Another sponsor of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin’s Roe v. Wade celebration is The Great Dane, a brewery-restaurant with four locations in Madison and one in Wausau.
Great Dane customers, surprised and disappointed to see the name on the list of NARAL event sponsors, contacted the owner to share their disappointment and received the email response below.
This response from The Great Dane is different from how Copps/Roundy’s handled the situation. Copps/Roundy’s admitted the donation was a violation of company policy and will not happen again. In contrast, the owner of The Great Dane is well aware of what NARAL does and stands for; he supports that wholeheartedly. Great Dane patrons need to be aware of what the money spent in Great Dane establishments supports — NARAL’s abortion agenda.
We are posting this response for two reasons. One, think about how you would defend this pro-life position in this situation. Read the rationale and understand the mentality that many people have for justifying their support of NARAL or Planned Parenthood. Two, whether you are a former, current or future customer of The Great Dane, know that you have options while in the Madison area — there are plenty of businesses to patronize that don’t bankroll clandestine abortions for 15-year-olds, aborting disabled babies or perpetuate the fallacy that abortion is safer than childbirth.
Dear ,
Thanks you for taking the time to contact The Great Dane about your concerns over our donation of a $50 gift certificate to NARAL Wisconsin. I am saddened by your decision not to patronize our businesses anymore. The Great Dane is a generous supporter of community organizations of all types, maybe the most generous of any business in Dane County if you look at our donations versus our revenues. Our biggest contributions go to organizations like, Big Brother & Big Sisters ($10,000), Madison Children’s Museum ($6,500) , United Way ($4,500), and LOTS more. If you choose not to patronize The Great Dane, that is your decision and I respect it, but it seems pretty short sighted to litmus test The Great Dane the way you have. What other people/businesses will you cut out of your life on the basis of one issue? That slope can get pretty slippery. I spoke with a gentleman who was upset by our gift to NARAL and he asked me to make a gift to Elizabeth House. The Great Dane is happy to do so. The issue of abortion is contentious and brings out strong emotions. But I was taught to respect people of good will who disagree with me, like the gentleman who I spoke with earlier. Please understand that womens’ rights and allowing individuals not governments to decide what we do with their own bodies are valid issues too.
Sincerely,
Eliot Butler
President, The Great Dane Pub & Brewing Company
If you do contact The Great Dane, PLEASE BE COURTEOUS AND POLITE.
GO GREAT DANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and GOOOOOOOOOOOOO NARAL PRO-CHOICE WISCONSIN!!!!!!!!!!!
We will MAKE UP for any lose of revenue you have from anti-choicers – no worries
[...] Pro-Choice Wisconsin. This came to my attention on Facebook, from friends who posted this link: http://blog.prolifewisconsin.org/2011/02/02/the-great-danes-defense-of-supporting-naral/ from Pro-Life Wisconsin’s blog, which included your [...]
Thanks for reading, all!
Killing an unborn child never is a “Choice”, just as killing a child that is born is never a “Choice”. Those who think it IS a choice have the same mentality that allowed a government in the 40′s to dispose of those they did not “want” as well.
There IS NO DIFFERENCE. Any company’s president that thinks murder is a legitimate “Choice” should NEVER receive any patronage from citizens who respect the life of their neighbor.
Way to go Great Dane! I appreciate Mr. Butler’s integrity and his company’s generosity. As he said, people of good will can disagree respectfully. I fully respect a person’s right to not have an abortion.
While I hope I will never need to have an abortion, I feel better knowing that I can go to a trained provider in a regulated medical facility for the procedure.
God help us all should we need to go back to wire hangers and back streets.
Anti-abortion folks never concern themselves with these questions.
1. Why ruin two people’s lives?
2. How do you feel about forcing other people’s children
(teenagers) to have unwanted babies.
In California, where there are about 80,000 abortions a year, the cost is about $250 each or $20,000,000.
If these girls were forced to have the unwanted babies the cost would be about $5,000 x 80,000 or $400,000,000. Just for normal births. Then there are the 18 years of
AFDC, Food Stamps, Medicaid minimum to raise the child
of a single parent who is unable to afford to live on her own.
3. Why do you want someone’s parent to be forced to raise another unwanted child. the girl’s mother is usually the one who winds up raising the unwanted child.
4. The Republican political machine has been using your behavioral system to win elections. They have been the most unGodly governors of our nation. It took them only 30 years to destroy the U.S. Economy and society. They dress well and engineer 80% of the nation’s wealth going to 20% of the people who support them. This is neither just nor merciful – the two great atributes of God.
Our forefathers/mothers and our Mainline Christian churches do not like to make rules about many things.
Abortion is one of them. The reason the GOP has embraced the fundies (fundamentalists) is that they can use them to control the behavior of American citizens.
There seems to be much support on the other hand for boycotting businesses that matched donations to pro-life governor Scott Walker because of his supposed anti-union stance. Hypocrisy much?
Wow the callousness of the pro-abort posters on here is amazing. “Wrecking hte lives of 2 people”? Abortion is a decision made in a time of fear… many many women come to regret this decision but at the time, ‘unbiased’ organizations fear monger women into having the abortion. How is that a choice? The liberal left has hijacked scared women into thinking they are incompetent. The eugenic fear of poor people having babies… I believe the nazi’s tried to breed the jews out for a while, heck why not try it here with the poor and non-white? As Margaret Sanger said…