A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT [source]
Pro-life
groups call for continued boycott of traditional holiday plants
produced by Paul Ecke Ranch, longtime backer of Planned Parenthood
Pro-lifers
are urging individuals and parishes not to buy poinsettias this
Christmas season to decorate homes and churches unless they are certain
the festive holiday plant is not produced or licensed by the Paul Ecke
Ranch, a company long known for its support of Planned Parenthood.
The
Ecke Ranch in northern San Diego County estimates it once supplied
between 70% and 80% of poinsettias distributed nationwide. The Ecke
family, which owns the ranch, has been honored repeatedly by Planned
Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside Counties for the family’s support
of abortion. In 2005, Ecke family matriarch Elizabeth Ecke attended the
dedication of a new Planned Parenthood facility in Carlsbad, which was
constructed with the help of $250,000 in Ecke family money. Other
family members, including Paul Ecke III, Lizbeth Ecke and Sara Ecke
May, have also donated thousands of dollars to Planned Parenthood.
Paul Ecke III, in an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune
made specific mention of his family’s support of the abortion provider,
telling the newspaper: “Our mother’s support and perseverance for
causes deemed lost or unpopular were a regular part of our growing up…
Those causes were for political campaigns, 4-H club, school bonds,
Planned Parenthood and others.”
In 2005, San Diego pro-life activist James Hartline, noting the
connection between Ecke’s poinsettia sales and the abortion industry,
organized a nationwide boycott of Ecke Ranch poinsettias. The boycott
has apparently met with some success: in 2007, Ecke Ranch announced
that it had substantially reduced its production of the plants and
instead had licensed the use of the Ecke name to other companies that
produce and sell the traditional holiday decoration.
Despite the apparent success of Hartline’s efforts, pro-life
organizations across the U.S. are encouraging a continued boycott. “We
ask everyone who loves life to be sure to check the source of your
poinsettia plants before you buy them,” says Pro-Life Wisconsin in its
Dec. 1 ‘Monday Update.’ “If they carry the name of Ecke Ranch, pass
them up and look for another brand.”
