Planned Parenthood of Idaho has apologized after an employee encouraged a telephone donation aimed at aborting black babies.
Officials for the group said last month that the employee made a "serious mistake" encouraging the donation, the Idaho Statesman reports. But Planned Parenthood criticized the publication that made the call — The Advocate, a student anti-abortion magazine at the University of California-Los Angeles — for trying to discredit the organization by having an actor pose as a donor, the Idaho Statesman reports.
"A fundraising employee violated the organization's principles and practices when she appeared to be willing to accept a racially motivated donation," Planned Parenthood of Idaho CEO Rebecca Poedy said in a written statement to the Statesman. "We apologize for the manner in which this offensive call was handled. We take full responsibility for the actions of the fundraising staff member who created the impression that racism of any form would be tolerated at Planned Parenthood.
"We took swift action to ensure that each of our employees understands their responsibility to communicate clearly with donors about the fact that we believe in helping all individuals, regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation, make informed decisions about their reproductive health care."
According to a transcript released by The Advocate to the Statesman, an actor portraying a donor called Autumn Kersey, vice president of development and marketing for Planned Parenthood of Idaho, saying he wanted the money to be used to eliminate unborn black babies because "the less black kids out there the better."
Kersey responded: "Understandable, understandable. ... Excuse my hesitation, this is the first time I've had a donor call and make this kind of request, so I'm excited and want to make sure I don't leave anything out."
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