Pastor Wiley Drake on a Rampage Once Again!

You have just watched Pastor Wiley Drake make a fool of himself in action at the Orange County (CA) Board of Supervisors meeting on March 10. Orange County Supervisors want to pull education money from Planned Parenthood and instead fund an anti-abortion abstinence only group. That doesn't sound like a good idea to me, or to Yvette Cabrera at The Orange County Register.

It was the spring of 1965, the same year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that married women had the right to use contraceptives.

That spring a committee of physicians and community volunteers organized themselves with the hope of opening a family planning clinic. Not only did they achieve their goal on May 29, 1965 when they opened this clinic in the outpatient department of the county's hospital, but they received $30,000 in government funds to support the clinic.

Who exactly approved this funding? The Orange County's board of supervisors, according to historical documents from Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties' archives, which outline how this same committee applied for affiliate status with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America that year as well.

This particular clinic did not provide medical services at the time, but it offered educational services about birth control from 1965 to 1968, according to Stephanie Kight, Planned Parenthood's vice president of community affairs.

"So back in 1965 our county supervisors understood the need for these services because they allowed us to operate our first clinic at the county hospital," says Kight.

Let's flash forward to 2009. Last week, the county board of supervisors unanimously voted to suspend a $300,000 contract with Planned Parenthood – money that pays for five certified health educators who provide comprehensive reproductive education throughout the county. They give live presentations at schools and after-school programs, and they help run toll-free and online hotlines.

None of this funding, which is allocated from tobacco settlement revenue, is used to provide abortion services, a fact well documented in data submitted to the county, according to Planned Parenthood. The nonprofit is part of the Orange County Coalition of Community Clinics, which shares this funding with other member clinics.

Still, abortions was the reason given when county supervisors explained why they cut the funding. They don't believe the county should fund abortions, and they are morally opposed to abortions.

It was a move that shocked, among others, Dr. Thomas C. Bent, medical director and chief operating officer of the Laguna Beach Community Clinic, which is also a member of the coalition and receives tobacco settlement funds.

"Focusing their energy on punishing somebody who offers a legal service to women in need, as Planned Parenthood does, is so wrong," says Bent. "The irony is that the money that's going specifically to (Planned Parenthood's) program is educational so that women won't get themselves in a situation where they need an abortion..."

Nut cases like Wiley Drake want to impose their beliefs on everyone -- but Drake seems to forget we have separation of church and state in this country.

As Bent put it, part of his job as a doctor is to avoid making judgments. Instead, he's supposed to make sure his patients understand the full scope of the medical options available to them. He believes the same should apply to politicians.

"There has to be a separation of church and state," says Bent. "I don't proselytize in my exam room. (The board of supervisors) shouldn't proselytize with the power of their office."

Well said, Dr. Bent!