Planned Parenthood 'Hacks' Own Website as PR Stunt for Donations?

Alan Moore | July 30, 2015
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Last Sunday, reports surfaced that Planned Parenthood's website was hacked, exposing website databases and email addresses of employees. Today, their website shows a message indicating they were hacked again.

However, something is a bit fishy about this supposed breach.

There appear to be no indications of vandalism or redirections to another site outside of Planned Parenthood's control. In fact, they link to their Facebook page - where a post redirects users to a donation page with language regarding the hack:

Planned Parenthood has been the target of hackers seeking to intimidate and silence us. Hundreds of thousands of patients who rely on plannedparenthood.org for health information and services have been denied access.

The attacks on Planned Parenthood are an attempt to cut people off from care, plain and simple. We can't let that happen, and we won't. Please chip in what you can to help make sure patients can get the care they need — and ensure that Planned Parenthood can't be silenced.

The group known as "3301," which claimed responsibility for the initial hacking last Sunday, indicated this "hack" was nothing more than a lie:

Two days ago, it was reported Planned Parenthood retained the services of a high-priced crisis communications firm, SKDKnickerbocker:

SKDKnickerbocker is no newbie to working on Planned Parenthood issues. The Democratically aligned firm is run by well-connected operatives, including Anita Dunn and Hilary Rosen. It also worked with the group during the 2012 election cycle, according to SKDKnickerbocker’s website.
 

Could this be the communications firm's first attempt to gain sympathy and stem the growing tide of bad publicity Planned Parenthood has faced during the continual release of horrifying fetal-harvesting videos?

Other bloggers, IT professionals, and experts think so. 

UPDATE 3:20 PM: The plot thickens...Now, the Planned Parenthood website claims "Our normal site is currently undergoing maintenance." There is no longer a link to their Facebook post asking for donations. Could they be folding under pressure from conservative organizations laughing off this 'hacking' as a PR stunt and hoax?

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