Is Planned Parenthood Now Teaming Up With Occupy Wall St?

Has Planned Parenthood joined forces with Occupy Wall Street?

While that has yet to definitively be determined, the group did join numerous leftist forces in Florida on Thursday to protest against Republican Governor Rick Scott. Among those groups present at a local rally was, of course, Occupy Orlando. LifeNews.com has more:

Awake the State*, which organized the rally, was accompanied by Planned Parenthood and Occupy Orlando at Senator Beth Johnson Park to stand “in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and the larger Occupy movement against corporate greed and control over government.”

Planned Parenthood, of course, was most interested in attending the event so that the organization could voice opposition to pro-life bills that Scott has supported since becoming governor this past January. In an e-mail to supporters, The American Independent reports that Planned Parenthood wrote the following:

Last session, Gov. Rick Scott and government bureaucrats launched an all-out assault on Florida women and families by filing 18 dangerous and invasive anti-choice bills. Now, it seems like it’s more of the same for the 2012 session.

Instead of strengthening the economy or creating jobs, they are playing politics with women’s health by introducing legislation that allows government bureaucrats to interfere with decisions that should be made by a woman in conjunction with her doctor, her family and her faith. We won’t stand for these games. Enough is enough.

Here, the reproductive rights group appears to be mixing economic strain and unemployment woes with its push for laws that are more friendly to abortion and other reproductive services. It's an interesting mix, although it's not unprecedented for the group to involve itself in such antics.

Van Jones reports that Planned Parenthood is only one of many groups to join his "Rebuild the American Dream" movement -- which, ironically, holds very similar beliefs as the Occupy protests.

Interestingly, Awake the State appears to have ties to Organize Now, the potentially ACORN-related group that the Blaze reported on earlier this week. A message posted last week on the Organize Now web site is entitled, "Awake the State Joins Occupy Orlando." It advertises the aforementioned event that Planned Parenthood was a part of.

"In solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and the larger Occupy movement against corporate greed and control over our government, we are speaking out again," the message reads.

According to the Orlando Weekly, only about 150 people showed up, with blogger Jeff Gore claiming that the event had a "lukewarm reception."

* Awake the State describes itself as a group that's working to "...urge our state legislators to reject budget cuts, stop the assault on our middle class families, and invest in Floridians again."

(H/T: LifeNews.com)