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Pro-Life Tag

Last week, the Center for Medical Progress released a "teaser" of their 8th video implicating Planned Parenthood and StemExpress officials in the trafficking of fetal body parts. Until last week, the video's publication had been banned under a temporary restraining order sought by StemExpress; CMP, however, overcame that TRO on free speech grounds, and seized the opportunity to release more footage before StemExpress' attorneys could launch an appeal. Today, CMP released the full video, throwing into full relief the legal situation groups like Planned Parenthood and StemExpress could find themselves in if activists keep digging. In the video, StemExpress CEO Cate Dyer talks with "buyers" about how abortion providers' actions affect how much money the products of abortion---or, as decent human beings like to say, the baby's body---can raise for procurement firms. Watch:

Yesterday, a California court lifted a temporary restraining order barring pro-life advocacy group Center for Medical Progress from releasing footage of StemExpress employees discussing the sale of fetal body parts. Immediately, CMP sprang into action, releasing a teaser of their next video ahead of any appeals filed by StemExpress. Watch the preview here: On Friday, CMP teased quotes from the video's transcript. In one segment, StemExpress CEO Cate Dyer jokes with the "buyers" about how some lab techs react to receiving fetal body parts in the mail. It's horrifying [emphasis mine]:

Today a California court dissolved a temporary restraining order banning the Center for Medical Progress from releasing footage showing high-ranking StemExpress executives discussing the sale of fetal body parts. The Alliance Defending Freedom issued a press release:
“The First Amendment protects every American’s free speech, regardless of how damaging the truth is for scandal-ridden organizations like StemExpress and Planned Parenthood,” said Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund President Chuck LiMandri. “Our client has the right to expose StemExpress’ role in the potentially illegal sale of aborted babies’ body parts. The court was correct in lifting this gag order, which only served to protect StemExpress’ gruesome business.” “The American people deserve to know the truth about the hideous industry that buys and sells the hearts, lungs, heads, and livers of unborn babies,” said Life Legal Defense Foundation Vice President of Legal Affairs Catherine Short. “The Center for Medical Progress should not be silenced and StemExpress and Planned Parenthood should not be able to get off the hook when there is credible evidence that they have colluded in numerous illegal activities.”
From the opinion (full opinion embedded below the fold):

Today the Center for Medical Progress released another video containing damning testimony about the Planned Parenthood body parts-for-profit scandal. The 10 minute video contains more testimony from Holly O'Donnell, a former StemExpress procurement tech whose previous testimony threw into full relief just how far Planned Parenthood was willing to sink to turn a profit. The newly released footage features details about how Planned Parenthood customizes the procedure to ensure that late-term abortions produce intact fetal remains---which are much more valuable than the sum of parts taken piece by piece. It also includes outside images (which are graphic and heartbreaking, so be prepared) showing what a 19-20 week fetus looks like outside the womb. Watch the whole thing. (Things get incredibly graphic at the 6 minute mark.)

The Center for Medical Progress released its sixth Planned Parenthood video Wednesday. Human Capital Episode 2: Inside the Planned Parenthood Supply Site revisits the story of former Blood and Tissue Procurement Technician, Holly O’Donnell. "The co-workers I had -- they would not consent the donors," said O'Donnell. "If there was a higher gestation and the techs needed it, there were times when they would just take what they wanted and these mothers don't know. There's no way they would know... it's terrifying." O'Donnell tells a story about a patient she met with who refused to give consent for blood and tissue donation. Later a different tech, knowing the patient was unwilling to donate, took blood samples anyway. Unlike previous videos, this one does contain graphic images though the content is still disturbing:

This week, the Center for Medical Progress released its fourth Planned Parenthood sting video. This video, like those before it, shows undercover activists teasing out evidence suggesting that Planned Parenthood is in the business not only of providing abortions, but selling the resulting "fetal tissue" for profit. Via WaPo:
Like the three previous releases from the Center for Medical Progress, the latest video contains accusations of illegal and unethical activity: First, it argues that Planned Parenthood profits from compensation as part of fetal parts donations; and second, that clinics may alter procedures to provide more intact specimens, in violation of established ethical standards for fetal parts collection. “We have to kind of see the baseline of how things are getting extracted now and see if we can do any work with them to maybe be more gentle,” Ginde says in the video. She adds that the clinic has little control over whether specimens come out intact or not, but adds, “Sometimes, if we get, if someone delivers before we get to see them for a procedure, then we are intact.” ... In another portion of the video, the undercover actors are allowed to observe the specimen collection process inside a Planned Parenthood clinic. “Do people do stuff with eyeballs?” Ginde asks the undercover actor. Later, a medical assistant notes that a specimen is “another boy.”
Watch:

This week, the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) released it's third video documenting Planned Parenthood's participation in baby part harvesting. If you watch the video (you must watch the video,) be warned---it's nauseating. I don't give these kinds of warnings lightly. When CMP first launched its campaign against Planned Parenthood, conservatives in the Senate came together to draft legislation defunding Planned Parenthood and its affiliates. The team, headed up by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), today introduced S.1881, which includes three main objectives:
  • Prohibiting federal funding for PPFA or any of its affiliate organizations
  • Protecting federal funding for health services for women (including diagnostic laboratory and radiology services, well-child care, prenatal and postnatal care, immunizations, cervical and breast cancer screenings and more)
  • Ensuring there is no reduction in overall federal funding available to support women’s health.
In a press conference announcing the bill, sponsor Joni Ernst spoke out against PPFA's harvesting-for-profit scheme, saying, “As a mother and grandmother, I find this footage of Planned Parenthood’s role in the harvesting of the organs of unborn babies morally reprehensible and vile... The American people are horrified by these videos as well. Simply put, this legislation ensures that funding for women’s health is protected and that taxpayer dollars will not go to Planned Parenthood.” You can watch that press conference here:

With pressure to defund tax-payer supported Planned Parenthood mounting daily, the organization's president is riding the interview circuit. Filmed by a small organization called Citizens for Medical Progress (CMP), two separate undercover videos show a Planned Parenthood Doctor and a Planned Parenthood official casually chatting about the harvesting and sale of baby parts. CMP has said they have thousands of hours of footage, and is promising ten to twelve more videos yet to be released. In an alarmingly fair interview with former Clinton aid and Clinton Foundation donor, George Stephanopoulos, Planned Parenthood President Cecil Richards discussed she believed were the worst parts of undercover videos.

If decent people staffed Planned Parenthood, you wouldn't be seeing much of the organization right now. They'd be hiding out after having what any reasonable person would describe as the worst week ever. Outed as baby killers and organ brokers-for-profit, on camera, with shock videos accompanied by uncut footage? If it were me, I'd be hiding under a desk somewhere. Planned Parenthood, however, is not staffed by decent people, and they aren't keeping their heads down. Instead, they decided to use a lighthearted, innocent cartoon to rally support for their butchery. Blech: Leave. My Minions. Alone.

Carly Fiorina is proud to be pro-life. She's also not willing to let Hillary Clinton's extreme stance on abortion go unnoticed. Flanked by pro-life leaders Tuesday, Carly Fiorina's campaign released a short video in response to the second and arguably worst, undercover Planned Parenthood video. The second investigative video showed yet another ranking Planned Parenthood official nonchalantly discussing the sale of aborted baby parts. "These pro-life leaders are standing with me today to decry the moral depravity that we have seen now from Planned Parenthood. It doesn't matter whether you think you're pro-choice or pro-life, every woman, every man has to look at these videos and think, what has gone wrong in our nation?" said Fiorina. "The hypocrisy of telling women over and over again that their unborn children are not life and yet talking calmly about how to preserve the organs of that life to save another life. The cruelty of denying women over and over again ultrasounds, so that they can see the life they carry within them and yet using that same technology to ensure the organs are preserved so that they can be presumable sold to save others."

Of everything I've witnessed from the pro-abortion crowd this ad quickly took its place among the most disturbing. It's not disturbing because it's gruesome or gory or because it mocks pro-lifers -- it doesn't. "The End of Pretending" is uniquely disturbing because it seeks to make the senseless murder of an unborn child the solution to a less than perfect life. "Let's pretend that life is perfect and everything happens exactly as you plan," the ad begins says. It goes on to paint what I suppose is a "dream" scenario of a perfect life. But because we all know that life isn't perfect, you'll probably need an abortion, suggests the ad. In an interesting departure from the "reproductive rights" mantra, UltraViolet chose to call abortion a "productive" right; which makes sense if you view children as disposable glob of cells impeding the road to your dream job. Take a look:

Sen. Paul made headlines a few weeks ago when he lobbed the abortion gotcha questions back into the Democrat's court. This week, Paul released a video detailing his pro-life stance. On Facebook, Sen. Paul's official campaign account included the following statement:
I strongly believe in the sanctity of life and that an abortion takes the life of an innocent human being. As a physician, one of the first things we learn is to ‘do no harm.’ Since the Roe v. Wade decision, over 50 million children have been killed in abortion procedures. This is a tragedy. We cannot have liberty if we do not first protect life. As President, I will champion an agenda that supports and defends all human life, no matter how defenseless.
"Can a country founded on God-given rights continue to thrive without understanding that life is a precious gift from our Creator?" asks Paul. A bit theatric, but well done nonetheless:

Late last month, the internet descended into justified outrage over the launch of a "spa-like" abortion clinic located in Friendship Heights, just outside of Washington, D.C. Carafem's approach to the business of abortion is made clear in one of their many flippant, casual slogans: Abortion. Yeah, we do that. In my head, I always follow it up with, You got a PROBLEM with that? Yes, yes I do. The clinic's founders are loud and proud about what they do, and they want to make sure that their patients feel comfortable with their choice to end the life of the tiny human incubating peacefully within. Carafem's new ad campaign, however, goes one step further, and challenges the existence itself of rightful opposition to abortion. Watch:

'Heartbreaking' doesn't do this story justice. Ruzan Badalyan gave birth to a baby boy with down syndrome. She then gave her husband an ultimatum -- he must choose her or the child. Samuel Forrest chose his son. ABC News reports:
"This pediatrician walks out of the room with a little bundle -- that was Leo," Forrest said. "She had his face covered up and hospital authorities wouldn't let me see him or my wife. When the doctor came out, he said 'there’s a real problem with your son.' Forrest followed doctors and nurses into a room where he'd finally get to meet his baby. "When I walked into the room they all turned to me and said 'Leo has Down syndrome," he told ABC News. "I had a few moments of shock." After the news had sunk in, Forrest held Leo for the very first time. "They took me in see him and I looked at this guy and I said, he's beautiful -- he's perfect and I'm absolutely keeping him." Soon Forrest walked into his wife's hospital room with Leo in his arms. Her reaction was unlike one he ever expected.