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Look What the Lord Has Done!

 

Look What the Lord Has Done!

Here is the article from the Waco Tribune, Tuesday, May 13, detailing the wonderful victory our Lord gave to Rusty and several other gentle warriors for Christ who confronted the unholy alliance that was being established in Waco, Texas, between Planned Parenthood and the Waco Public Library. This is great news for all of us who believe in the power of Almighty God when it comes to storming the gates of hell. If we are willing to take the fight to the gates in Jesus' Name the gates of hell cannot prevail. Hallelujah!

"For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith." (1 John 5:4)

Yesterday, while working at my home office, I received one of the most joyous phone calls in the history of fighting the battle for the souls of men, the lives of children, and for the future of our nation. It was the Waco Tribune, our local newspaper in Waco, soliciting a comment from me concerning Planned Parenthood's announced defeat in our public library. That's right, the unholy alliance between Planned Parenthood, the city of Waco, and our public library has been officially severed. They will no longer be allowed to seduce vulnerable children and promote their sexually immoral materials through our library system.

Needless to say, my mouth dropped to the floor, tears came to my eyes, and my lips were filled with praise to our mighty King for granting us this wonderful victory. I told the reporter, "We're just rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ for this great victory." Thankfully, they kept that specific quote in the paper to bring glory, honor, and praise to the One who is worthy.

This victory, after a long ordeal, fulfills two stated goals concerning this injustice. Number one, we knew we had to put the trumpet to our mouths and sound the alarm throughout the nation. Other cities needed to be warned in order to defend their communities and not fall prey to Planned Parenthood's attempt to slither in their libraries. Thanks to United States Justice Foundation, Liberty Legal Institute, Life Dynamics, WorldNetdaily, Global News, Operation Rescue/Operation Save America, and Steve Wetzel of Missionaries to the Unborn, the warning went forth. Thus far, we have not heard of another attempt to infiltrate other public libraries by Planned Parenthood. First mission accomplished and we give God the glory!

Our second goal was to obviously undo the damage here in Waco. As of yesterday, I'm here to report our second mission has now been accomplished as well. I'll leave you with this quote by G.K. Chesterton to encourage your hearts that God still honors and grants victory to His Davids of today who take on the Goliaths of this world. "Unless a man becomes the enemy of evil, he will not even become its slave, but rather its champion. God Himself will not help us to ignore evil but only to defy and to defeat it!" Rise up Church, be encouraged, and do not give silent consent to evil to become its champion. Our Lord will not allow His people to ignore the great evil of the day, but empower us to only defy and defeat it! I hope this article affirms this great truth for you.

Suit splits Planned Parenthood, city endeavor

By CINDY V. CULP Tribune-Herald staff writer

Planned Parenthood of Central Texas has severed its ties with the Waco-McLennan County Library System, a decision its director said was forced by a lawsuit.

The family planning agency was sued in federal court in April by three Waco women who alleged it had violated their constitutional rights by denying them entry into the agency's buildings at an October event. The event was meant to showcase Planned Parenthood's Audre Rapoport Library, which had become a part of the city's library system a few months earlier.

Supporters of the Waco women who complained their rights had been violated said they welcomed the news.

The suit seeks unspecified damages, a judicial declaration that the women's constitutional rights were violated and an injunction to stop Planned Parenthood from blocking anti-abortion protestors from its library at 1121 Ross Ave. The city of Waco and Planned Parenthood's executive director, Pam Smallwood, are also named as defendants in the suit.

Smallwood released a statement Tuesday announcing the agency's decision. Although she refused to answer most questions because of the lawsuit, she acknowledged that the agency's actions were in response to the legal action.

"We regret the necessity to end our successful collaboration with the Waco Library System but have determined that the inherent limitations involved in collaborating with the city created insurmountable barriers to maintaining security in our facilities," Smallwood said in the statement.

"Although we support an individual's right to exercise their first amendment freedom of speech, we must reserve the right to exclude individuals from our library in order that our security not be undermined.

"Given the level of violence perpetrated on women's health care providers in the United States, Planned Parenthood of Central Texas simply cannot risk placing our patients and staff in jeopardy...Although this decision ends the computerized connection between Planned Parenthood of Central Texas and the Waco-McLennan County Library, Planned Parenthood has for decades maintained the Audre Rapoport Library with excellent health education materials and will continue to do so for the community."

The announcement culminates almost a year's worth of controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood and the library system. It began last summer when the two entities announced they had joined forces through a memorandum of agreement that included the city.

Under the agreement, the library system allowed Planned Parenthood to use its cataloging system in exchange for access to educational materials contained in the agency's library. Those materials include books, magazines, videos and pamphlets related to human sexuality and health.

The agreement also specified that Planned Parenthood library patrons could check out materials from any of the city's four library locations by requesting that they be delivered to Planned Parenthood. Similarly, card holders could return materials at the agency, regardless of the library location from which they had been checked out.

As soon as news of the agreement became public, local anti-abortion leaders spoke out against it, saying the arrangement made Planned Parenthood a de facto branch of the library system. They asked city leaders to end the agreement, arguing it was illegal for a private entity to become part of a library system run by the city. They also said it was unfair to let one non-profit organization include materials in the library system and not another.

The debate intensified after the October event. Smallwood has said the event was an invitation-only affair meant to give people the chance to see the agency library and its materials. Abortion opponents, however, have said the event was advertised as an open house. And when Planned Parenthood officials refused to allow known abortion opponents into the agency library, the latter group complained their rights had been violated.

Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel for Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute, the organization that helped the women file the lawsuit, said late Tuesday he had not been informed of Planned Parenthood's decision. He said it was a surprise but was welcome news.

Asked whether his clients - Waco residents Donna Jernigan, Gloria Orozco and Camille Hinojosa - would now drop the suit, Shackelford said it was likely if Planned Parenthood admits its partnership with the library system was unconstitutional and agrees not to undertake such an effort again.

"Our goal was to make sure if the government is involved in something that people are not discriminated against," Shackelford said. "Obviously we'll look at it and see what they are actually going to do. But it won't change the fact that a violation occurred."

Rusty Thomas, who heads an anti-abortion organization called Elijah Ministries and is one of the most vocal anti-abortion activists in the greater Waco area, also was pleased by the news Tuesday. He filed his own suit against Planned Parenthood, two of its officials and the city of Waco in federal court in March.

Thomas' suit, filed with the help of a California-based organization called the United States Justice Foundation, makes many of the same points as the other suit, namely that Planned Parenthood discriminated against people based on their abortion views. Thomas said he will consult with his attorney before deciding whether to pursue the suit, which also requests unspecified damages.

"We're just rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ for this great victory," Thomas said.

Jackie Dodson, interim director for the library system, said Tuesday she was "kind of sorry" the relationship with Planned Parenthood was ending. She refused to comment further, however, referring questions to city of Waco attorney Art Pertile.

Pertile could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Cindy V. Culp can be reached at cculp@wacotrib.com or 757-5744

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