Rallies to call for defunding Planned Parenthood planned for Columbia, nationwide

Hundreds are expected to rally nationwide against Planned Parenthood on Saturday.

Three national pro-life organizations are playing host to more than 200 protests calling for Planned Parenthood to be stripped of all federal funding and for it to be redirected to other health centers that do not perform abortions, said Mark Baumgartner, the executive director of A Moment of Hope, a christian non-profit organization.

“The effort to defund Planned Parenthood has nothing to with taking healthcare away from women,” Baumgartner said. “It’s about taking tax dollars away from the nation’s largest abortion chain.”

Protesters will hold a rally locally at 9 a.m. at the Planned Parenthood of Columbia on Middleburg Drive. Others are being planned nationwide.