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Catholic News Herald

Serving Christ and Connecting Catholics in Western North Carolina
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071419 unit vandalizedCHARLOTTE — A new mobile ultrasound unit was vandalized July 11 as it was parked near Planned Parenthood’s new location in Charlotte.

The mobile ultrasound unit, operated by the Human Coalition and its Women’s Clinic of Charlotte, was parked overnight outside the Women’s Clinic, just a few blocks away from Planned Parenthood’s new abortion facility in uptown Charlotte.

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic is moving its Charlotte Health Center from Albemarle Road to 700 South Torrence St., located in the historically black Cherry neighborhood. The 10,626-square-foot building will double the space Planned Parenthood has for its reproductive health services and education programs.

The converted Sprinter van was specifically designed to be smaller than standard mobile ultrasound units so that it could safely park and offer services along the narrow streets of the historic Cherry neighborhood where Planned Parenthood plans to open this month.

The mobile ultrasound unit is part of the Women’s Clinic of Charlotte’s range of free services to pregnant women in need. It is staffed with medical teams that provide free pregnancy tests and pregnancy ultrasounds.

The Women’s Clinic of Charlotte, formerly known as the Pregnancy Resource Center, is part of the Human Coalition’s network of more than 45 pro-life pregnancy centers in the U.S. that provide medical services specifically tailored to abortion-minded women.

Sometime the night of July 11, the words “PRC lies to women” were sprayed in red on the side of the vehicle.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police were notified, but no arrests have been made as of July 14.

A representative from the Human Coalition said the damage to the van can be repaired, but they encourage people to support the prayerful presence of pro-life advocates outside the new Planned Parenthood facility.

“We extend prayer to the individual or group that vandalized our mobile unit,” Erin Forsythe, director of strategic partnerships for the Women’s Clinic of Charlotte, said in a July 14 statement. “We pray for and work toward the day when women and children are no longer targeted and dehumanized by Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry in Charlotte.”

071419 unit vandalized 2A new mobile ultrasound unit (above) had just been put into service outside the future Planned Parenthood facility in Charlotte last week, when it was vandalized (at top). (Photos provided)The new mobile ultrasound unit is one of many efforts by local pro-life advocates to counter Planned Parenthood’s expansion in Charlotte.

Before Planned Parenthood has even opened the new location, grassroots organizations and churches have held multiple prayer vigils and rallies just outside the tall iron fence encircling the building.

Their goal: to pray for an end to Planned Parenthood and to peacefully protest the growing problem of abortion in Charlotte.

Planned Parenthood has filed an abortion clinic application with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, but the application has not yet been approved, state DHHS officials said July 10.

Planned Parenthood will be the fourth abortion facility in Charlotte, where more abortions are performed than in any other city in North Carolina.

Charlotte’s centralized location, easy access and proximity to the South Carolina border make it the busiest city in the state for abortions.

According to the latest data available from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 36 percent of the total 27,183 abortions performed in North Carolina in 2017 were done in Charlotte.

Mecklenburg County reported 9,912 abortions in 2017 – more than any other county in North Carolina.

Charlotte has three abortion facilities already: Family Reproductive Health on Hebron Street, Carolina Women’s Clinic on Wendover Road, and A Preferred Women’s Health Center on Latrobe Drive.

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic has nine North Carolina locations. Six including Charlotte do abortion referrals and three – Asheville, Wilmington and Winston-Salem – perform abortions. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic bills itself as "one of the region's largest Planned Parenthood affiliates," with 14 locations spanning North and South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

Nationwide, Planned Parenthood performed 332,757 abortions in 2017 – more than half of all abortions in the U.S. that year – according to its annual report.

— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor