Francis Grady

Records Paint Bumbling 'Bomber' In Wisconsin Planned Parenthood Attack

Nick R. Martin | April 5, 2012, 1:58PM

Francis G. Grady, 50, exits the courtroom in US District Court in Green Bay, Wisconsin after his initial appearance on April 4, 2012.

(Photo by Corey Wilson/Green Bay Press-Gazette)

Armed with a hammer and a bottle filled with gasoline, Francis Grady allegedly walked up to the back of a Planned Parenthood clinic on Sunday night in Wisconsin and tried to set the place ablaze.

Things didn't exactly go as planned for the 50-year-old ex-con, according to federal court records obtained on Thursday by TPM.

Read more »

Planned Parenthood

Wisconsin Bombing Suspect May Have Attended Anti-Abortion Protests

Nick R. Martin | April 4, 2012, 12:17PM

Francis Grady (left) and the Planned Parenthood clinic in Grand Chute, Wis., that was bombed on April 1, 2012

Investigators are looking into the possibility that the man accused in the weekend bombing of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Wisconsin may have been involved with anti-abortion protests there in the past, a police official told TPM on Wednesday.

Read more »

Planned Parenthood

Police Arrest 50-Year-Old Ex-Con In Connection With Wisconsin Planned Parenthood Bombing

Nick R. Martin | April 3, 2012, 3:40PM

Planned Parenthood office in Grand Chute, Wisconsin.

Updated: April 3, 2012, 5:55 PM

The man arrested in connection with the weekend bombing of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Wisconsin is 50-year-old Francis Gerald Grady, a police official confirmed to TPM.

Grand Chute, Wis., Police Chief Greg Peterson confirmed the man's name after TPM tracked down information through the local jail.

Peterson said it's still too soon to know whether the man, who was arrested on a probation violation on Monday night, is the same person who bombed the clinic.

However, Peterson said "there's a strong link" between the man and the bombing, based on the information investigators have been able to establish so far.

Read more »

Planned Parenthood

Wisconsin Planned Parenthood Bombing Draws Federal Probe, Quick Rebuke From Santorum

Nick R. Martin | April 2, 2012, 12:09PM

Updated: April 2, 2012, 3:57 PM

A small, homemade bomb exploded outside a Planned Parenthood office in Wisconsin on Sunday night, prompting a federal investigation and the swift condemnation of violence by a Republican presidential candidate ahead of the state's primary on Tuesday.

Read more »

Personhood

Democrats Say Virginia Ultrasound Measure 'Akin To Rape'

Jillian Rayfield | February 22, 2012, 6:16AM

Update: February 22, 9:15 AM.

Virginia legislators are considering two bills that would create harsh restrictions on abortions. One of the measures, Democrats say, is "akin to rape." But there are signs that some Republicans may be having second thoughts.

Read more »

Indiana

Girl Scouts 'Radicalized Organization' Promoting 'Homosexual Lifestyles', Says Indiana Republican

Jillian Rayfield | February 21, 2012, 10:06AM

Next time you buy a box of Tagalongs, you might be helping to fund an abortion.

Or, at least, that's what one Republican lawmaker in Indiana might have you believe. State Rep. Bob Morris (R) wants to kill a resolution honoring the Girl Scouts because they are a "radicalized organization" that promotes "homosexual lifestyles" and funds Planned Parenthood.

Read more »

Donny Eugene Mower

California Man Gets Five Years For Planned Parenthood Firebombing And Mosque Vandalism

Jillian Rayfield | January 10, 2012, 10:28AM

A California man was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to firebombing a Planned Parenthood clinic and vandalizing a mosque.

Read more »

Donny Eugene Mower

Man Pleads Guilty To Firebombing Planned Parenthood And Vandalizing Mosque

Jillian Rayfield | October 10, 2011, 12:07PM

A California man pleaded guilty to a double whammy of crimes typically associated with the right-wing, including firebombing a Planned Parenthood and vandalizing a mosque.

Read more »

Planned Parenthood

Another Day, Another Battle In The GOP's War On Planned Parenthood

Jillian Rayfield | September 29, 2011, 5:00AM

Planned Parenthood Supporter

House Republicans have announced an investigation into Planned Parenthood's funding, in the latest move in the seemingly endless effort to cripple the women's health service provider.

Read more »

Kansas

Federal Judge Blocks Kansas Law To Defund Planned Parenthood

Jillian Rayfield | August 1, 2011, 1:51PM

A federal judge has issued a temporary injunction against a Kansas law that would strip all federal funding from Planned Parenthood.

Read more »

Kansas

Court Blocks Kansas Abortion Rules -- But State Planning New Set

Jillian Rayfield | July 5, 2011, 12:35PM

A federal court blocked the state of Kansas from enacting new temporary regulations for abortion clinics that could have shut down two of the three clinics in the state -- but state officials say they are devising an identical set of permanent regulations.

Read more »

Kansas

Kansas Planned Parenthood Gets Licensed Under State's New Abortion Regulations

Jillian Rayfield | June 30, 2011, 6:32PM

A Planned Parenthood branch in Kansas said Thursday that has been licensed under the state's new law regarding abortion clinics, meaning it will be the only abortion clinic that will remain open Friday once the new law takes effect.

The license came through after Planned Parenthood announced a lawsuit against the law on Thursday. "We have been targeted in this bill and Kansas women are the ones who will suffer if their health care is taken away," Peter Brownlie, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said in a statement. "This is radical, extreme government intrusion into private health care."

Read more »

Indiana

Federal Judge Rules Indiana Can't Block Planned Parenthood Funding

Jillian Rayfield | June 27, 2011, 10:47AM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

A federal judge has granted Planned Parenthood a temporary injunction against an Indiana law that stripped it of all federal funding in the state.

"If dogma trumps pragmatism and neither side budges, Indiana's most vulnerable citizens could end up paying the price as the collateral damage of a partisan battle," U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt wrote in her decision.

Read more »

Abortion

Anti-Abortion Film Envisions World Where Black Terrorists Murder Abortion Doctors

Jillian Rayfield | June 24, 2011, 7:00AM

A new anti-abortion movie called "Gates Of Hell" envisions a world where the government outlaws abortion because a group of black terrorists begins murdering abortion doctors.

Molotov Mitchell, a contributor for World Net Daily who produced the film, said in a promotion that "this film could do more damage to the abortion industry than anything we've seen. 'Gates of Hell' raises questions about Planned Parenthood's racist history in a way that's never been done before."

"But best of all, it casts a vision of what a post-abortion America could look like," he said.

Read more »

Planned Parenthood

North Carolina Votes To Defund Planned Parenthood

Jillian Rayfield | June 16, 2011, 5:45AM

Gov. Bev Perdue (D-NC)

The North Carolina legislature voted Wednesday to override Gov. Bev Perdue's (D) veto of the state budget, which includes provisions to strip Planned Parenthood of its federal funds.

The state Senate voted 31-19 to override the veto Wednesday afternoon, after the House passed a similar measure late Tuesday night in a vote of 73-46, according to the News and Observer.

Read more »

Indiana

Indiana And Planned Parenthood Take Defunding Battle To Federal Court

Jillian Rayfield | June 6, 2011, 12:24PM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

A District Court judge in Indiana is now considering whether to grant a preliminary injunction against a new law that strips Indiana Planned Parenthood of all of its federal funding.

Planned Parenthood has requested a preliminary injunction against the law, arguing that without it the state will stop receiving about $1.4 million in Medicaid funding on June 20, and would cut health care services for more than 9,000 people.

Read more »

Planned Parenthood

Indiana Moving Ahead With Planned Parenthood Defund Despite Order From Feds

Jillian Rayfield | June 2, 2011, 4:02PM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

Officials in Indiana say they will continue to implement a law that cuts all federal funding for Planned Parenthood in the state, despite a warning from the Department of Health and Human Services that the law violates the rules of Medicaid.

Marcus J. Barlow, spokesman for the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, said they are consulting with the state Attorney General on how to proceed. "The way the law was written, it went into effect the moment the governor signed it," Barlow told the National Journal. "We were just advised by our lawyers that we should continue to enforce Indiana law."

Read more »

Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood Sues South Dakota Over Restrictive Abortion Law

Jon Terbush | May 31, 2011, 10:46AM

Planned Parenthood sued the state of South Dakota last Friday over a new law that requires women to receive counseling at a "pregnancy help center" before they can have an abortion, and imposes a 72-hour waiting period between that counseling and when a doctor can perform the procedure.

In a press release, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota said that the new law toughens what were already the most stringent abortion laws in the nation and infringes on both patients' and doctors' First Amendment rights against "compelled speech."

"This law goes farther than any other in the country in intruding on the doctor-patient relationship, and putting women and families at risk," Sarah Stoesz, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota was quoted as saying in the press release.

Read more »

Planned Parenthood

Judge Refuses To Block Bill Defunding Indiana Planned Parenthood

Melissa Jeltsen | May 11, 2011, 3:35PM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

Indiana women on Medicaid who rely on Planned Parenthood for medical care might want to start looking elsewhere.

On Tuesday, a federal judge denied Planned Parenthood of Indiana's request for a temporary restraining order that would have stopped HEA 1210 -- a controversial measure that cuts off all federal funding to the state's largest reproductive health care organization -- from going into effect.

Read more »

Planned Parenthood

Indiana Planned Parenthood Seeking Injunction To Save Federal Funding

Melissa Jeltsen | May 10, 2011, 5:21PM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

Planned Parenthood of Indiana says it will file a temporary restraining order and injunction to keep HEA 1210 -- the controversial measure that would cut off all federal funding to the organization in the state -- from going into effect, calling the bill unconstitutional and in violation of federal law.

Read more »

Mitch Daniels

Mitch Daniels' Social 'Truce' Faces Test Over Planned Parenthood Vote

Melissa Jeltsen | April 28, 2011, 10:21AM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels' (R) "truce" on social issues is now facing its first real test.

Indiana is set to become the first state to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood, unless Daniels vetoes the bill sent to him Thursday by the Indiana State Legislature.

The bill would bar the state from entering a contract with any entity that performs abortions (excluding hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers). Planned Parenthood, which operates 28 centers in the state, would lose all public dollars.

Read more »

Planned Parenthood

LiveAction, Planned Parenthood Embark On Rival Bus Tours

Jillian Rayfield | March 9, 2011, 2:22PM

The anti-abortion activist group LiveAction has teamed up with the conservative women's group the Susan B. Anthony List for a bus tour in an effort to defund Planned Parenthood. In response, Planned Parenthood has launched its own "truth tour" in support of women's rights.

Read more »

Lila Rose

Lila Rose: DOJ 'Looking The Other Way' On Sex Trafficking

Jillian Rayfield | March 2, 2011, 9:09AM

Lila Rose, president of LiveAction.

Lila Rose, the head of the anti-abortion activist group LiveAction, decried Eric Holder's statement on Tuesday that the FBI will not prosecute in connection with a LiveAction video "sting," which was aimed at catching Planned Parenthood employees looking the other way on sex traffickers.

"An untold number of women, and possibly underage girls, are being exploited and likely in danger and the Justice Department is looking the other way," Rose said in a statement.

Read more »

Eric Holder

Holder: No Prosecution In Connection With Planned Parenthood Video 'Sting'

Jillian Rayfield | March 1, 2011, 2:18PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday that the FBI has declined to prosecute in connection with a series of incidents where a man entered Planned Parenthood and claimed to be a pimp operating a sex trafficking ring. Those incidents were later revealed to be part of a video "sting" by the anti-abortion group LiveAction.

"It is my understanding that the FBI actually has looked at that matter" and "prosecution was declined in that matter," Holder's commented in a hearing of the House Appropriations subcommittee.

Read more »

Abortion

Pro-Lifer Wants Hawaii To Reconsider Aborting "Choose Life" Plates

Melissa Jeltsen | February 14, 2011, 10:59AM

Hawaii may soon become the first state to cancel its "Choose Life" license plate because of insufficient sales---but it won't be for lack of trying. Steve Holck, the founder of Aloha Pregnancy Care & Counseling Centers and sponsor of the specialty plate has offered to personally pay for the 50 plates needed to avoid cancellation---that is, if he can find anyone who wants one.

Read more »

Planned Parenthood

LiveAction Releases New Audio Targeting Planned Parenthood

Melissa Jeltsen | February 10, 2011, 2:03PM

Lila Rose, president of LiveAction.

LiveAction, the anti-abortion group currently waging an all-out assault on Planned Parenthood, released a new audio file today. This one was allegedly recorded in a clinic in Washington, D.C.

In it, a woman pretending to manage an underage sex ring is heard asking about getting her workers STD testing and abortion services. This tape is the fourth release from the group this month.

Read more »

Abortion

LiveAction Releases Third Video Targeting Planned Parenthood

Jillian Rayfield | February 8, 2011, 5:32PM

Lila Rose, president of LiveAction.

The anti-abortion group LiveAction released a third undercover video today targeting Planned Parenthood in a James O'Keefe-style sting, which LiveAction says shows an employee in a clinic in the Bronx describing to a pimp and prostitute how to get taxpayer funded insurance for underage sex workers.

Read more »

Abortion

LiveAction Releases Second Planned Parenthood Vid

Rachel Slajda | February 4, 2011, 8:44AM

LiveAction's Lila Rose

LiveAction, the anti-abortion group that targets Planned Parenthood with undercover videos, released a second video Thursday of what it says is a Planned Parenthood employee aiding in child sex trafficking.

In the video, a man -- identified by LiveAction as an actor -- tells a Planned Parenthood employee in Virginia that he is in "sex work" and "manages girls" as young as 14 and 15. He asks questions about disease testing and abortions for girls under 18, and the employee provides answers.

This, LiveAction says, proves that Planned Parenthood aids federal criminals and fails to report crimes such as the ones the actor was pretending to have committed.

Read more »

Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood Fires Employee Who Helped Pro-Lifer Posed As Pimp

Rachel Slajda | February 2, 2011, 3:43PM

Planned Parenthood has fired an employee who apparently advised a man pretending to be a pimp to underage girls and illegal immigrants. The New Jersey attorney general is also investigating.

The firing stems from an undercover video released by the anti-abortion, anti-Planned Parenthood group LiveAction. LiveAction staged visits to eight Planned Parenthood clinics this month, including the Central New Jersey clinic shown in the video, during which an activist pretended to be a pimp. He told employees that he "managed girls," including 14- and 15-year-olds and illegal immigrants, and wanted to know how to get them tested for sexually transmitted diseases and potentially get abortions without alerting authorities.

In the video, a manager at the clinic appears to advise the man and a female companion on how to avoid scrutiny by having the girls lie about their age or go to another non-Planned Parenthood clinic altogether.

Read more »

Planned Parenthood

Sex Ring Was A Hoax; Live Action Posts Video Targeting Planned Parenthood

Rachel Slajda | February 1, 2011, 2:22PM

When a man showed up at eight Planned Parenthood clinics in five states within five days, claiming that he ran an underage sex trafficking ring, Planned Parenthood reported it to the FBI. They also figured it was probably a "hoax" in which anti-abortion types were trying to catch clinic employees saying something damning on tape.

Planned Parenthood was right. Today, Live Action, an anti-abortion group run by James O'Keefe associate Lila Rose, posted a video it claims shows a Planned Parenthood employee in New Jersey instructing a "pimp" on how to get his underage and illegal immigrant sex workers STD testing and abortions.

Read more »

Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood: FBI Investigation Underway Over Potential Sex Ring Hoax

Rachel Slajda | January 27, 2011, 10:13AM

James O'Keefe and Lila Rose

The FBI has begun investigating a series of incidents in which a man told Planned Parenthood clinics around the country that he was running an underage sex trafficking ring, according to a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood.

The FBI has been interviewing people at the clinics -- a total of eight spread out over five states and D.C. -- over the past two days, the spokeswoman tells TPM. She said Planned Parenthood has been giving law enforcement all the information they have.

The FBI did not return a request for comment.

Read more »

Planned Parenthood

Is It An Underage Sex Slave Ring, Or A Hoax? Either Way, Planned Parenthood Calls The FBI

Rachel Slajda | January 25, 2011, 2:19PM

James O'Keefe and Lila Rose

In the course of five days this month, eight Planned Parenthood clinics in five states and D.C. reported getting the same visit: A man said he needed treatment for a sexually transmitted disease and then, once alone with a staff member, implied that he ran an interstate sex trafficking ring that involves minors and illegal immigrants.

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America thinks that the visits, which happened between Jan. 11 and 15, are part of a James O'Keefe-style "sting." But the group called in the FBI anyway.

Read more »

Tom Hackbarth

No Charges For Minn. Pol Found With Gun Outside Planned Parenthood

Rachel Slajda | December 10, 2010, 8:34AM

Rep. Tom Hackbarth (R-MN)

The St. Paul, Minn. city attorney will not press charges against Tom Hackbarth, a Republican state representative who was handcuffed by police last month after they found him lurking outside a Planned Parenthood with a gun strapped to his hip.

Hackbarth had told police that he didn't even know he was in the parking lot of a Planned Parenthood. Instead, he said, he was looking for a woman he had been on a few dates with who lived in the area and who, he said, had blown him off on a date that night.

Read more »

Minnesota

Minn. Pol With Gun Outside Abortion Clinic Says He Was Just In Area 'Checking On' His Girlfriend

Rachel Slajda | November 24, 2010, 12:10PM

Rep. Tom Hackbarth (R-MN)

A security guard at a St. Paul Planned Parenthood clinic called the cops last week after he spotted a Republican state lawmaker with a loaded gun in the parking lot. But the pol says he was only "checking on" his online girlfriend, who he thought may be on a date with another man -- a claim police have not been able to corroborate because the man did not have a phone number or address for the woman.

According to the police report, a security guard reported the man, Rep. Tom Hackbarth, after he saw him get out of a pickup truck in the parking lot with a loaded gun in a hip holster. The guard saw him walk into an alley near the clinic.

Read more »

Phill Kline

Tiller Stalker: Ex-AG's Crusade Against Kansas Abortion Doctor Revealed In New Complaint

Justin Elliott | January 21, 2010, 4:41PM

Former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline

In a new ethics complaint that alleges large-scale abuse of office, the former attorney general of Kansas is accused of dispatching staff to record license plates of women entering George Tiller's abortion clinic, getting records from a motel where patients stayed, and obtaining state medical files under false pretenses, then retaining them after his term as AG was over and repeatedly lying about it in court.

All of this occurred during Attorney General Phill Kline's unsuccessful pursuit of Tiller, the doctor who ran Women's Health Care Services of Wichita and was shot to death, allegedly by an anti-abortion extremist, in 2009.

Kline is also accused of violating professional standards by appearing on the O'Reilly Factor five days before the 2006 election to talk about his pursuit of Tiller, flouting a warning from the state Supreme Court not to publicize legal positions. He was up for reelection as AG at the time.

Read more »