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…and the coverage is rather fair.
It’s hard to sustain a daily protest, particularly if you don’t see immediate effect but Ted, Christine and co carry on.
It’s always gratifying to see good local coverage, if only national media did such a good job.
If you missed the photos from the protest they are here.
I put the “two” in quotes because the Telegram is out of Worcester. From their story:
Dianne Luby, executive director of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said the grant her agency has received will allow it to “be part of the public health solution.” Though the teen birth rate in Fitchburg is 17 per 1,000 — lower than the state average of 49 per 1,000, she said — the city’s demographics make it ripe for a family planning program. The grant wouldn’t allow for abortions and the office wouldn’t have surgical equipment, she emphasized.
One thing that I found frustrating at the meeting is nobody on the counsel asked “what demographics”? What makes Fitchburg ripe for their services when the rate is way below the state avg and has been dropping?
The Sentinel’s coverage noted something else interesting:
Those who had originally wanted to draft a resolution against Planned Parenthood two weeks ago, but ultimately voted to take no action, cited legal advice by City Solicitor Michael Ciota, who said a resolution may be unconstitutional and could make the city vulnerable to legal recourse.
Ciota said the City Council must protect the constitution of the United States, which gives women the right to have an abortion.
“I am concerned finally that even if (a resolution) were not to open the door to liability in any immediate sense, the expressions of the individuals in this chamber which form the government of this city can,” Ciota said.
The counselors reaction to Mr. Ciota’s representations were the real story of the night and I’ll be discussing that in later posts on the subject.
Although it is not yet up FATV routinely puts up the city counsel meetings online. They will be broadcasting and re-broadcasting it on local TV as well.
How good was the reporting? There is a lot that was left out that I believe was significant but these were not meant to be essays, fact that the meetings ran so late might have been an issue since both papers run in the morning and deadlines looming.
As I continue to post on this I hope to add some insight that time and space might not have permitted for them.
..against Planned Parenthood and had a quote from city counselor Rosemary Reynolds that every pol who claims Catholicism should memorize:
Reynolds said she was protesting as a resident, and a member of the City Council, against Planned Parenthood coming to Fitchburg.
“I’m one person. I don’t divide myself,” Reynolds said.
As Emily Devlin reports there were quite a few people beeping in support of the protesters. I noticed one driver in particular who showed more enthusiasm than sense giving two thumbs up while taking his hands off the wheel in a snowstorm.
Devlin like Stacy and myself, quotes Fr. Bruso:
Bruso said a Main Street location, just down the street from Longsjo Middle School, makes the prospect of a Planned Parenthood office in Fitchburg even less palpable. Planned Parenthood is trying to depict itself as an agency that is only planning to educate the community about sexual health, Bruso said, but he believes that’s not the case.
“They don’t make money by giving out literature. They make money by performing abortions,” Bruso said.
And it would appear that for the second time this month events in Fitchburg are drawing more notice than usual. National notice.
If yesterday was any indication then the Battle of Fitchburg as Stacy put it will not be a silent one. Tuesday’s counsel meeting will be rather interesting.
My complements to Emily Devlin. The story is a pretty accurate one, the Sentinel has does good work covering this story thus far.
Update: Haemet links and states a basic truth:
it is entirely hypocritical for Planned Parenthood to advocate for treating sexual health like any other health issue; after all, this is the group that fights parental notification and parental consent laws
Meanwhile Creative Minority report is as impressed with Rosemary Reynolds as I am.
…to find out my hometown paper endorsed Scott Brown.
We are endorsing Scott Brown for the U.S. Senate because we believe he is capable of bringing a common-sense approach to Washington, D.C., focused on serving the people of the state who are struggling to get by, rather than the special interests in the Democratic machine of which Coakley is such a big part of.
I don’t remember the last time they backed a republican. Read the whole thing, it sounds like a point by point indictment of Coakley.
The funny thing is I picked up the paper at 7:30 for Stacy but we never got the chance to read it.
And as Mayor Wong was at the Coakley rally I see the endorsement didn’t effect her opinion.
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