So What's Pink Out Day, Anyway?

Planned Parenthood has been roundly attacked by conservatives in Congress lately — even more so than usual! — with many Republicans saying they are willing to have a government shutdown over the issue of funding for Planned Parenthood in the national budget. The issue of funding for Planned Parenthood, and the desire of conservatives to nix it from the budget, was reignited earlier in the summer when a series of heavily edited and secretly recorded videos permeated the internet and engendered a veritable conspiracy theory that claims Planned Parenthood "sells baby parts." Well, screw 'em, because Tuesday is Pink Out Day, a day of activism brought to us by Planned Parenthood that encourages a major push-back against false claims that are now threatening vital federal funding for Planned Parenthood. There are many ways to get involved with Pink Out Day and show your love and support for Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood's website describes Pink Out Day on Sept. 29 as:

Our time to say: Listen to over a million Americans who are sick and tired of the relentless attacks on reproductive health care. Listen to the one in five American women who has received care at a Planned Parenthood health center. It will tell anti-abortion extremists and politicians that we are everywhere and we will not let them use fraud and deception to shut down the health centers so many women rely on for care. It will be women and men nationwide standing together to say: We’re not backing down, not today, not ever.

Awesome. So how can we speak out and let Congress and the rest of the country know that we're standing behind Planned Parenthood? How can we take real action? Planned Parenthood has some excellent suggestions.

To add more visibility to the cause, Planned Parenthood is encouraging everyone to wear pink (seems like a no-brainer), and to share #PinkOutDay across our social media platforms. There are also Pink Out Day events happening around the country where groups will gather to rally in support of Planned Parenthood and to call for continued federal funding. Planned Parenthood is also offering free STD testing in 28 states.

In an article published Tuesday, Jezebel noted that the decision to hold Pink Out Day on Sept. 29 was a strategic one, as Tuesday is the day the House Oversight And Federal Reform Committee is convening over the allegations leveraged against Planned Parenthood in the "Planned Parenthood sells baby parts videos."

All investigations of Planned Parenthood that were prompted by the allegations in these videos have not turned up any illegal actions on the part of Planned Parenthood. Connecticut Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro will present a petition for continued of funding for Planned Parenthood that holds over 2 million signatures, according to Jezebel.