Knoxville Planned Parenthood to host candlelight vigil

The latest on Planned Parenthood’s day of unity in response to shootings at a Colorado Planned Parenthood center.

They said they came to show that they can’t let what they called “violent extremism” win.

Last week, Vicki Cowart, president of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said the receptionist at the Colorado Springs clinic heard shots being fired outside the building and warned those inside to get away from the entrance.

Police say they’re adding patrols to clinics to guard against those who might be inspired to mimic a shootout that killed three people and injured nine.

Backers say Planned Parenthood provides basic health care; lifesaving cancer screenings, birth control, STI testing and treatment, and abortion.

At an event in Colorado honoring the three victims who lost their lives in the clinic shooting-35-year-old mother Jennifer Yurie Ah King Markovsky; 29-year-old father Ke’Arre Stewart; and 44-year-old police officer and father Garret Swasey-Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, spoke out against the recent violence and its hateful source.

It’s one of many events planned across the country, including in Washington, D.C., also aimed at showing support for keeping reproductive health care free of violence and intimidation.

“This is just a moment that has rocked all of our worlds in a way where it’s important for us to spend time together and to heal and to move forward”, she said.

Police still have no motive and don’t know why the clinic was targeted.

She also told the crowd that some anti-abortion protesters taunted staffers in Denver about the shooting when they went to work the following day. Speaking calmly, she said her husband’s message to the world was “Put your faith in the Lord”.