More than 100 gather for Planned Parenthood protest

Upward of 100 people gathered outside Columbia’s Planned Parenthood in a peaceful protest Saturday as a series of controversial videos are causing a stir around the nation’s most well-known reproductive health and abortion provider.

The gathering, where many brought their young children and babies, was one of hundreds planned around the country Saturday in protest of Planned Parenthood, calling for cutting off the organization’s federal funding and for its eventual shutdown.

The message was an anti-abortion one but focused on the controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood, a private, nonprofit organization that has stayed viable in many areas where private doctors have been intimidated or harassed out of the abortion-providing business.

“The catalyst for this event was the videos,” said Hank Wall of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a national conservative Christian advocacy group. “They’re painful to watch. ... I don’t think you can watch the videos and have a neutral reaction. Either you think that this is manipulated, just so heinous that it’s got to be false – either you have that reaction, or you’re just heartbroken.”

The videos apparently show Planned Parenthood staffers talking about the profits to be made from the sale of fetal tissue, which like abortion itself, is a legal but controversial practice. The organization has drawn widespread criticism in the weeks since the videos’ release. Planned Parenthood leaders have responded, saying the undercover videos show a false representation of the organization’s practices.

Savannah Lynch recently watched the videos from home while holding her newborn, Jane, in her arms. “I was fighting back tears, and every so often I would just give her a tight squeeze because I would imagine just a few weeks ago she was inside of me,” Lynch said.

Lynch brought 8-week-old Jane and her two sons, 8-year-old Nathanael and 6-year-old Elias, to Saturday’s protest, where she stood holding a sign that read, “Dozens of pre-born babies killed here weekly.”

Near her, a group of fellow protesters softly sang hymns and recited prayers. Columbia City Councilman Cameron Runyan was among the crowd, standing and sitting along curbs outside the Planned Parenthood clinic just off Forest Drive.

Also standing with Lynch was Mandy Sandifer, another mother of three who hopes to see the defunding of Planned Parenthood.

“We really believe that life begins at conception,” Sandifer said. “We come here peacefully in love and also wanting to show these moms hope, that we’re not just telling them, ‘Don’t have an abortion.’ We’re also here to say, ‘There is hope, and there is a place for your baby.’”

Lynch echoed that message of hope.

“It’s not about condemnation, thinking that these women are doing something that is unforgivable or that they’re unlovable,” Lynch said. “That is not at all what we desire, but to express love and hope through the Gospel.”

This story was originally published August 22, 2015 at 7:24 PM with the headline "More than 100 gather for Planned Parenthood protest."