information for this weekend’s events at Planned Parenthood locations around the country is organized at the web site www.protestpp.com, with a listing of sponsors and co-sponsors, protest locations and ways to organize a protest, as well as a links to view the undercover videos. In Tennessee, protests are planned for Johnson City, Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville and Pigeon Forge (read more).
For more information about the protests, email protest@prolifeaction.org or call (773) 777-2900. Sponsors are Created Equal, Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, Pro-Life Action League and 40 Days for Life. More than 50 co-sponsors include Alliance Defending Freedom, American Family Association, Family Research Council, JillStanek.com, Life Training Institute, Live Action, March for Life and STOPP International.
On Sept. 17, TNPN will co-host the “Stand in the Gap for Truth” Rally in partnership with several state legislators at 11 a.m. at the Legislative Plaza, 301 6th Ave N in Nashville.
The rally, in response to many months of judicial and political decisions that have taken away states’ rights and stripped Americans of their religious liberties, will give Tennesseans a voice and equip them to call for change. Areas of focus will include conventional marriage and family, a lax immigration system, weak terrorism laws, education, health care, religious liberties protections and the violation of the U.S. Constitution.
TNPN is a state chapter of APN the largest national network dedicated to equipping pastors to be a voice for truth in the public square. For more information on the rally, visit www.tnpastors.net.
TNPN and APN offer pastors numerous online resources that help clergy choose sermon topics and find information for other church ministries. With some free and some paid resources, topics include abortion, apologetics, creation, the culture war, economics, education, the environment, history, homosexuality, Islam and marriage, along with many others.
The Tennessee Pastors Network encourages pastors to bring together biblical and constitutional principles in their sermons and provides resources to pastors throughout the state. For more information on TNPN, visit its Facebook page or call (931) 267-0816.
TNPN is a group of biblically faithful clergy and church liaisons whose objective is to build a permanent infrastructure of like-minded clergy who affirm the authority of Scripture, take seriously Jesus’ command to be the “salt and light” to the culture, encourage informed Christian thinking about contemporary social issues, examine public policy issues without politicizing their pulpits and engage their congregations in taking part in the political process on a non-partisan basis.
The American Pastors Network is the largest, national network of pastors who believe in the authority of scripture; who boldly preach the whole counsel of God with a disciplined application of a biblical worldview to public policy; who are building a permanent infrastructure of biblically faithful pastors and lay leaders; and who are mobilizing congregations to participate in the political process on a non-partisan basis. For more information on APN, visit www.AmericanPastorsNetwork.net
The American Pastors Network is a Ministry Program Affiliate of Capstone Legacy Foundation (a 501(c)(3) non-profit Christian Public Community Foundation registered nationwide). APN’s daily short radio feature, “Stand in the Gap,” airs on more than 40 stations, and the American Family Radio Network airs the one-hour “Stand in the Gap Weekend” on 140 additional stations nationwide. A live one-hour program launched in 2015, “Stand in the Gap Today,” airs on several Pennsylvania radio stations.
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To interview Dale Walker from the Tennessee Pastors Network or a representative of the American Pastors Network, contact Deborah Hamilton at 215-815-7716 or 610-584-1096, ext. 102, or Beth Harrison at 610-584-1096, ext. 104, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com.