Act on Planned Parenthood Footage, Ask Congress to Defund It

Opinion   |   Maura Butler   |   Feb 8, 2011   |   5:33PM   |   Washington, DC

If you are at all plugged in to the pro-life movement, by now you’ve heard and probably seen the shocking undercover footage in which a Planned Parenthood clinic manager in Perth Amboy, New Jersey coaches a man and a woman posing as sex traffickers on how to secure secret abortions and other services for their female underage sex slaves. 

The footage went viral, with over 387,000 views on YouTube alone.  The footage continues to be played on major cable news stations including FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC.

Two days later on Thursday, February 3rd, Lila Rose and her group Live Action released a second video showing a Planned Parenthood worker at an abortion center in Richmond, VA agreeing to help the “pimp” get secret abortions and cheap birth control for his trafficked girls.  This video brought even more attention to the original video and discredited Planned Parenthood’s argument that the first incident in New Jersey was an isolated event.

Even further evidence that these egregious behaviors are legitimate and system-wide, another video was released today of a clinic in New York City.  In the video, a clinic supervisor and medical practitioner aid and abet the sexual exploitation of minors, even giving the undercover “pimp” advice on how to pose as a legal guardian and get the taxpayer funded discount for his sex workers.  They counsel the pimp to secretly secure STD testing, contraception and access to abortion services for his prostitutes, as young as 13 years old, under a taxpayer subsidy referred to in the video as a “family planning benefit.”

Just hours after the New Jersey undercover footage was released, the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) garnered statements from both national and state pro-life leaders calling on Congress to defund Planned Parenthood of the hundreds of millions of dollars it receives in government grants and contracts.  The coalition effort features a website, www.ExposePlannedParenthood.com.  The twenty groups teamed up to pressure Congress to strip Planned Parenthood of all taxpayer funding.

The website includes – among other things – detailed information about Rep. Mike Pence’s Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act which would ensure Planned Parenthood cannot receive tax dollars under Title X funding and an Action Center where Americans can call on their Representatives in Congress to defund Planned Parenthood of the millions of taxpayer dollars it receives every single year.

The hits just keep on coming for the pro-abortion machine. 

And as stated in my previous post, they’re running scared.  Simply put, Planned Parenthood panicked upon release of the NJ footage even going so far as to call it a “hoax”.  However, by Tuesday night, Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey C.E.O. Phyllis Kinsler released a statement saying, “We were profoundly shocked when we viewed the videotape this morning, which depicted an employee of one of our health centers behaving in a repugnant manner that is inconsistent with our standards of care and is completely unacceptable.”  The press was then notified that the clinic director had been fired.  But they won’t talk about it outside of a press release.  When a debate was scheduled on a major news station featuring Marjorie Dannenfelser, SBA List President, and a representative from Planned Parenthood on Thursday, Planned Parenthood canceled.

The repercussions have begun.  Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey vetoed a bill immediately following the release of the video that would have restored taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood, which he had taken away earlier in his term. Furthermore, he asked the Attorney General of New Jersey to issue an investigation following release of the footage.

Similarly in Virginia, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli told FOX News Sunday that from what he has seen so far, Planned Parenthood has an open “willingness to participate in support sex trafficking of minors.” Governor Bob McDonnell also said he was “deeply troubled” by the footage and called the actions of the clinics “alarming.” Governor McDonnell has urged an investigation by local police.

Now is the time to capitalize on this incredible blow to Planned Parenthood’s public image and defund it of the tax dollars it receives.  Join the fight to end taxpayer funding of the largest abortion provider in the country.  Take actionCall your Members of Congress.  Write a letter to the Editor.  Get involved.  Pray.