Anti-abortion protesters lined Charlotte Avenue over the weekend with the goal of keeping pressure on Planned Parenthood in the wake of a series of sting videos that began circulating in July.
Several dozen people turned out Saturday morning for the second protest since August aimed at a Nashville abortion clinic. Organizers said the crowd peaked at just over 200 protesters.
Jamie Jeffries, a Goodlettsville blogger who helped put together the rally, said it was part of a coordinated effort at more than 300 clinics nationwide.
“We want to just kind of send out a message to people who are driving by or walking by, because they are the ones that are funding Planned Parenthood,” she said. “We need people to realize that in order to end abortion, we need to end abortion providers.”
The protests follow the release of several secretly recorded videos in which anti-abortion activists posed as medical researchers. They recorded Planned Parenthood officials talking about how to supply them with fetal tissue.
Planned Parenthood says the practice is legal and medically ethical. But the videos have renewed calls to strip all of the nonprofit’s government funding, even though federal law already prevents tax dollars from being spent on abortion services in most situations.
The videos also triggered a hearing at the state Capitol, where lawmakers were told that Tennessee law also prohibits most spending on abortion.
The event was loosely organized by several local anti-abortion groups and activists, and it included a few state lawmakers.
Michael Gulley was among the few in attendance who disagreed with calls to strip Planned Parenthood of its funding. The self-described “abortion abolitionist” says focusing on the organization is misguided as long as abortion is legal.
“It’s child sacrifice,” he said. “And the answer to abortion is not balloons. The answer to abortion is the Gospel of Christ.”
The protest did not disrupt service at the Planned Parenthood clinic, which was closed for the day.
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