Planned Parenthood: No tissue donations in NNE

Pro-tip: When you’re defending Planned Parenthood on national TV and denouncing congressional Republicans working to remove federal funding of the abortion industry’s top national provider, it’s probably wise NOT to dismiss the policy matter as “child’s play”. The videos, made by an anti-abortion group show several people associated with Planned Parenthood in conversations where there appear to be talking about about selling aborted fetal tissue which is against the law.

It also is unknown if the revelations in the videos will lead to charges or possible legal action against the pro-life group, the Center for Medical Progress, based on an investigation announced in late July by California’s attorney general.

The judge also said the relief requested by the NAF in its claim was “in the public interest” and that he believed the federation would “prevail on the merits of its claims”.

“Planned Parenthood’s brutal abortion business has been laid bare for all to see and Americans are repulsed”, said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Women Speak Out PAC. “The Center for Medical Progress will contest any attempts to suppress our First Amendment rights to free speech or silence the freedom of the citizen press”. Lawyers for the professional group said Center for Medical Progress members registered for the conferences using fake drivers licenses and signed forms agreeing not to videotape the meetings.

Earlier in the week, a Los Angeles County judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the center from releasing any video of leaders of StemExpress, a California company that provides fetal tissue to researchers.

It is unlikely that Congress could override a potential White House veto.

For Catholics, the videos reflect the need to be mindful of what St. John Paul II called “the culture of death” in his 1995 encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” (“The Gospel of Life”).

Planned Parenthood officials have said the videos are “heavily edited” and do not represent what is actually going on, i.e. that some tissue (in three states) is preserved for research. The presidential candidate even replaced the homepage of his own website with a campaign to collect signatures in support of de-funding Planned Parenthood. Supporters of Planned Parenthood say the organization is the only way women in need can access contraceptives and receive some health screenings.

A second video shows a Planned Parenthood executive negotiating compensation for specific fetal organs, including hearts, kidneys and livers, joking at one point, “It has been years since I talked about compensation [for fetal organs]…so let me just figure out what others are getting”.