Feisty Turnout for Women Betrayed Rally

New Hampshire Right to Life and a number of Republican activists held a rally at the Statehouse in Concord on July 28, 2015, calling on political leaders to defund Planned Parenthood.

The Women Betrayed rally, one of more than 50 across the United States today, was organized in the wake of a series of video stings purporting to show Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of body parts of aborted fetuses.

The rally featured a number of pro-life speakers blasting the videos as gruesome display by officials from the organization speaking openly about harvesting body parts. Many called on the Executive Council to defund the organization at the state level although the last time that occurred, in 2011, the federal government went around the vote and funded the organization’s contract for services directly. Other defunding bills were put before the Legislature and rejected. The Executive Council voted to restore funding in 2014 retroactively.

“No more fear … don’t let anyone shut your voice down,” said Jane Cormier, the president of New Hampshire Right to Life. “This is not a political (battle). This is a moral battle we’re fighting.”

Pressure was also put on Executive Councilor Chris Sununu, who is considering a possible 2016 run for governor and has previously voted for funding for the organization. He recently told media outlets that he was “undecided” about a contract renewal. Susan Olsen, of the Women’s Defense League of NH, said now was the time to put Sununu on the hot seat.

“The furor that erupted after the videos of Planned Parenthood … talking about baby parts … appalled so many people and created such an outrage of communication to Executive Councilors, they said, ‘Gee whiz, maybe we need a little more information,’” she said. “Only one of them needs more information.”

David Wheeler, an Executive Councilor from the central and southwestern part of the state, told attendees he would be voting against the contract, to cheers.

State Rep. Josh Moore, R-Merrimack, one of the younger representatives elected recently, heralded his generation for standing up to preserve life and the rights of unborn. He noted that “life” was the first tenant of the declaration of independence.

“When are we going to say, ‘Enough is enough?’ and we’re done murdering little babies?,” he said. “These are God’s children … they have something worthwhile.”

Former U.S. Senate candidate Karen Testerman also commended many of the younger attendees, including a number of women and moms, who made a different decision than the “50 million abortions” that have occurred since Roe v. Wade.

“We have people who believe in the next generation and believe we should be replacing them,” she said.

Planned Parenthood and both local and national Democrats have denounced the videos – released by The Center for Medical Progress, a 501(c)3 non-profit group of “citizen journalists dedicated to monitoring and reporting on medical ethics and advances” – calling them inaccurate, sinisterly edited, and an attack on the reproductive freedom of women. While Republicans in the U.S. Senate have been making moves to ensure the organization receives no taxpayer dollars, the White House has stated that there will be no plans to defund the org.

A third such video was released earlier today, showing an official in Denver discussion per-organ pricing derived from abortions, according to national media outlets.

WATCH the video here.