Darkness of death hates the light of life

Opening a pregnancy or “life-affirming” clinic near an abortion center is a brilliant idea. The juxtaposition of life/light and death/darkness is more than a sharp contrast between the missions of the two organizations—it’s the difference between a living human being, protected in his mother’s womb until he’s able to survive outside it, and a dismembered human being, scraped out of this safe place because his existence is inconvenient.

Planned Parenthood recently filed a lawsuit against Stanton Healthcare International, a pro-life medical organization based in Boise, Idaho, for parking its mobile medical unit at an office complex in nearby Meridian. The complex has Planned Parenthood as one of its tenants, but Stanton has purchased property at the complex and plans to build medical facilities there. In the meantime Stanton is serving patients in Meridian with its mobile unit in the parking lot, but Planned Parenthood says the unit violates the office complex’s covenant agreement and creates a “nuisance.”

“This is targeting a life-affirming women’s medical clinic that is providing access to women to receive quality healthcare at no charge and alternatives to abortion,” Stanton Healthcare founder and CEO Brandi Swindell told LifeSiteNews. “It’s very clear that Planned Parenthood doesn’t want any competition. They don’t want anyone taking business away from them. They are bothered by our presence because the reality is they don’t want women to have free choice. They don’t believe in choice. They believe in one choice, one option, and that’s what they sell, and that’s abortion.”

Planned Parenthood believes “in one choice, one option, and that’s what they sell, and that’s abortion.”

The mobile unit does ultrasounds and provides supplies for mothers and babies. No wonder Planned Parenthood dislikes it, and I’m sure it’s unhappy about this other fact: Stanton owns property on both sides of the abortion mill and plans to build two pro-life medical centers.

Swindell started Stanton Healthcare 10 years ago, and she’s clear about what she wants to do: Replace the abortion center. Providing care to women does not have to include killing their babies. In fact, Swindell is working with a local hospital to offer mammograms, something Planned Parenthood doesn’t offer but is often wrongly credited with providing.

“We don’t even go out and say anything to the girls [in Meridian],” Swindell said. “They see us and then they come in.”

What better place to build pro-life clinics than next to facilities that terminate life? The convenience of learning about alternatives from supportive people might save many unborn lives. Women can and do receive care at clinics that don’t kill babies as part of their services. Abortion isn’t healthcare.

Swindell noted one aspect of Planned Parenthood’s existence that bothers pro-lifers: Abortion is awful enough, but people who oppose it have to fund it. The abortion mill receives $500 million of our tax money every year. If Planned Parenthood is so wonderful, why won’t abortion-advocating donors prop it up?

Shining light into darkness is the key. We know the power of that light. As the Apostle John wrote about Christ in my favorite book of the Bible:

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. … That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.”