Even people who wouldn’t call themselves "Pro-Life" are questioning the ethics of Planned Parenthood
If Planned Parenthood and the organization’s supporters were expecting to remain insulated from scrutiny from beyond the Pro-Life camp on their organ harvesting fiasco, they have by now discovered that they aren’t. While die-hard Planned Parenthood fans are busy assuring the organization of unwavering support, no matter what, intellectually honest onlookers who support so-called abortion “rights” are busy asking substantive questions. Count RINO presidential candidate George Pataki, former governor of New York and outspoken anti-Life politician, among those who have somewhat defected from their camp in the wake of revelations that Planned Parenthood views pregnant mothers undergoing late-term abortions as parts stores more than patients.
Likewise, when the scandal first broke, Texas Monthly senior editor, Erica Grieder, questioned the abortion giant for their callous disposition toward women’s health in manipulating abortion procedures for the sake of viable organ procurement. In a piece entitled I’d Say a Lot of People Want Liver, Grieder argues: “From a pro-life perspective, that is, the discussion in the video is morally appalling, obviously,” Grieder says. “But I don’t think many pro-choice people would disagree.” Grieder’s stance is that, “what Planned Parenthood is doing here violates the stated ethical principles of Planned Parenthood. This is, again, an organization devoted to providing reproductive health care and defending women’s rights, and their statement points to problems on both fronts.” She argues that, from a medical standpoint, manipulating what is done to the mother for the sake of organ procurement of the child is unethical. Specifically, Nucatola references changing the baby’s presentation to breech and over-dilating the woman’s cervix in attempts to procure intact heads, or crushing above and below the thorax in order to procure viable internal organs.
The latest video raises further questions about how abortions are routinely manipulated by Planned Parenthood abortionists. The footage taken in Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast even shows the head of “research,” suggesting that they successfully procure intact fetal cadavers, a claim that directly violates the legal requirement that abortions not be altered in any way for the sake of tissue harvesting. In addition to the shocking revelations of apparently altering abortions on a regular basis, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast appears to have botched yet another abortion the same day the video was released. If patient safety is treated as being of secondary importance, perhaps that would explain the notorious reputation for ambulance transport from the largest abortion mill in Texas.
One would think that the conversation about harvesting the organs of the preborn was morally appalling to any sentient human being; after all, we are talking about how a baby is crushed to death instead of asking why crushing a baby to death at all is OK. However, a cursory browse through Planned Parenthood’s Facebook feed since this story broke paints a different picture of what “pro-choice people” think of the organization’s attitude – as portrayed by Nucatola – toward tissue procurement and abortion in general. While thoughtful commentators like Grieder ask why the procurement requests of medical researchers are receiving more attention than the mother undergoing the abortion, Planned Parenthood supporters don’t seem to be asking substantive questions at all. The vast majority of comments in response to Planned Parenthood’s myriad defenses posted on Facebook since the investigation was released, for example, are from supporters who “stand with Planned Parenthood” – even if that stance undermines any consideration of women’s health.
Grieder points to this dissonance, arguing that even if Planned Parenthood is not making lucrative profit off of the sale of aborted babies’ body parts, and even if the tissue procurement process isn’t as “grotesque or sinister” as Pro-Lifers are making the situation out to be, “Still,” she says, “it’s reasonable for people who support Planned Parenthood’s stated goals to have qualms about practices that undermine those goals, deliberately or not—even if pro-life activists are the ones who raised the alarm.”
Tags: bioethics, culture, media, planned parenthood