The Gift of Death

Planned Parenthood sells abortion gift cards for Christmas season

By Michael W. McLean

With Christmas just around the corner, last-minute shoppers are searching frantically for presents to give their families and friends. Luckily, gift cards may be just the answer. From Best Buy to the Gap, there are a variety of choices.

But this year, shoppers have another option: Planned Parenthood of Indiana is selling gift certificates redeemable for anything from contraception to abortion. The gift certificates are available online and range in value starting at twenty-five dollars. Other Planned Parenthood chapters in Illinois, New York, Michigan, and Alaska are considering implementing the gift certificate program in their states as well. 

In a season that celebrates life, Planned Parenthood’s decision to sell holiday gift certificates is irresponsible. Defending the certificates, Planned Parenthood has called them “the gift of life.” Ironically, this “gift of life” is from the nation’s single largest provider of abortions. Indiana’s own health commissioner has called the gift certificates “a really meaningful gift.” But when I think of meaningful gifts, a certificate for an abortion isn’t my first thought, nor, I suspect, the first thought of most Americans.

I can picture it now: The Magi bearing the gift of a Planned Parenthood gift certificate to Mary instead of the traditional gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Handing the gift certificate to Mary, the Magi remark, “Be more careful next time.” 

Most frightening about the Planned Parenthood gift certificates are their implications of the continued commercialization of Christmas. For a holiday that most would concede is overly commercialized, what does the Planned Parenthood gift card say about the future trend of commercialization? If gift certificates for birth control and abortion are now socially acceptable, what is next? 

The fact that a gift card from someone can be used for an abortion just doesn’t sit well with me. Today we are slowly losing a moral consciousness and the common sense to determine what is appropriate.

In the end, the Planned Parenthood gift certificates have sparked unnecessary controversy during a season that is supposed to bring people together in the spirit of joy, love, and life. There are boundaries that you just don’t cross, and sadly, Planned Parenthood has crossed the line in selling abortion gift cards.