Salt Lake Valley pro-life advocates join the nation in 'Women Betrayed' rally

Friday, Aug. 07, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — Pro-life advocates from across the Salt Lake Valley rallied peacefully in front of Planned Parenthood July 28, calling for state and federal officials to investigate and defund Planned Parenthood. The event was in conjunction with the national “Women Betrayed” rally organized by Students for Life of America and its partner organization Pro-Life Future; rallies took place in about 65 cities across the nation. 

Locally, the rally also was organized by Knights of Columbus Council #12181.

“Defund Planned Parenthood – now,” shouted the crowd of about 100 gathered at 160 South 1000 East in Salt Lake City.

“We came out today to demand that our representatives in Washington, D.C. and Salt Lake City hold Planned Parenthood accountable for their actions, and we are not alone in our fight,” said Callie Oppedisano, who co-chairs the Knights of Columbus pro-life committee with her husband, Joe, at Saint John the Baptist Parish in Draper. 

“Thousands have gathered with us today to give a voice to the voiceless, and to fight for women who deserve better than abortion,” said Oppedisano. “More than 327,000 babies are killed a year, at a cost of $500 million to taxpayers. The shocking footage that was recently revealed shows [Planned Parenthood] is also selling body parts of precious children for their own profit … a business transaction, not an act of compassion.”

Others who spoke at the Salt Lake City rally are also committed to abolishing abortion. 

Jesse Craig, vice-president of Right to Life at the University of Utah, said 94 percent of Planned Parenthood services are dedicated to abortions. 

Although Planned Parenthood promotes its advocacy for women’s liberation and women’s health concerns, “its main goal is to strip the humanity from a person just because that person is not fully developed and cannot speak in defense of him- or herself,” said Craig. “You cannot refer to an unborn baby as a blob of tissue or as less of a person, and then identify parts of that blob as human organs; you cannot have it both ways or deny the humanity of an unborn baby when its humanity is what makes it valuable.”

Also attending the rally was Sam Akins; he and his wife have five children. They learned from their fourth child, who had a severe heart defect, that “love prevails” when life is given a chance, he said. 

Before the Akins’ daughter was born, they were given three options: heart reconstructive surgery, palliative care or abortion. Despite fearing the uncertainty of her survival, the stress of caring for her and the financial burden of her high-risk surgeries, the Akinses chose to give birth to their daughter in 2012. 

“I knew the moment Rita was born she was given to us to serve a purpose,” Akins said.  

Following three major surgeries, Rita died when she was 6 weeks old. 

“Love prevailed in her death,” Akins said. “We experienced the joy that comes from fully committing ourselves to the care of a child, the blessings of selfless giving from our family, our friends and even strangers; we experienced the miracle of a baby’s undying love. Today we are calling for love to once again prevail for the unborn … for the employees of Planned Parenthood, that they come to know God’s love and the moral oppression of their work.”

Jeana Jones, co-chair of the state Knights of Columbus Pro-life Committee and 40-Days for Life, said at the rally that Planned Parenthood downplays the risks of abortion when counseling pregnant women. 

“They make abortion seem like it is the only viable option; they put pressure on women to choose abortion,” Jones said. “They have quotas and push to increase the number of abortions, making pregnant women who think they are coming in for an impartial perspective even more vulnerable. Many women who are pro-choice feel they have no other choice, but do not have the support to make other options work.”

“People can take action through prayer and by supporting pregnancy resource centers. Eighty percent of women who see a picture of their baby on an ultrasound choose life; support pro-life organizations,” said Jones. 

At the rally in Salt Lake City, Planned Parenthood representatives stood among the protesters with a banner that read: “Healthcare Happens Here. Stand with Planned Parenthood.” They declined to be interviewed for this article, but handed out a folder of information about the organization’s services.