Democratic lawmaker harasses protesters outside Planned Parenthood
Pennsylvania State Rep. Brian Sims recorded himself outside Planned Parenthood; Ashley Garecht recalls being confronted by Sims on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'
There have been growing calls for Brian Sims, a Democratic state representative in Pennsylvania who came under fire after videos surfaced of him harassing an elderly pro-life woman, to resign.
The calls grew louder after a video emerged of him offering online viewers $100 to dox teenage girls praying peacefully outside a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood abortion clinic.
An online petition started by LifeNews.com has garnered over 9,500 signatures as of Wednesday morning.
Sims, in a video posted online after the controversy, said he "can do better," stopping short of an apology. Planned Parenthood said it did "not condone...Sims' approach" but called him a "champion" on pro-choice issues.
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Ashley Garecht, the mother of two of the teens targeted by Sims, ages 13 and 15, told Fox News they didn't know he was an elected official when he started verbally attacking them for their skin color, religion, and political ideology.
"Just the fact that he's an adult male interacting aggressively with teenage girls, that alone is inappropriate," Garecht said. "Him being a politician doesn't just supersede him being an adult man aggressively approaching teenage women."
She added: "I would just love for people to understand the core of the pro-life movement is a prayerful movement, we want abortion to end. We want women to have a better option than abortion in their lives. This is not about aggression. I would never engage in that."
Garecht and her husband, Joe, started a GoFundMe "Show Brian the Power of the Pro-Life Movement" to help make something good come out of this, with the goal of raising $100,000 for the Pro-Life Union of Greater Philadelphia. As of Wednesday morning, they had raised about $28,000.
"This movement matters," Garecht said. "The lives of the unborn matter. The lives of the mothers matter. The lives of the clinic workers matter. We pray for them, and we want them to know they're loved and to let them know they have better options than just to terminate the life of an unborn child."
She told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that she and her daughters prayed for Sims and will continue to pray for him.
Former Planned Parenthood clinic worker-turned-pro-life advocate, Abby Johnson, challenged Sims to face her Friday in front of Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania. The founder of And Then There Were None called him "absolutely unfit to serve."
Johnson, along with several other pro-life leaders and organizations, are hosting an event Friday outside the Philadelphia abortion clinic, "to show that peaceful prayer volunteers cannot be silenced or bullied out of standing up for what they believe."
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Last week, Sims went on an eight-minute video rant, verbally harassing an elderly woman protesting outside a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic.
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The state representative recorded the woman outside the same clinic in Philadelphia, which is in his district, telling her to pray at home, calling her an "old white lady" and lecturing her about her Christian beliefs on the Periscope app.
This isn't the first time Sims has done this stunt. Two years ago, he recorded two people outside the Planned Parenthood, telling them "shame on you" and encouraging people to donate to Planned Parenthood.
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