The following comes from an August 13 story by Nina D. Rhea. Ms. Rhea blogs at West Coast Pro-Life.

In the town of Placerville, located in El Dorado County and a distance of 45 miles from Sacramento, a new pro-life battlefront is emerging. A growing number of good souls are joining together and holding ongoing vigils outside of the offices of Stem Express. Horrified by the business’s dehumanization of mothers and their unborn babies, they come from Placerville and Sacramento to get their message out.

It began with a prayer vigil, organized in collaboration between Californians for Life, Operation Outcry, and Pray California.

“Twenty folks came to the first prayer vigil on August 3.  The word is spreading and the community support is amazing,” said organizer Alexis Gainsbrugh of Placerville.

Public vigils are scheduled every Wednesday and Friday, 12 Noon to 1:00 p.m. on the sidewalk, 778 Pacific Street, downtown Placerville.

An upcoming country wide event to publicly protest Planned Parenthood, “The National Day of Protest,” is scheduled for August 22.

Stem Express was made infamous in a series of videos titled “Human Capital” spearheaded by David Daleiden.  Six videos in the series have been released every week, with the most recent one featuring a fifteen minute interview with a Stem Express whistle- blower Holly O’Donnell.  A Stem Express press release denies the testimony of O’Donnell in the video.

The Sacramento Business Journal honored Cate Dyer, StemExpress CEO and founder, in a June 19 special issue, “2015 Women Who Mean Business”: “The company ranked No. 363 last year on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies, with 1,315 percent growth over three years. And it ranked No. 35 on Inc.’s list of the fastest growing women-led companies in the country.

In that same article, Dyer boasts about “giving an economic boost to Placerville and El Dorado County,” with her company bringing in millions in revenue.

If you want to join the prayer vigil at Stem Express, contact Alexis Gainsbrugh of Californians for Life, at alexmarie316@gmail.com.

Government funds more than 80 percent of Bay Area Planned Parenthood operations
The following comes from an August 12 Catholic SF article by Valerie Schmalz:

Planned Parenthood affiliates operating in the Bay Area receive more than 80 percent of their funding from the government, with more than 50 percent distributed by the State of California’s Office of Family Planning which serves 1.8 million low-income Californians, according to Planned Parenthood’s annual reports.

Government funding of the Bay Area Planned Parenthood affiliates – which cover most of Northern and Central California – is double the percentage of government funding for Planned Parenthood nationally. Planned Parenthood, including headquarters and all its affiliates, received $528 million from the government in fiscal year 2013-14 which was 41 percent of its budget, according to Planned Parenthood’s 2014 annual report.

“Obviously, the state lavishes money on Planned Parenthood, resulting in the much higher percentages of government money at these affiliates as compared to the national average,” said Katie Short, vice president of legal affairs for the Life Legal Defense Foundation, a pro-life legal nonprofit. “And those percentages will probably go up, since the Legislature just approved a 40 percent increase in the reimbursement rate for abortions” in June of 2014.

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, which includes San Mateo County, received 83 percent of its $93.5 million budget for 2013-14 from federal and state government sources. Planned Parenthood Northern California, which includes San Francisco and Marin counties received 84 percent of its $44 million budget from government sources. Overall, the seven California affiliates, with 112 clinics, averaged 76 percent funding from the state and federal government, according to information in federal tax filings and annual reports compiled by American Life League, a pro-advocacy group headquartered in Virginia.

Because the federal government is barred by the Hyde Amendment from allocating funds for abortion, most direct funding for abortion is state money.

“Planned Parenthood’s gross income comes from three main sources, which have historically split pretty evenly,” said Vicki Evans, archdiocesan Respect Life coordinator. These include income from clinic operations, contributions and bequests, and government grants and contracts. “Thanks to its extensive lobbying activities, government-sourced income now dwarfs the other sources.”

Short noted that Planned Parenthood’s political activism runs into the millions in political contributions. For instance, she said, “Planned Parenthood Mar Monte gave a total of $2.25 million in ‘05, ‘06 and ‘08 to defeat parental notification” ballot initiatives that would have allowed parents or guardians to be notified if a minor daughter was seeking an abortion.

Last year, the state budget increased abortion funding by 40 percent allocating an additional $5.5. million at the same time it continued a 10 percent cut in all other hospital and provider fees, which the California Catholic Conference president Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto said endangered access to care for all women and families participating in the Medi-Cal Program, calling it “insanely distorted health care” in a June 2014 statement.

“At a time when the state claims it is too poor to fully fund health care for nearly 10 million people, and women are struggling to find providers to give them basic medical care, the state returns a political favor by giving extra money to abortion providers,” Bishop Soto said.

A National Day of Protest Against Planned Parenthood will take place Aug. 22, 9-11 a.m., at Planned Parenthood, 4th and H streets, San Rafael. San Francisco County: 1650 Valencia St. Lisa Hamrick, (415)-658-1793; San Mateo County: 2907 El Camino Real, Redwood City. Janet Healy, (650) 931-5467; Marin County: 4th & H streets, San Rafael. Jeannie McCullough Stiles, (415) 435-2325 or Mari Pautler (415) 789-9071.