There is little doubt that David Daleiden is nervous that Planned Parenthood will blame Friday’s shooting at a Colorado Springs abortion clinic on him and his videos.
Daleiden and his Center for Medical Progress produced more than a dozen videos this summer and fall exposing Planned Parenthood’s organ harvest from aborted babies. Planned Parenthood has already said the videos would lead to violence against their clinics.
In a statement to Breitbart News, he flatly stated, “The Center for Medical Progress does not support vigilante violence against abortion providers. There are people at Planned Parenthood who I still consider friends and my thoughts and prayers are with them at this time for no one to be injured.”
In response to the inevitable charges against him, Daleiden said, “We only visited the Denver clinic in Colorado. PPRM CEO Vicki Cowart says Planned Parenthood still doesn’t know the full details of what is going on in Colorado Springs.”
Other pro-life leaders are echoing Daleiden’s statement.
Steven Ertelt, editor of LifeNews, told Breitbart, “Anyone who would direct violence towards a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic is clearly not pro-life. The shooter today is showing a crass and horrific lack of respect for human life that is totally at odds with everything the pro-life movement stands for.”
Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life called for calm:
As leaders in the pro-life movement, we call for calm and pray for a peaceful resolution of this situation. What is motivating this shooting will become clearer in due time. We ask that in the meantime, nobody jump to conclusions regarding the connection between this violence and the controversy over abortion and Planned Parenthood, and we ask that people do not use this situation to inflame emotions on either side of the abortion issue.
Jim Sedlak of the American Life League, who has been exposing Planned Parenthood for more than twenty years, said, “Although American Life League’s STOPP International fights against the policies and programs of Planned Parenthood, we condemn the use of violence. Every human being is created by God and is deserving of respect. We pray for the victims of the Colorado attack and for the quick capture of the person responsible.”
Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, and who serves on Daleiden’s board, said, “Operation Rescue unequivocally deplores and denounces all violence at abortion clinics and has a long history of working through peaceful channels to advocate on behalf of women and their babies. We express deep concern for everyone involved and are praying for the safety of those at the Planned Parenthood office and for law enforcement personnel. We pray this tragic situation can be quickly resolved without further injury to anyone.”
Reverend Pat Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition said, “Although we don’t know the reasons for the shooting near the Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs today, the pro-life movement is praying for the safety of all involved and as a movement we have always unequivocally condemned all forms of violence at abortion clinics. We must continually as a nation stand against violence on all levels.”
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