By Scott Tibbs, October 22, 2015
The October 21 city council meeting went just as most of us expected it would - a closed minded Democratic majority unanimously voting to endorse Bloomington's abortion mill. Nonetheless, it was good to see so many people show up to speak against this resolution even though the outcome was always a foregone conclusion.
When I got to the meeting, I could not get into council chambers because the pink shirt wearing Planned Parenthood activists had already filled the room. I haven't seen that many people at a city council meeting in a very long time and I do not recall ever seeing rows of folding chairs set up outside the chamber.
A few comments on the meeting itself:
It took a little while to get through "reports from council" and "reports from the public" segments of the agenda, and then the Democrats and Planned Parenthood monopolized the meeting for about 30 minutes with a presentation in support of the ordinance. It was clearly designed to tilt the field in favor of the resolution, an overkill gesture for an ordinance that was always going to pass 9 to 0.
Dawn Johnsen spoke in support of Planned Parenthood, but there was no mention of the fact that her husband John Hamilton is running as the Democratic candidate for Mayor. Hamilton did not speak at the meeting, though he can be seen in the background wearing his pink "Stand with Planned Parenthood" shirt as folks at the lectern are speaking to the council. Johnsen compared the campaign against PP to McCarthyism.
Two different speakers called on Dorothy Granger to recuse herself from the vote. Granger is a Planned Parenthood clinic escort and sponsored the resolution. She also voted to give thousands of dollars to the abortion mill where she is a clinic escort. Granger will be elected to a second term representing District II because she is not opposed.
Isabel Piedmont, the unopposed Democratic nominee in District V, said in her comments "Please do not force your religious beliefs on me." Piedmont apparently missed the part where there is no serious movement by city government to restrict abortion or ostracize Planned Parenthood in any way. This was a resolution in support of PP, after the council (with just two exceptions) has voted every year since 1999 to give thousands of dollars to the Planned Parenthood "clinic" on South College Avenue. The only ones forcing their views on others are the Democrats who dominate the city council, by forcing all citizens of Bloomington to donate to Planned Parenthood.
You can watch the meeting streaming on CATS at http://catstv.net/m.php?q=2718. You can also get a DVD of the meeting or a flash drive with a digital file of the meeting at CATS at the Monroe County Public Library for $10.
