Planned Parenthood cannot deny that its own senior leadership is caught on camera participating in a widespread and organized violation of state and federal laws against fetal body parts trafficking. Instead, Planned Parenthood can only attempt to distract the public and cover up the evidence of its lawlessness.
Planned Parenthood is organized like a franchise, with over 50 local branches, or “affiliates,” sharing the Planned Parenthood brand name and receiving operations support from the national office. Planned Parenthood executives repeatedly told CMP investigators that the national office attempts to minimize its own liability for violations of fetal tissue laws by refusing to keep any written policy or guidelines around the payments and having local affiliates independently handle contracts and negotiations to sell body parts without any oversight. Planned Parenthood’s dubious new “policy” not to take any money for supplying fetal parts is exactly the sort of policy that top-level Planned Parenthood executives told CMP investigators could never be implemented.
Planned Parenthood’s feigned innocence about its affiliates’ baby parts sales is in reality nothing more than a coordinated cover-up to avoid prosecution. This should be a red flag for law enforcement and public officials, and they must listen to the broad public mandate for Planned Parenthood to be held accountable under the law and intensify their scrutiny of this lawless and unaccountable abortion business.
Planned Parenthood senior executives and medical directors told CMP investigators that Planned Parenthood’s abortion providers would be happy to alter their abortion procedures in order to harvest higher-quality baby body parts. The representatives with the most experience harvesting fetal organs, Planned Parenthood’s Senior Director of Medical Services Dr. Deborah Nucatola, and Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast’s Director of Research Melissa Farrell, indicated this already happens at their sites as a routine matter. When Planned Parenthood makes decisions about a woman’s abortion procedure based on what will serve its own tissue procurement needs, it is not treating her like a patient with rights and dignity, but like a harvesting pod.
The harvest and sale of aborted fetal organs and tissues exists to meet the demand for fresh and undamaged body parts, typically from the 2nd trimester of pregnancy. These practical constraints, plus the financial benefitsoffered by tissue purchasers, create incentives for Planned Parenthood to change their abortion procedures and even use illegal methods like partial-birth abortion to get fresh and intact specimens. In tissue harvesting cases, the absence of feticidal chemicals combined with the active attempt to remove the fetus as intact as possible make it far more likely the fetus may be born alive, only to be vivisected to death for his or her body parts.
Planned Parenthood has never provided any justification or explanation for the admissions of their abortion providers in this footage, because it is simply too damning. State, local, and federal law enforcement must listen to the broad public mandate for Planned Parenthood to be held accountable to the law and continue their investigations to criminal prosecution.
Congress is listening to the will of the American people to hold Planned Parenthood accountable under the law for their barbaric abortion and baby parts business. Yesterday, President Obama wiped tears from his eyes saying: “Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad.” Mr. President, show the same outrage and compassion for the kids who are killed and harvested for body parts at Planned Parenthood, and parted out and sold across the country like used cars. The hypocrisy and callousness of this out-of-touch administration will be on full display if after today, President Obama refuses to listen to the will of the American people and reassign taxpayer money from Planned Parenthood’s barbaric abortion and baby parts business to mainstream, full-spectrum health care providers.
The First Amendment liberties of freedom of speech and of the citizen press are under attack in the censorial lawsuit brought against CMP by the National Abortion Federation, Planned Parenthood’s allies and proxy group. The National Abortion Federation is a criminal enterprise and a key partner in Planned Parenthood’s late-term abortion and baby body parts business. NAF seeks a Preliminary Injunction gag-order to silence CMP from publishing the evidence of criminal activity between NAF and Planned Parenthood and to censor the video evidence already released. CMP’s recently-filed opposition to NAF is available (with court-mandated redactions) here and includes:
The factual background of CMP investigators’ interactions with the National Abortion Federation, revealing NAF invited CMP investigators to attend its meetings precisely because it was so interested in its members receiving payment for fetal tissue and organs (page 5)
The important precedent of the recent Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Otter case in the 9th Circuit, ruling definitively that investigative journalism is not “fraud” and fully protected by the First Amendment
5 pages of examples of criminal and unethical admissions from NAF and Planned Parenthood abortion providers documented at NAF meetings, redacted from the public filing and prevented from release by court order (pages 10-15)
The invalidity and unenforceability of NAF’s poorly-constructed and contradictory conference Exhibitor and Confidentiality Agreements, which NAF has admitted in court to have a primary non-disparagement purpose nowhere stated in the agreements themselves (pages 18-28)
The blatantly unconstitutional character of prior restraints on speech (pages 32-38)
From CMP’s Opposition filing:
In September 2013, the National Abortion Federation (“NAF”) became aware of a start-up company called BioMax Procurement Services, LLC, which offered to pay abortion clinics for fetal tissue. NAF representatives encouraged BioMax to attend and exhibit at NAF’s Annual Meeting in April 2014 in San Francisco. In response to a tentative e-mail inquiry from BioMax about pricing and availability of exhibit space at the next meeting, NAF responded by sending a prospectus containing what NAF now claims is its most secret information: the exact date, time, and location of its next Annual Meeting.
BioMax representatives attended the 2014 NAF Annual Meeting and told dozens of members and staff that its business plan was to pay abortion clinics for fetal tissue—and pay more than its competitors. From 2014 to 2015, it made the same proposal to abortion providers and clinic owners in several other venues. Consequently, BioMax became popular and respected in the abortion community.
[…]
CMP’s investigation uncovered extensive evidence in the abortion industry of willingness to engage in criminal practices, including the sale of fetal body parts for profit and the alteration of abortion methods to procure fetal body parts for research, as well as evidence of de-sensitization toward the highly developed human fetus by practitioners of late-term abortion.
NAF has spun this investigative journalistic endeavor into an eleven-count complaint containing allegations ranging from racketeering and fraud to trespass. Despite months of rhetoric about CMP’s putative “fraud” and “crime spree,” however, for its preliminary injunction motion, NAF relies on only two claims: breach of contract and violation of California Penal Code § 632.
Plaintiff cannot show a likelihood of success on these claims, nor can it show a threat of irreparable injury on the basis of the actions of third parties unrelated to Defendants who are strangers to this lawsuit. Moreover, NAF’s requested relief is both unsupported by the evidence and contrary to the public policy against restraining publication of matters of enormous public interest.
The National Abortion Federation and Planned Parenthood continue to trample on the First Amendment freedoms of the American people even as these two halves of the abortion industry are under state and federal investigation for their criminal sale of baby body parts. The arguments on NAF’s Preliminary Injunction gag order will be heard in the San Francisco Northern Federal District Court of California on December 18. The public filings can be found below:
Democracy has returned to the Congress as the Senate votes by majority to end taxpayer subsidies to Planned Parenthood’s scandal-ridden abortion and baby parts business. There is no justification for Planned Parenthood to continue to build their criminal enterprise and abortion empire on over half-a-billion taxpayer dollars each year. Now, President Obama must listen to the will of the people through their elected representatives by ending taxpayer subsidies to Planned Parenthood and ordering an immediate investigation by the Justice Department of Planned Parenthood’s interstate commerce in fetal tissue and organs with StemExpress, Advanced Bioscience Resources, Novogenix Laboratories, Da Vinci Biosciences, and many others.
The Center for Medical Progress condemns the barbaric killing spree in Colorado Springs by a violent madman. We applaud the heroic efforts of law enforcement to stop the violence quickly and rescue the victims, and our thoughts and prayers are with the wounded, the lost, and their families.
#PPSellsBabyParts PLANNED PARENTHOOD TX DOC: HARVESTING INTACT FETAL HEADS “WILL GIVE ME SOMETHING TO STRIVE FOR” Dr. Amna Dermish, Planned Parenthood Late-Term Abortion Doctor in Austin, TX, Taught by PPFA Senior Director of Medical Services Dr. Deborah Nucatola to Use Partial-Birth Abortions For Intact Fetuses
AUSTIN, Oct. 27–The eleventh video release from The Center for Medical Progress in the ongoing Planned Parenthood baby parts scandal shows the abortion doctor for Planned Parenthood in Austin, TX, Dr. Amna Dermish, describing a partial-birth abortion procedure to terminate living, late-term fetuses which she hopes will yield intact fetal heads for brain harvesting.
Dr. Dermish admits she was trained by the Senior Director of Medical Services at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Dr. Deborah Nucatola. Nucatola described a partial-birth abortion technique to harvest fetal organs in the first Planned Parenthood video released July 14 by CMP.
“My aim is usually to get the specimens out pretty intact,” says Dermish, speaking to actors posing as a fetal tissue procurement company. Dermish admits that she will sometimes use ultrasound guidance to convert a 2nd-trimester fetus to a feet-first breech presentation: “Especially the 20-weekers are a lot harder versus the 18-weekers, so at that point I’ll switch to breech.”
“That’s what Deb [Nucatola] was telling us, was it really makes a difference for tissue collection at PPLA,” says one of the actors, referencing Nucatola’s technique for organ harvesting. “It’s really nice when it’s, yeah–I trained with her,” replies Dermish.
In reply to a question about harvesting fetal brain, Dermish notes, “I haven’t been able to do that yet,” but exclaims with laughter, “This will give me something to strive for!”
Dermish does not use the chemical digoxin to kill the fetus before 20 weeks, so her feet-first, intact extraction abortions are done on living fetuses. Using ultrasound guidance to manipulate the fetus from vertex to breech orientation before extracting the yet-living fetus is a hallmark of the illegal partial-birth abortion procedure (18 U.S.C. 1531).
Dermish also affirms a fetal body part price of $50 or $60 per specimen. The sale or purchase of human fetal tissue is a federal felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000 (42 U.S.C. 289g-2).
The state of Texas recently moved to disbar Planned Parenthood from taxpayer funding on account of Medicaid fraud and abortion-related crimes. Governor Greg Abbott recently said in an interview that the state of Texas is now in possession of “hard evidence” that Planned Parenthood is engaged in “violations of federal and state law concerning abortion procedures.”
“Less than 4 miles away from the Texas state capitol, Planned Parenthood routinely practices barbaric partial-birth abortions on living, late-term fetuses,” notes CMP Project Lead David Daleiden. “Planned Parenthood’s crimes are not just the result of local bad actors, but are tolerated and even encouraged at the highest levels of the national organization. State-level criminal investigations must press charges, and Congress’ new select committee must pursue a deep and comprehensive accounting of Planned Parenthood’s atrocities against humanity.”
For more information on the Human Capital project, visit centerformedicalprogress.org. The Center for Medical Progress is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to monitoring and reporting on medical ethics and advances.
For three months, Planned Parenthood has tried to pass off its baby-parts-for-money scheme as totally legitimate. Today, Planned Parenthood’s latest PR stunt of so-called “policy” change is an admission of guilt.
If the money Planned Parenthood has been receiving for baby body parts were truly legitimate “reimbursement,” why cancel it? This proves what CMP has been saying all along—Planned Parenthood incurs no actual costs, and the payments for harvested fetal parts have always been an extra profit margin.
Without releasing the text of the alleged new “policy” and the exact model from the their Washington affiliate, Planned Parenthood’s stunt today tells us nothing. This only raises more serious questions about what Planned Parenthood leadership has been allowing its clinics to do with money and baby parts, and intensifies the need for Congress to pursue full auditing and oversight of Planned Parenthood’s unaccountable criminal enterprise of baby parts trafficking.
Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards admits in her written testimony before Congress today that she is “proud” of Planned Parenthood’s baby body parts harvesting program. In person, Planned Parenthood’s CEO frequently hid behind the corporate veil of Planned Parenthood’s affiliates and could not provide basic information about Planned Parenthood’s abortion revenue and fetal harvesting practices. Planned Parenthood’s CEO’s evasive testimony will only prolong the controversy over this corrupt and unaccountable organization, while taxpayers continue to foot the bill for their expanding late-term abortion business and baby parts harvesting chop-shop. Her testimony clearly demonstrates that Planned Parenthood, at least on Cecile Richards’ watch, has no intention of ending these atrocities against humanity and is not worthy of taxpayer funding.
The Center for Medical Progress continues to cooperate with the now-five Congressional Committee investigations, subject to an unconstitutional prior-restraint TRO from Planned Parenthood’s allies at the National Abortion Federation. If Planned Parenthood wants to see all of CMP’s footage released, as they claimed in the hearing today, then they should tell their cronies at the National Abortion Federation to back down from their unconstitutional suppression of First Amendment rights to free speech and citizen journalism.
Sign the Petition NowDemand Justice for Fetal Trafficking Crimes
