So, we can add dead-baby sellers to the list of hideous things Planned Parenthood does like pap smears (the horror!), mammograms (pffft-who even NEEDS those???), and routine wellness exams (wellness is so overrated).
I used to work at Planned Parenthood, and I LOVED every single minute of it. Here's why. This baby "chop-shop" has done more to reduce and prevent abortion than any pro-life group could ever hope to do. That's right. PREVENT abortion. But how can this be? I mean, we all know they practically kidnap pregnant women off the street and force them to have an abortion right then and there!
Let me ask you this-what's more likely to prevent someone from having an abortion? Is it A) Having someone tell you abortion is wrong or B) Not getting pregnant to begin with? Duh. Just duh. Planned Parenthood's PRIMARY goal is women's health, and a key component of that is keeping women from getting pregnant if they aren't ready to be. They do this by making sure people (not just women) have access to information about preventing pregnancy (and yes, this includes abstinence-I know, I taught sex-ed for them and routinely discussed abstinence as a GREAT choice). They make sure low income women can get birth control. They teach at-risk teens about how NOT to get pregnant. Because let me tell you-kids are DUMB. Real question I got : "If I wash myself out with 7-up, will that keep me from getting pregnant?" These kids need some info, stat. And the answer is no, in case you are a dumb teen.
Contrary to popular belief, I did not go into high schools handing out abortion coupons and encouraging teens to get it on so we could make money.
"But...but....they do abortions!" Not going to address the ethics of abortion here. But the truth is (and please, take it from me, who actually WORKED there), it's a very very small percent of what Planned Parenthood does, and what they mostly do is actually reduce abortions trough health care and education. How many times has anyone reduced abortions by standing on the street screaming at someone? I'm waiting......
Pro-lifers should friggin' LOVE Planned Parenthood. And they should hate organized pro-life groups, who have actually done more to increase abortion than Planned Parenthood ever could. They lobby lawmakers and succeed in getting rid of health care for low income women, getting rid of comprehensive sex ed for teens, and making birth control hard to get....somehow it's hard to see how these things stop abortions. Make sure people have the knowledge, the skills, and the tools to not get pregnant and well, abortion rates go down.
Oh, and about that video. Stay with me here-I know this is long. Even though you should know this, I'll say it here again. Selling body parts is illegal. Full stop. Planned Parenthood, more than any organization, is well aware they they are under scrutiny. They don't sell dead babies. I need to stop and eye-roll here at the thought that people think this is true. Here is what they do: they take fetal tissue that would be thrown away otherwise (like, say, the organs of an accident victim), and they LEGALLY donate them for stem cell research that probably has benefited you or someone you know. JUST like someone might donate an organ. Planned Parenthood, like ANY medical facility, asks that the labs that do the research cover the costs of storing and transporting the tissue. If it's too expensive, they can't make the LIFE-SAVING donations for stem-cell research. They are a non-profit. They don't have the cash to pay for the donations. It sounds gruesome in the video because it was edited to sound gruesome. In reality, you have a medical professional speaking clinically to what she thinks is another medical professional. Doctors do this and it's good. I mean, imagine the alternative...
"Dr. Smith, I think this patient has an ouchy and we need to make him all sleepy so we can , you know, make the ouchy go away". "Ok, Dr. Brown. Get that cutie into that room with all the big shiny equipment so I can get all up in there and tear that motherf**ker out." Uh, no thanks...
If they are donating tissue, they make an effort to make sure it's intact and useful, the same way a doctor would if they are gathering organs for donation. That's what they are discussing. That's all. There's no dead-baby selling syndicate. There's no huge profit margin in tissue DONATION (see what I did there?).
Planned Parenthood is not the bogeyman. They do what they love first (helping women stay healthy) and what is necessary second. The people that work there are compassionate, caring, and want nothing more than for women to get the care they need. I know this because I was one of those people. I am not the bogeyman. I mean, fine, maybe sometimes...