When it comes to abortion issue, civility takes a back seat

When it comes to the abortion issue, civility is in short supply. And so it was in April when state Rep. Brian Sims, D-Philadelphia, insulted and berated protesters outside a city Planned Parenthood office and facility during two Facebook videos that went viral.

“Who would have thought that an old white lady would be out in front of a Planned Parenthood telling people what is right for their bodies?” Sims said in one of the videos. “Shame on you.” The nine-minute video uploaded to Sims’ Facebook page has been seen more than 1 million times.

Sims claimed the protesters were harassing women who were walking into the office for abortion counseling. The anti-abortion protesters insisted, however, that they were praying aloud for the babies — nothing else.

Now, one of our local state representatives, Republican Jerry Knowles, whose district includes parts of Schuylkill and Carbon counties, wants Sims censured for his behavior. Introduced by Knowles, the censure bill in Harrisburg, which is co-sponsored by Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, and 17 others, would strip Sims of all committee assignments and prevent him from being appointed to any new ones. The censure motion has been referred to the House Rules Committee for consideration.

While other Republican legislators have been equally critical of Sims’ insensitive and boorish behavior, it is rare for the House of Representatives to take such extreme action as censuring one of their own.

Knowles was especially miffed, saying that Sims never had the courtesy to apologize to the targets of his outrage, but after taking a lot of heat both from Republicans and Democrats, Sims issued an apology saying that his behavior was aggressive and that he acted inappropriately. He said he also regrets violating a Planned Parenthood policy not to engage with protesters outside of the office.

Just as some politicians do, however, instead of apologizing sincerely without equivocation, or just saying “I’m sorry” and letting it go at that, Sims couldn’t bring himself to do it.

At first, he resisted calls for any apology, answering his critics with a tweet declaring, “Bring it, Bible Bullies.”

He then had a change of heart. He started down the right track. “It was a mix of sort of Philadelphia righteous indignation with a lot of arrogance. And it was something I’m both ashamed of and very apologetic for,” Sims said.

But then he reversed course again. “My emotions took over because I was, and am, angry. I’m angry that despite abortion being legal everywhere, anti-choice zealots are causing panic, anger, confusion and rage for so many women.”

Not only did Sims’ actions capture a lot of attention in the Keystone state, they brought rebukes from national political figures, such as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

Sims confronted praying protesters on two separate occasions. In one of his narrated Facebook posts, he criticized “a bunch of white people,” standing out in front of Planned Parenthood shaming clients. “There is nothing Christian about what you’re doing,” Sims told the protesters.

The main focus of the criticism against Sims came when he confronted a mother and three teens, two of whom were her daughters. Sims offered $100 to Facebook viewers if they could provide the names of the teens, which Knowles and the girls’ mother, Ashley Garecht of Philadelphia, found not only outrageous but potentially dangerous, possibly unlawful because of the girls’ ages.

“He thumbed his nose at the Constitution,” Knowles said. Speaking to Garecht, on his “Legislative Report” podcast program, Knowles said, “You are there doing what he is supposed to be protecting and defending (protesting peacefully).”

Garecht said Sims called her a “white racist,” when, in fact, Garecht said that one of the protesters was a Latina girl. “We pray that women of all races would have their babies,” Garecht said.

Knowles said he contacted Sims twice to express his displeasure with his comments and the bad light it put on state legislators and their constituents, but Knowles said that Sims never replied. “This man is stepping on the throat of the Constitution and Pennsylvanians’ rights,” Knowles said of Sims.

“Those who support this resolution,” Garecht said, “it’s not about a vendetta; it’s about drawing a line in the sand saying that elected officials need to behave honorably.”

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com