Who Is Mark Crutcher?

Lila Rose, the conservative activist behind undercover videos targeting Planned Parenthood, has cited anti-abortion extremist Mark Crutcher as an inspiration. Crutcher, who has employed tactics similar to Rose's, has a history of pushing inflammatory rhetoric to rail against abortion and attack pro-choice advocates.

Crutcher Views Abortion As Eugenics, Racial Genocide

Crutcher: “Real Motivation Behind The Legalization Of Abortion Was Eugenics And Racial Genocide.” In a September 3, 2010, CNSNews.com post, Crutcher wrote:

For almost 40 years, we've been told that the legalization of abortion was about “reproductive freedom” and “women's rights” and “choice.” Now, an explosive new documentary is exposing this rhetoric as nothing more than marketing hype designed to conceal a nasty hidden agenda.

With a mountain of documentation, Maafa 21, is proving to audiences all across America that the real motivation behind the legalization of abortion was eugenics and racial genocide.

Most frightening of all, Maafa 21 shows that this effort continues today with massive financial and political backing from a new generation of ultra-wealthy elitists.

Viewers are also stunned to learn that it was the American eugenics movement that gave rise to the Nazi effort to create “racial purity” and that this effort was in large measure funded with dollars from American corporations. They also learn that the first anti-abortion organizations in America were radical civil-rights groups of the 1960s whose leaders had seen that eugenics and black genocide were the driving forces behind the call for legalized abortion.

[...]

There is no disputing that the content of Maafa 21 can be a little overwhelming, but it “connects the dots” in a way that makes it clear why the abortion holocaust is happening [CNSNews.com, 9/3/10, emphasis added]

Crutcher: Moment We “Rationalize” Stem Cell Research, “We Become Absolutely No Different Than The Nazi Thugs Who Stole The Gold Fillings From” Jews. From an April 16, 2007, post by Crutcher on his blog, Mark's blog:

Today, some people are trying to rationalize using aborted embryos in medical experiments by suggesting that it is a way to “make something good come from abortion.” They argue that these children are either already dead or that they are going to be discarded whether we exploit them or not. The moment we buy into that philosophy, we become absolutely no different than the Nazi thugs who stole the gold fillings from the teeth of Jews they killed in their concentration camps. [Mark's Blog, 4/16/07]

Crutcher Has Compared Abortion To “Nazi-Style Eugenics.” As Slate reports:

Who else is behind this false idea that abortion providers are linked to a black genocide? The NYT reports that a “new documentary, written and directed by Mark Crutcher, a white abortion opponent in Denton, Tex., meticulously traces what it says are connections among slavery, Nazi-style eugenics, birth control and abortion, and is being regularly screened by black organizations." Crutcher's intended audience might want to take a look at what he's written about President Obama. Starting here on his blog: “Besides being a Marxist, Barak Obama is the most rabidly pro-abortion, morally defective and completely unqualified person to ever be given the keys to the Oval Office. This man is thoroughly evil and I have little doubt that we are likely entering into the most dangerous period in the history of our country.” See, too, here and here. Crutcher also says that the “pro-life movement is, by far, the most peaceful socio-political movement of its size and tenure,” comparing it favorably with the civil rights, labor, and anti-slavery movements. [Slate, 3/12/10]

Crutcher's Blog Is Full Of Right-Wing Rhetoric

Crutcher Declared Obama Is “Thoroughly Evil” And A “Morally Defective” Marxist. From a November 5, 2008, post by Crutcher on his blog, Mark's Blog:

Last night, the American people made history. Next January, Barack Obama will be sworn-in as the first African-American President of the United States. And from a purely racial perspective, that's a good thing. Although this election will not heal all of our nation's racial wounds, it at least signals that the wounds don't have to be permanent.

Unfortunately, the voters also made another kind of history.

During the cold war, the communists always claimed that we were foolish to worry about them trying to conquer us militarily. They said there was no need for that because they had the intent and the patience to take us over through an internal revolution. The conquest of America was not to be accomplished with bullets but with ballots.

We should have listened. But we didn't, and soon the most powerful political office in the world will be handed over to an avowed socialist. This morning, in some fetid corner of hell, Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Joe Stalin are toasting each other.

[...]

Be assured that I am not trying to downplay the significance of what just happened. Besides being a Marxist, Barack Obama is the most rabidly pro-abortion, morally defective and completely unqualified person to ever be given the keys to the Oval Office. This man is thoroughly evil and I have little doubt that we are likely entering into the most dangerous period in the history of our country. On the 20th of January, 2009, the fox will not be guarding the henhouse - he will be inside the henhouse. [Mark's Blog, 11/5/08, emphasis added]

Crutcher: “Godless Left” Is “Lying Through Their Teeth” In Saying “That Abortion Will Not Be Covered Under Obamacare.” From an October 5, 2009, post by Crutcher on his blog, Mark's Blog:

First, the Godless Left says that abortion will not be covered under ObamaCare. But then, they fight any effort to include language that specifically excludes abortion. With a straight face, they will say it is an unnecessary waste of effort to add this one tiny paragraph to the bill - even though it is already slated to be over a thousand pages long. In other words, they are lying through their teeth. If abortion is not going to be covered, a one paragraph addition to confirm it would do no harm. Their refusal to allow this provision in the legislation is irrefutable proof that they intend to take money out of the paychecks of every American to buy abortions for other people.

What we need to be reminding them of is that the word “healthcare” relates to the prevention and/or treatment of illness, injury and disease and that pregnancy is none of those. In addition, according to the abortion industry's own statistics, almost every elective abortion in America is done for a non-medical reason on a healthy baby and a healthy mother whose pregnancy poses no threat to either her life or physical well-being. What all this means is that, by definition, ABORTION IS NOT HEALTH CARE! [Mark's Blog, 10/5/09]

Crutcher Derides White Voters Who Supported Obama To “Purg[e] Themselves Of The Guilt Of Slavery.” From a December 1, 2009, post by Crutcher on his blog, Mark's blog:

It is the responsibility of high-priced consultants and political gurus to keep all these factions on the reservation and maybe they can. But even if they are able to do so, my theory is that the Obamanistas are aware that there is another member of their 2008 coalition which may not be onboard in 2012. This group is what I call “Purgers.”

These are white voters who supported Barack Obama in order to rid the country of the stain of racism. For this particular group, voting for Obama was not about politics; it was about purging themselves of the guilt of slavery, Jim Crow laws, segregation, and every other vestige of racial intolerance. They thought that by electing a black man president, we could show that the days of racism were behind us. It didn't matter whether this was reality or not; what mattered was the perception that it was true. I'm not convinced that these people really cared whether Obama won or not. As long as they voted for him, they proved-at least to themselves-that they weren't racist. In effect, they replaced the old, “I'm not a racist, some of my best friends are black” mantra with, “I'm not a racist, I voted for Obama.” Besides, Obama represented a “safe” vote because he was not perceived as some sort of “race-pimp” like a Jesse Jackson or an Al Sharpton.

In any event, an Obama sticker on the back bumper of a car was irrefutable proof that the driver was not a racist. That may explain why even here in North Texas, which is not exactly a hotspot of Obama mania, you see far more Obama stickers still on cars than McCain stickers. [Mark's blog, 12/1/09, emphasis added]

Crutcher's Life Dynamics “Helps Women Sue The Abortionists Who Kill, Injure, Or Sexually Assault Them”

Crutcher Founded Life Dynamics In 1992. According to his bio, in 1992 Mark Crutcher founded Life Dynamics, “which has since become widely acknowledged as one of the most innovative and professional pro-life organizations in America.” The bio further states:

Under Mark's direction, Life Dynamics has created an extensive litigation support system that helps women sue the abortionists who kill, injure, or sexually assault them. Mark's group also carries out aggressive direct mail campaigns within the medical community designed to discourage doctors and nurses from entering the abortion business. Life Dynamics has also developed strategies and products for crisis pregnancy centers that have been praised by the people who work in these facilities. [LifeDynamics.com, accessed 2/1/11]

Life Dynamics Investigates “The Sale Of Baby Body Parts.” From the Life Dynamics website:

In the pro-life movement our particular pro-life organization is also known for undercover investigations against abortion providers such as our baby body parts investigation. When we exposed the sale of baby body parts, it shocked pro-life activists. Now it's the National Abortion Federation & Planned Parenthood that are being shocked by our unique abortion research. That's because our most recent undercover abortion research effort exposed a cover-up of child sex abuse by America's two largest abortion providers, Planned Parenthood & the National Abortion Federation (NAF). The payoff for the pro-life movement will when civil lawsuits are filed against Planned Parenthood and National Abortion Federation clinics by victims of sexual predators who suffered ongoing abuse because these groups concealed child abuse and statutory rape. This anti abortion research should also be used by pro-life organizations to call for criminal actions against abortion clinics that conceal child abuse. [LifeDynamics.com, accessed 2/1/11]

Crutcher Employed Controversial Tactics To Challenge Planned Parenthood

Crutcher Recorded Fake Calls To Hundreds Of Planned Parenthood Clinics “Featuring Women Posing As Pregnant Minors.” As reported by the Los Angeles Times:

[Lila] Rose, by e-mail, and [James] O'Keefe, in a phone interview, said they were inspired by the work of Mark Crutcher, a Texas antiabortion activist who in 2002 taped fake calls to hundreds of Planned Parenthood clinics around the country featuring women posing as pregnant minors. [Los Angeles Times, 4/26/09]

Crutcher “Waged A Similar Campaign” To Rose's, But “Little Ultimately Came Of It.” AlterNet.org reported that Frederick Clarkson wrote of Rose and Crutcher's tactics against Planned Parenthood:

Crutcher waged a similar campaign for several years, and while his efforts were much ballyhooed in the conservative press, little ultimately came of it... [Crutcher's] efforts were, however, carried out over the telephone and the conversations were primarily with receptionists. Rose takes the effort farther. Video is far more compelling than recordings of phone calls. [AlterNet.org, 6/24/09]