Shonda at Diotima links to an article about a Texas Planned Parenthood which formed an arrangement with the local library system. According to Shonda, “Planned Parenthood was banning pro-lifers from the library.”
Of course, that sentence isn’t even close to the truth.
The deal was, Planned Parenthood made its private collection (about a thousand books and other materials related to reproductive health) available to public library patrons in Waco, Texas, in exchange for access to the library’s cataloging software. Planned Parenthood paid the Waco library “a few hundred dollars a year” for the arrangement.
The problem was, Planned Parenthood doesn’t let pro-life zealots into their offices, for security reasons.
I don’t use the term “zealots” generically, but as a specific description of the particular folks suing the library. Here’s a quote from Rusty Thomas, head of Elijah Ministries and the first of the pro-lifers to file suit against the Waco library:
Planned Parenthood is reasonable to keep Thomas – who, in the incident he’s sueing over, showed up at Planned Parenthood with a mob of supporters – out of their offices. If hate-filled extremists like Thomas are let in, there’s no way to protect Planned Parenthood’s staff and clients from being shot or bombed by pro-life zealots; at the very least, there’s every reason to worry that the book collection would be defaced or destroyed.
Planned Parenthood’s collection was never part of the library, and the Planned Parenthood offices were never considered a branch of the library. Nevertheless, the basis of the suit is that Planned Parenthood’s paying the Waco library turned Planned Parenthood into a branch of the library, and therefore it is claimed that pro-lifers have been banned from the public library. That it isn’t even remotely true doesn’t stop pro-lifers from making the claim.
Planned Parenthood and the Waco Library are, understandably, severing their relationship. Which is probably for the best – it’s a mistake for libraries to associate themselves with any political cause but, well, libraries.
Nonetheless, Shonda’s biased sum-up suggests how the pro-life mythmaking machine will remember this incident. Years from now, pro-lifers will probably be whispering to themselves about that time the Evil Babykillers attempted to ban all pro-lifers from public libraries. Oy..
Oy indeed. Can you believe this crap? Let me tell you a (very short, hypothetical) story: one day, I decided to let a bunch of people come into my house because I’m a nice guy. A few of them were kind of grumpy, but my hospitality told my reason to shut up and let all of them in. The grumpy ones proceeded to let it all out and disrespect me, calling me horrible names–in my house, while they stayed there at my pleasure. I don’t know about you or your house, but if someone (who should know better) comes into my house and acts a fool, they are getting some shoe tattoos before I “learn them some respect”. After that, I tell them to get the hell out of said house and help them along as necessary, should that not happen immediately. In conclusion, anyone can be an asshole but only the brave (or stupid) ones do it on the home turf of their enemies.
Disclosure time: I hold the library system in high regard, and I was under the impression that most others did as well. I do not have the same high level of fondness for anyone who gets up in its business.
Let’s assume that the anti-abortion mob generally follows suit, at least on the first point. That having been said, I want the no-lifers out there in Amperland to riddle me this: if your people didn’t want to see the library system “tainted” by the “presence” of Planned Parenthood, why would some of your goofier, louder rank and file act like that in a place considered to be a public library?
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