by John Riley/Washington Bureau
Washington-Planned Parenthood loves Sarah Palin.
Not for her stance on abortion-she's strongly opposed-but because her presence on the Republican ticket is helping the group raise money.
An e-mail(I got it and passed it on to 89 people in my address book) urging people to donate to Planned Parenthood Federation of America "in honor of Sarah Palin" has generated more than 31,000 donations totaling $802,678 as of Saturday, the group said.
The e-mail, which has been promoted on some liberal blogs for weeks, asks people who are unhappy with John McCain's running mate to donate to Planned Parenthood. Donors are asked to 
list the address of the McCain campaign headquarters or the Alaska governor's office, which receive a card recognizing any donation made in Ms Palin's name.
list the address of the McCain campaign headquarters or the Alaska governor's office, which receive a card recognizing any donation made in Ms Palin's name. Calls to the McCain-Palin campaign went unreturned Tuesday.(ya think?)
A Planned Parenthood spokesman said the group wasn't the source of the original e-mail. The spokesman forwarded an entry from the The Huffington Post blog in which Los Angeles Times columnist and radio host Patt Morrison took credit for the idea.
Ms. Morrison said she started a campaign in 2001 to protest newly elected President Bush's opposition to abortion and raised more than $1 million in his name. In her recent blog entry, Ms. Morrison said she was delighted that her idea had been revived for Ms. Palin, who opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest.
Jim Roderick, president of Planned Parenthood of North Texas, said the spike in donations "speaks to the tenor of some people's concern about our issues," which include not just abortion but emergency contraception, family planning and testing for sexually transmitted diseases.
Such issues are especially important in Texas, Mr. Roderick said, because the state has the highest rate of first-time and second-time teen pregnancies in the U.S.
I know that at least 2 of the people I sent the e-mail to send in donations, plus I did...Every little bit counts..I'm plum proud to call you my friends....If any more of you would like to contribute, you can make donations as low as $5...so it won't break you and it'll piss them off...Best $5 I ever spent.
