By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
An inquisitive reporter at a Houston newspaper discovered that the president’s new serve.gov website promoting volunteerism contains requests from Planned Parenthood for volunteers to help “protect access to women’s health during the 40 Days for Life.”
Last week, President Obama unveiled a new web site, serv.gov, aimed at calling on all Americans to “make service a part of their daily lives.” The site contains more than 250,000 service opportunities at more than 400 organizations across the country where people can sign up to volunteer.
Unfortunately, the new site has a very political agenda.
According to the blog of pro-life activist Jill Stanek, Lisa Stauber of the Houston Conservative Examiner decided to do some digging on the new website. Stauber typed in the keyword “health” and “Houston” on the site which brought up an ad from Planned Parenthood announcing their need for volunteers to protect clients from participants in the 40 Days for Life campaign. Volunteers were being asked to make sure pro-life protestors didn’t speak or give any information to women seeking abortions at the clinic.
“They want to deceive our clients with misinformation and lies,” the ad says, “then prevent them from entering our health center for care.”
Volunteers are being asked to “walk our clients to and from our parking lot by escorting.”
Stauber also noticed that when she typed in the word “Democrat”, it brought up countless opportunities, including those to volunteer for Obama’s re-election campaign organization, while typing in “Republican” revealed few opportunities.
“Obviously, not everyone will agree with every volunteer opportunity list” Stauber wrote, noting that links to crisis pregnancy center volunteer positions are included. “However, it is troubling when clearly partisan, political positions are being staffed up using a government web site as a clearinghouse.”
She singled out Planned Parenthood as a troublesome place for the federal government to promote.
“Additionally, Planned Parenthood has also been outed on tape as not reporting statutory rape and covering up abusive relationships that they were required by law to report,” she writes. “An audit in Washington found that they were intentionally overbilling Medicaid, as well.”
“While there were many laudable volunteer efforts listed, remember this web site is funded by taxpayers. Should taxpayer funds be used to help the abortion industry? Should taxpayer dollars promote my.barackobama.com?” she concluded.
Stanek did her own digging and discovered a sign-up sheet on the site for Planned Parentood of Central Ohio. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin is also listed on the site, calling for volunteers to help peddle abortions at the Madison Farmer’s Market.
The website was also promoting volunteer opportunities at ACORN until a news organization, Breitbart.com, discovered the link and the administration removed the information.
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