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Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards used the platform of a Sunday-morning news show to tear into the producers of two undercover videos showing her hired executives cavalierly discussing the grisly trade in human body parts harvested from aborted babies.
Without mentioning any names, Richards ducked questions from ABC News interviewer George Stephanopoulos and went on a rant against those who made the videos, a joint project of the Center for Medical Progress and Operation Rescue.
She repeatedly spoke of the video makers as “militant anti-abortion extremists” and at one point even accused them of bombing abortion clinics and assassinating abortion doctors.
“The folks behind this, in fact, are part of the most militant wing of the anti-abortion movement that has been behind the bombing of clinics, the murder of doctors in their homes and in their churches, and that’s what actually needs to be looked at,” Richards told Stephanopoulos.
This is patently false, writes Susan Michelle for Live Action News:
“She’s alluding to Dr. George Tiller, the late-term abortion doctor who was murdered in church by a man who acted independently. Scott Roeder, who killed Tiller, would call Operation Rescue on the phone (as any member of the public can do), but he was not part of their group. Operation Rescue’s Troy Newman, sits on the board of CMP, so the abortion giant is trying to tie CMP to murder.”
In fact, as Michelle points out, Operation Rescue denounced Roeder, saying:
“Then came Scott Roeder, who acted in frustration borne out of ignorance … He shot and killed Tiller on May 31, 2009, claiming that all legal avenues had been exhausted and that his action was necessary to save the lives of pre-born babies. Nothing could have been further from the truth … Roeder was no hero.”
No tie exists between CMP and the murder of any abortion doctor. “But it’s apparently all that Planned Parenthood can try to connect,” Michelle writes. “Words like militant have dark connotations, and Richards knows that. She uses the word so often, one might wonder if her vocabulary is very large.
“Perhaps a thesaurus would be in order, if her efforts were not so concerted, purposely intended to create doubt in people. Richards seems to believe that if she says militant enough, people will think it is pro-lifers who are militant, rather than the abortion giant, who militantly uses the same words to make an ineffectual point.”
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After repeated questioning from Stephanopoulos on the issue of profiting, Richards said there are no financial benefits to the clinics from the “donation of fetal tissue.” That’s a claim that would seem to fly in the face of the facts when Planned Parenthood itself has admitted the “transportation” or “processing” fees range from $30 to $100.
On Monday, Troy Newman, one of three members of the board of directors for Center for Medical Progress and president of Operation Rescue, responded to Richards’ claims and said he may seek legal action against her for the bizarre accusations.
“The evidence is clear that Planned Parenthood is selling aborted baby body parts for fees that exceed their actual costs and is modifying abortion procedures in order to produce organs that can be sold all in clear violation of state and federal laws,” Newman said.
“Therefore, it is no wonder that she would deflect with fallacious attacks in order to divert attention away from Planned Parenthood’s own appalling behavior.”
Richards claimed the videos were “highly doctored” and “out of context.” Newman said this ignores the fact that full, uncut videos of the entire conversations with Planned Parenthood abortionists have been available for public inspection and only support the allegations that Planned Parenthood is profiting from the sale of aborted baby organs and tissue.
Newman is “considering legal action against Richards for her slanderous and libelous accusations,” according to the Monday statement.
“Richards’ outright lies, misrepresentations and vituperative attacks do not change the truth that Planned Parenthood has been caught with their bloody hand in the cookie jar,” said Newman.
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Now Planned Parenthood CEO accused of slander
Judges say Roe v. Wade standard ‘has proven unsatisfactory’
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