Planned Parenthood lawyer to House committee: Our doctor can’t testify yet

Planned Parenthood continues to decide what it wants to do and when it wants to do it.

Despite the House Energy and Commerce Committee requesting Dr. Deborah Nucatola appear before the committee by July 31 to discuss possible illegalities revealed in an undercover video released last week, Planned Parenthood’s attorney has so far refused.

Roger K. Evans, Senior Counsel for Law & Policy for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, replied to the letter sent to Richards and said, after a long preamble paragraph that sounds more like a PR statement for the “women’s health” rhetoric the abortion giant spews, that they needed more time and would think about letting Nucatola talk.

The four page letter says, in part:

Your July 17 letter requests a staff briefing on one facet of Planned Parenthood’s efforts to improve public health: the tissue donation programs adopted by some of our affiliates. The letter asks for the briefing no later than July 31, which is short notice given the number of questions raised.We believe, however, that we will be able to provide a thorough and informative briefing for your staff within an expeditious timeframe. Your letter asks that we address ‘consent procedures, ‘practices for collecting fetal tissue,’ the ‘guidance or criteria … Planned Parenthood provides to its affiliates,’ and other related issues. The best person to address these issues is Dr. Raegan McDonald – Mosley, who is the Chief Medical Officer of Planned Parenthood. She will lead our briefing team. We will consult with you to find a time that accommodates your staff and Ranking Member Frank Pallone’s staff.

Evans then proceeds to do the job that the committee has requested Nucatola do and explain the video contents. Evans uses an accusatory tone, denying all charges, and criticizing the video editing. He then addresses the upcoming videos and tries to attack the head of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) and Live Action:

We don’t know what the Center will release next, but we know enough to be deeply concerned about the infiltration of Planned Parenthood and its affiliates. The head of the Center of Medical Progress is David Daleiden, who previously worked for the  discredited anti-abortion group Live Action.

Evans refers to the many undercover video investigations Live Action has done – which also exposed Planned Parenthood – and takes on a defensive tone, attacking the opposition rather than addressing the issue at hand – why he insists Nucatola can’t cooperate in time.[easy-tweet tweet=”Planned Parenthood tries to weasel out of cooperation with U.S. House Committee” user=”LiveActionNews” hashtags=”PPSellsBabyParts”]Evans then attempts to turn the cards on Operation Rescue and Troy Newman, who is a board member of CMP. Evans tries to lay blame at the feet of Operation Rescue for the murder of late-term abortionist George Tiller, but even a cursory Google search will reveal that Operation Rescue condemned the murder on the day it occurred. Operation Rescue is a non-violent pro-life organization which also exposes the truth about Planned Parenthood.Evans cites a Huffington Post article as fact, though it incorrectly states that CMP’s medical news charity is a “front” for Live Action. CMP is not affiliated with Live Action.Finally, Evans likely gives us a preview of upcoming videos by addressing the places they think the undercover reporters may have visited, adding that they have been inside Planned Parenthood facilities and medical research areas, which tips us off to what may be coming. Evans keeps saying that the heavily edited video “distorts” what really happened, but also notes details of the longer video, which CMP released so that everyone could see the context of Nucatola’s comments. It is likely CMP will continue to release full, unedited versions for anyone who wants to watch.If Planned Parenthood has its way, Nucatola will likely never talk again. Evans implies this by saying, “Your letter asks that Dr. Nucatola attend the staff briefing. We are still assessing this aspect of your request.” However, the House committee did not ask Planned Parenthood to make Nucatola available if they felt like it. It requested she be available, period.Pro-lifer Sarah Howell read the letter and responded by summarizing Evans with some satire. She said, in part:

July 31st is just way too soon to get our story straight among so many affiliates, but, in the meantime, here’s five pages of reasons why we’re not guilty that we had, ya know, just lying around… Also, Nucatola’s a no-go until we lawyer up.

Indeed, Evans tries to answer all the possible questions in a letter, as if that may make it go away. He tries to deflect from Planned Parenthood’s wrongdoing and place the blame on CMP. He attempts to argue a case, as if a jury were present, but he evades the question.Nucatola is a highly-educated physician, and she should speak for herself. Only she can answer questions about what she did or didn’t do since obviously she was the only Planned Parenthood representative in the meeting.Clearly, Planned Parenthood is trying to avoid having to answer questions or face the investigation head on. But it’s also clear that they are very nervous as even their lead attorney says he is concerned about future videos.The way things are unfolding, he should be.