Posted by admin | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 02-08-2010
After attending last weeks meeting with the City Council and listening to representatives from Planned Parenthood, local residents and business owners, I’ve come to the conclusion that allowing Planned Parenthood to open on Main Street would do nothing but deter businesses from coming to Fitchburg, and even worse drive businesses out.
One of the things that concerned me most was the lack of answers given to the council by Planned Parenthood President and CEO Dianne Luby. In fact most of the responses she did give proved to support the city councilors point of view that Planned Parenthood is not needed here in Fitchburg at all.
Let me explain: Luby applauded our current social service programs for their dedicated work in bringing down the number of teen pregnancies by 20% since 2006. She also stated that the Fitchburg average (17.1 pregnancies per 1000 teens) is far less then the state average (49 pregnancies per 1000 teens). What does this mean? It means that the programs that are already in place are working!
So why did Planned Parenthood choose Fitchburg? Was it because Fitchburg needed their services? Obviously not since our teen pregnancy rates have gone down. No, they chose us because a little chart told them that Fitchburg was low income community, therefore, we must need them. Does that sound like a good enough reason?
Now if you listened to Luby at the meeting she says that Fitchburg was chosen because it has easy access to public transportation, but when further questioned it was easily noticeable that she knew little about our community or those surrounding us.
City Councilman Dean Tran asked why they did not consider Leominster or Gardner? They both have easy access to public transportation and to Route 2 but Luby gave no explanation as to why those cities were not looked into. Do they not qualify? From the sounds of it, Planned Parenthood never even checked into it. It had to be Fitchburg.
And why not? Fitchburg already has 40 other Social Service programs; why not one more? Fitchburg already has their own problems; why not dump it all on us?
The truth is Fitchburg use to be a mecca to the business and industrial community of the North Central Area and beyond. Now we are known as the Social Service Capital.
Residents, business owners and city officials have worked hard to rebuild this community and to restore the economic structure and foundation of this city. What some might have lost in the process might not be regained but change was noticeable. People were beginning to trust again; to make their way downtown bringing a heartbeat back to Main Street.
Do you honestly think new businesses are going to come to Main Street so that they can be next to a controversial organization like Planned Parenthood? Do you think existing businesses will stay? Two business owners left Tuesday nights meeting saying that they were done with Fitchburg and that they were relocating their current businesses. Is this what we want? To loose what we have already established!
And let’s not forget about the protesting. Do you think it will actually stop over time or escalate? If it escalates does the Fitchburg Police Department have the personnel or funds readily available for larger demonstrations. Imagine Main Street littered with a thousand protesters. Do you think that is going to encourage economic development?
And then there is the obvious, which is why we will have protesters on Main Street. Planned Parenthood does abortions, and though they claim they will not be doing them on Main Street in Fitchburg, the negative stigma of it follows them where ever they go. Which brings me to another point: What happens in two years when their federal grant money runs up? Luby told the city council that they could not abortions because they had received federal grant money to set up but that they were looking for a 5-10 year lease on Main Street. What happens in two years time if they don’t receive money from another federal grant? Luby told the council that Planned Parenthood had accessibility to other money through private donations. What’s to stop them from doing abortions then? Imagine an abortion clinic on Main Street two years from now. The number of protesters would double in a night; not to mention the possibility of violence that could break out from it.
I’m sorry but placing Planned Parenthood on Main Street would be like putting the final nail in the coffin. Main Street would fall and businesses would leave and Fitchburg would be left with an organization that cares more about statistics then the actual wants and needs of the people within our community.
And from what I witnessed and what I’ve heard the majority of the people of Fitchburg, including members of our City Council, do not want you, Planned Parenthood, here. So instead of forcing your organization upon us, try respecting our city by respecting our wishes and find a new place somewhere else, that as you (Luby) put it yourself so many times last Tuesday, will feel “welcomed”.
For all of those who would like to sign a petition in favor of City Councilman Dean Tran’s Resolution to keep Planned Parenthood out of Fitchburg, please stop by 701 Main Street Monday through Thursday of this week. Dean Tran would like to present his resolution to the Council this Thursday night.
Your voice will be heard!
