Planned Parenthood Clinic shooting: A different reaction

Last Friday a man walked into a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs armed with a rifle and then opened fire. It was the violent beginning to a five-hour stand off at the end of which, he was taken into custody by the police. The incident would leave 11 wounded and three dead.

One of those that died was Officer Garret Swasey, 36, of the campus police force of the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. This man died defending people from a violent killer bent on inflicting murder. Jennifer Markovsky, 36, was a mother of two children. Ke'Arre Marcell Stewart, 29, was a Iraq War veteran and father of two as well. Officer Swasey was also a father of two children. These families ripped apart by one man's lethal act deserve our prayers for their losses. I will not identify the shooter nor talk about his alleged motives, he deserves no more attention, only utter contempt for his acts.

I will talk about the reactions to this, which is becoming quite clear to me from the lack of said reaction. Or the delay in reactions that some people actually, quietly approve of what this mad man did. Now why is that? Is it because where it took place; In a Planned Parenthood Clinic? Good Lord that is just plain wrong.

Republicans have had history of bad blood with Planned Parenthood, to the point of being toxic. That's no surprise to me. They overreacted to a now-discredited video and tried to defund Planned Parenthood in Congress. Which was the equivalent of swatting a fly with sledgehammer. That thankfully failed. Their reason for all this is simply that Planned Parenthood performs abortions. (I’m treating the issue of fetal tissue as a separate subject for a future article.) Many are against that for a variety of deeply held beliefs. I respect that, however that does not justify this shooting one bit.

Whereas the reactions Republicans and Democrats had to the attacks in Paris had everyone and their brother shouting against Daesh (ISIS hates this name), Muslims and refugees from Syria, the reaction to this latest incident of domestic terrorism could be cut down party lines. For instance, the reaction from Democratic candidates for president was loud and nearly instantaneous. The response from their Republican opponents? Nothing but crickets for about two days. It was only on Sunday news programs they began to speak out, but in muted tones. That delay speaks volumes, their lip service speaks even more.

This isn’t the first time a clinic of Planned Parenthood has been a target of acts of murder, arson and violence. Sadly I’m afraid it won't be the last. Just because they perform abortions. Incidentally it is in reality only 3 percent of the services that Planned Parenthood provides to its patients. Yet delusional people make the clinics, medical staff and even patients seeking their services a target of protests and even violence. We have been witness to the latter. To be silent is to condone this act of murder. To delay a response to this for political reasons is hypocritical at the very least, and quite possibly an act of support to the shooter. I do hope it is not the latter.

For the record I do not like abortions. I feel it should be something of the last resort. If the pregnancy is a threat to the mother or a result of rape or incest I really have no problem with it. But this must remain the legal right of the woman to control what goes on in her body, her doctor and none of my business. Nor is it the business of old men and some women in positions of political power. So I am pro choice and unashamed of it.

Planned Parenthood has provided access to safe, reliable birth control, STD checks, counseling, education, family planning and more to millions of women and men by the way, for decades. The services they provide are vital. The failed effort to defund them at a federal level had been successful, would have been devastating to Planned Parenthood and the millions it serves.(P.P. receives no federal funds for abortion services.) Now they are under threat by zealots and gunmen who may or may not be deranged, but definitely have Planned Parenthood clinics in their gun sights.

The subject of abortion has been historically one filled with controversy, raw emotions and very deeply held beliefs on either side of this issue. While I respectfully disagree with those opposing Planned Parenthood and abortion, in no way will I accept the use of violence to make ones point on either side of this issue. I never have nor ever will. The end does not justify the means, it never has.

Protest peacefully, call your congressman or senator. Write a letter to the editor, make your views known. Assemble in public and wave your signs in support for your issue. That is how you do it. Don’t pick up a weapon, torch or bomb to make your point known. It solves nothing, it helps nothing especially a cause. Above all, harm no one.

What that man did last Friday was an act of the lowest order and there is nothing on this earth that can justify it. Those in power on the conservative side were appallingly slow to condemn the act and the shooter. It is my deepest hope that the shooter remains behind bars for life. Anyone else trying to do the same in the future deserves the exact same fate.

Daniel D. Grota is a retired U.S. Army veteran with over 21 years in service. He is also a Tuesday morning co-host on KVRF 89.5 FM, Radio Free Palmer. Write to him at news@frontiersman.com.