It was 1974 when a young woman stepped into our “Developing Child” classroom. She stood at the head of the class chewing and popping her gum like Laverne and Shirley. In her hand was a rubber uterus, which she tossed, squeezed, and fidgeted with as if it were a therapy ball. She was from Planned Parenthood. 

After an abbreviated anatomy lesson with the rubber organ, she told us that she (and her employer, Planned Parenthood) was there to help us (and our parents didn’t need to know). If we needed birth control, we could have it. If we needed an abortion, we could have that too. We were taken aback and slightly appalled. Sensing our discomfort, the nice lady assured us young girls that it was really no big deal at all. She said it (abortion) was like “picking a flower.” 

The unholy alliance between government funding and Planned Parenthood may be the ruin of the organization after all. This is the case for the Logan County Planned Parenthood as it closed its doors last Friday, citing lack of adequate funding. 

According to a State Journal-Register article, Logan County clients received letters in January informing them that the central Illinois abortion feeder would be closing. 

Robin Beach, regional chief operating officer, is quoted as saying the “funding has stayed flat for many, many years.” 

Planned Parenthood, unlike Pregnancy Help Centers, relies on government funding through the Federal Title 10 grant. The money is funneled through the Illinois Department of Human Services. 

The clinic, which is housed in the Logan County Health Department, served about 400 clients a year. 

In a college town (albeit where the largest of the three colleges, Lincoln Christian College and Seminary, is a Bible College) with access to public schools, government facilities, and tax payer money, it still could not stay afloat so it had to rely on the government. 

Contrast their plight with that of the Living Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center in Lincoln who served 808 women in 2007, and relied solely on donations by individuals, churches and the Grace of God. 

The Lincoln center opened in 1989, and has served over 7,248 women and children. 

Now is a good time to support this center and bring life and hope where there once was death. And perhaps this spring many more flowers will be allowed to bloom into the beautiful creations God intended them to be.