Updated 6:40 p.m.: Planned Parenthood has admitted fault, saying a staff member inadvertently distributed material along with material that was age-appropriate for the kids at the event.
I’m going to keep it brief. I saw Kentucky Science Center’s social media post about the Planned Parenthood coloring book. They claimed that Planned Parenthood distributed adult-themed comic books to children. The whole thing sounds ridiculous. Does Planned Parenthood have an adult comic book? Potentially.
A website called the Visual Aid Society claims to have created a coloring book for Planned Parenthood as a way to engage supporters at a yearly conference. This does not seem to be a project geared toward regular public offerings. This should be the first clue that something is amiss. We don’t actually know if Planned Parenthood ever used this book despite its existence. In a post by a conservative radio host, Andrew Cooperrider, images of the supposed distributed material were shared by him and a few of those who commented in his posts with images credited to Kari Lynne Stevens on Facebook.
To put it plainly, it looks like a lot of people jumped the gun, including the Kentucky Science Center. Apparently, no one in this situation took the time to verify that these books actually went out, and who, if they did, actually distributed them.
The context clues in the situation are pointing toward, “This doesn’t pass the sniff test.”
According to WDRB, Planned Parenthood released a written statement stating that while they were invited to the Kentucky Science Center “Health & Wellness Days” event for 8 – 13-year-old students, they did NOT distribute any coloring books at the event.
In their statement, according to WDRB, the director of external affairs for the organization, Jennifer Allen, said, “We want to be clear: the coloring book currently being circulated online was not distributed at the event. Claims suggesting otherwise are false and appear to be part of a coordinated attempt to stir outrage and manufacture controversy. We remain committed to showing up for Kentucky youth and families with the information they need to lead safe and healthy lives.”
Looking at the way this has unfolded, and the evidence that points to a single website with very thin evidence of this occurring otherwise, I’m giving a big ole “Bullshit” to the claim and am disappointed that the Kentucky Science Center didn’t do its due diligence to be sure the claim was true before issuing such a weak statement in response to a manufactured controversy.
The sources are blatantly conservative, and not one seems to be a parent or a child. Instead of a controversy for Planned Parenthood, this is a lesson for the public to learn how to verify claims, and for the Science Center to use some basic logic and science to do the same.
In an update to the saga, according to reporting by WDRB and WLKY, Planned Parenthood has admitted the error in a statement:
“We have learned that a staff member inadvertently distributed an item that wouldn’t typically be used in a setting like this event, along with many other accurate and age-appropriate materials. While all material at the event was medically accurate, we apologize for this error and are reviewing our internal protocols.”
If this is the case, Planned Parenthood needs to issue an apology to the Kentucky Science Center and to the parents of the children. They also need to investigate the supposed staff member who would be so careless. We still stand by the fact that everyone in a situation like this needs to do their due diligence and be sure the facts iron out. In this case, the facts sit firmly with Kentucky Science Center, and Planned Parenthood has some housecleaning to do.
