Planned Parenthood. Not for women.
I didn’t realize how much the world around me would change when I woke up on July 14.
I woke up in the morning to find an investigative video documenting abuses by Planned Parenthood. The video had been released by the Center for Medical Progress. Dr. Deborah Nucatola, who is the Senior Medical for Medical Services at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, was documented discussing the organization’s fetal parts business.
I was horrified, but not surprised, as Planned Parenthood has been documented committing abuses and circumventing the law more than a few times before.
It wasn’t just those in the pro-life movement who took notice, however. For days – including the very day the video was released – Planned Parenthood was trending on Facebook. Users also creatively and boldly took over the PR trick Planned Parenthood tried on Twitter to help their image.
The mainstream media was, for the most part, reluctant to break its silence, and some networks are still not giving the story the attention it deserves, but the coverage is there. It’s not just the latest comments from Donald Trump or the Iran deal that is appearing in the news. People, other than pro-lifers like me who live and breathe this issue, are talking about Planned Parenthood.
The 2016 presidential candidates are also now making abortion and Planned Parenthood a national issue. George Pataki, the former governor of New York, who is a pro-abortion Republican presidential candidate, has called for defunding Planned Parenthood. Senator Bernie Sanders, who is a pro-abortion politician, mentioned that the “tone” of the video was “terribly wrong.” He agreed with Cecile Richard’s apology, but unlike other Democratic presidential candidates, he actually spoke on the issue.
On July 15, I had the privilege of appearing as a guest on Dana Loesch’s television program on TheBlaze (you can watch a clip of the segment here, or on my Facebook profile, or subscribe to TheBlaze TV). I mentioned that:
If anything good comes out of this reveal, it’s that we know that we really have to defund Planned Parenthood. And I’m really encouraged to hear the Congressional calls about investigations.
The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to defund Planned Parenthood before and in January, on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the House passed the No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act. Sadly, at that time, the Senate did not follow suit.
Live Action News has been extensively reporting on the video releases from the Center for Medical Progress, and we’ve been broadcasting the state and congressional investigations into Planned Parenthood. Government – at the state and federal level – is finally doing more than just introducing, scheduling, and voting on Planned Parenthood’s funding.
So far, Kansas, Missouri, Arizona, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, Ohio and Indiana have all announced investigations into the abortion giant.
House leadership has also paid attention to the issue. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) as well as House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had strong words about the video, in addition to ordering investigations. Congress also recently called for Deborah Nucatola to appear to clarify the statements she made in the video. Representative Dianne Black has introduced a bill to immediately defund Planned Parenthood during the congressional investigation.
Planned Parenthood may always have its supporters, but I am encouraged to have those who disagree about the abortion issue come to me and express horror and shock about the video and the sale of fetal parts. Perhaps this latest reveal can begin to on change hearts and minds until we all agree that every innocent, unborn life is precious and deserving of our protection.
I wish that it didn’t take preborn babies being aborted with illegal methods and then, further disrespected when their body parts are sold off to get America’s attention. But the attention and outrage surrounding these videos encourage me that Planned Parenthood may finally be stopped from committing any more human rights abuses.
