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LifeNews.com, USA
Mar. 10, 2004
Steve Ertelt
www.lifenews.com

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ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 6455 • Posted: Tuesday March 16, 2004  

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Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — In an attempt to counter criticism that it’s unyielding support of abortion runs counter to the Christian religious views of most Americans, Planned Parenthood has announced it has hired a national chaplain to advocate the “spiritual side” of abortion.

The national abortion business appointed Rev. Ignacio Castuera, senior pastor of St. John’s United Methodist Church in the Watts community of Los Angeles, as its chaplain.

“His expertise in offering spiritual insight and guidance to the reproductive health movement is invaluable,” Planned Parenthood president Gloria Feldt said.

The appointment is also an attempt by the abortion business to foster better relations with the Hispanic community, which is largely pro-life.

But that won’t fly with Hispanic-Americans, Raimundo Rojas tells LifeNews.com.

Rojas, director of Hispanic outreach for the National Right to Life Committee, says Castuera has long been regarded a someone who has betrayed the pro-life and Catholic beliefs of most Hispanics.

“As is evident by his involvement with Planned Parenthood, a group that has long targeted Hispanics for annihilation through abortion, Rev. Castuera stands for all that is wrong in our community,” Rojas said.

“From its inception, Planned Parenthood wanted the involvement of the clergy to promote its message that Hispanic women are better off by destroying their children,” Rojas explained. “Castuera joins a long-list of misinformed Hispanics that buy into the message of death.”

Castuera’s involvement in abortion advocacy is not new.

He headed the Latina Outreach Project of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and spoke at the 1992 March for Women’s Lives in Washington, D.C. He has also worked in association with the California Abortion Rights Action League (CARAL) and was honored by the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights for his commitment to abortion.

Rev. Castuera has been a member of the PPFA Clergy Advisory Board since its inception in 1994.

As chaplain, Castuera will act as a public spokesperson to promote Planned Parenthood’s mission and vision. He will play a pivotal role in communicating the theological justification.

But Rojas says he doesn’t think Castuera will find many supporters.

“Thankfully, as Hispanics become more aware of what an abortion does and its aftermath, the Castueras in our community become more and more isolated,” he said.

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