As is customary, the Baltimore Ravens, this year’s Super Bowl champions, got a chance to spend time with POTUS at the White House on Wednesday but the former Raven center, Matt Birk refused an invitation to the White House this week out of respect for his pro-life principles.
Birk told Minnesota’s KFAN-AM on Thursday:
“I would say that I have great respect for the office of the Presidency, but about five or six weeks ago, our president made a comment in a speech and he said, ‘God bless Planned Parenthood.'”
Birk, who is a Catholic, said he couldn’t get jiggy with the invite due to his opposition with Planned Parenthood.
He told the radio station:
“Planned Parenthood performs about 330,000 abortions a year,” the NFL veteran, who announced his retirement in February, told the radio station. “I am Catholic, I am active in the Pro-Life movement and I just felt like I couldn’t deal with that. I couldn’t endorse that in any way. … For God to bless a place where they’re ending 330,000 lives a year? I just chose not to attend.”
Well… alrighty then.
This isn’t the first time a pro athlete has snubbed an invite to the White House over political disagreements with Obama. Last year, Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas said he chose not to attend a ceremony honoring the Bruins’ 2011 Stanley Cup victory because he believes the federal government “has grown out of control.”
To each their own!
SOURCE: Huffington Post
