To say Planned Parenthood has been the center of a heated debate in the upcoming 2016 presidential election would be the understatement of the year.
After a video went viral of Planned Parenthood members allegedly discussing the sale of fetal tissue for scientific research, anti-abortion activists have been in an outraged frenzy.
Despite several investigations that have disproved these accusations against Planned Parenthood selling fetal tissue, we are still seeing acts of terrorism being committed.
Terrorist attacks on Planned Parenthood are not an unfamiliar experience with the clinics. They have faced shootings, anthrax scares, bomb threats, etc.
So when a shooting broke out at the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood this past Friday, it wasn’t the first time a Planned Parenthood clinic faced such a brutal act of terrorism.
Yes, we at the Editorial Board define this shooting as a terrorist attack, citing the definition of terrorism as the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.
According to the Washington Post, the alleged shooter of the attack in custody is Robert Lewis Dear, Jr., who justified his actions with the phrase “no more baby parts.” Anti-abortion activists have since been quick to distance themselves from Dear and any involvement with his attack on the Colorado clinic.
The shooting resulted in three fatalities, including a University of Colorado police officer Garrett Swasey. Four other officers and five civilians were also sent to the hospital with injuries.
The Editorial Board is hesitant to bring up the never-ending controversial debate of gun-control laws, but we feel it’s necessary to have a discussion on gun laws.
Because honestly, how many more shootings is it going to take for the government to get out of their cushy offices and do something? We’re not trying to downplay the seriousness of any of the casualties in this shooting, but what if one of the victims was an expecting mother?
The access to guns is just too easily available to people who are obviously too unstable to be in the hands of a lethal weapon. But given the circumstances of the gun-control debate, we ask that local authorities become more cognizant of the possibility of these shootings at Planned Parenthood clinics, especially because of the recent debate surrounding them.
We have also noticed the lack of discussion surrounding the shooter’s race and lack of naming this shooting an act of terrorism. Racial biases are so inherently constructed in the notion that a person of color, specifically of Muslim origin, can be the only perpetrators of terrorism.
The lack of discussion surrounding the assailant’s race and not labeling him as a terrorist is the loudest voice in the silence against the constructed racial biases.
What we find the most abhorrent of the entire attack was the nonsense of Dear’s phrase “no more baby parts” for his political motivation and justification of his act of terrorism against Planned Parenthood clinics.
How about no more shootings? How about stricter gun laws to help ensure the safety of people and to put a stop to all these shootings?
We could take Obama’s advice in his response to this shooting and quit normalizing these brutal acts of violence.
They are not normal, and if we did care, then something would be done. As Obama said, “Enough is enough.” Something has got to give.
