Planned Parenthood Wary of Personhood Petition Activity

Concerned Women for America is reporting that Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri issued a call on April 23rd via their Twitter page to “Report Personhood petition activity!” More specifically, they asked their supporters to “Be our Eyes and Ears, particularly at and near places of worship!”

One has to wonder what Planned Parenthood hopes to gain from these “reports.” It's probably safe to assume that they believe it is illegal for religious institutions to participate in the democratic process.

Fortunately, Planned Parenthood is, once again, mistaken. As a letter from the Alliance Defense Fund regarding the Missouri personhood initiative points out, “Such charges are no more than scare tactics. The truth is that federal tax law allows a church to spend at least 5% (in some cases, up to 20%) of its total resources on direct lobbying for legislation, which includes both ballot initiatives and referenda. This certainly includes the right of church leaders to urge their congregations to vote for life and in support of the Personhood Amendment. Plainly stated, there is nothing in federal tax law to prevent a pastor from directly telling the congregation to support legislation that the church believes to be beneficial to the community and that would uphold the sanctity of life.”

Personhood Kansas would again like to thank Kansas pastors and churches for their efforts regarding the Personhood Kansas petition drive. If your congregation has not yet participated, we would encourage you to approach your church leadership in support of the right to life and full human personhood for all human beings, born and preborn.

And as always, be on the lookout for new faces to welcome with open arms. As Concerned Women for America asserts, “Anything that gets pro-choicers to attend a church service can't be all bad.”