Anti-abortion group Radiance Foundation president goes after nonprofit research outlet

In a new blog post on LifeNews.com, the Radiance Foundation’s Ryan Bomberger goes after the Guttmacher Institute, calling it a “global pro-abortion extension” of Planned Parenthood that is “continually lavished with misleading credentials by mainstream media.”

As Bomberger points out, Guttmacher is generally referred to as a “nonpartisan research group” by big-name media outlets, including ABC, NPR, CNN and The Washington Post. The Institute describes itself in similar terms and says it has the goal of “advancing sexual and reproductive health in the United States and worldwide through an interrelated program of social science research, policy analysis and public education.”

Though it began as a research extension of Planned Parenthood, and was founded by a former president of the organization, the Guttmacher Institute severed ties with the chain of women’s health clinics in the late ’70s, following the death of its founder. In 1977, it officially became an independent, nonprofit corporation. Bomberger argues, however, that “the cord is still attached.”

“So be aware when you’ve been Guttmacher’d,” writes Bomberger. “It blindsides you with alarming yet unqualified statistics (full of self-citations) and convincing buzzwords like ‘scientific’ and ‘comprehensive’.”

Bomberger’s Radiance Foundation was recently responsible for a string of controversial, anti-abortion billboards targeting African American communities across the country. Critics say that Radiance’s “Too Many Aborted” campaign wrongly accuses Planned Parenthood of racism.