Courtesy of Planned Parenthood:
1. Nowhere does anyone from Planned Parenthood discuss "selling" fetal tissue.
Even the heavily edited video from extreme anti-abortion activists doesn't show this or make this accusation. It simply doesn't happen.
On the video, the Planned Parenthood staff member talks about standard reimbursement fees for costs associated with tissue donation programs, which every health care provider has and which the federal law provides for.
2. Planned Parenthood helps patients who wish to donate fetal tissue, just like other health care providers do.
Some Planned Parenthood affiliates have programs for women and families who want to donate tissue to leading research institutions that will use it to help find treatment and cures for diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
These programs are just like any other high-quality health care provider's — they follow all ethics and laws, patients consent fully, and nobody benefits financially.
3. The people who launched this campaign have a track record of making totally false claims.
The person leading this campaign used to be a senior staff member at Live Action, which for seven years has made false claims that have been widely discredited by journalists and independent organizations; Forbes Magazine noted that their claims about Planned Parenthood "fall apart upon close inspection."
4. The fact that far-right, anti-abortion politicians are latching onto this doesn't make it any more credible or real.
GOP politicians remain in a race to prove who can be the worst on women's health, and this story is no exception.
Whether it's Carly Fiorina's social media page or Bobby Jindal's sham "investigation," none of the partisan attempts to make this a real story change the fact that it's a highly edited video from anti-abortion activists who have made false charges for years, now making claims with no basis in reality and no evidence to back them up.
5. The full, 2.5-hour video shows selective editing that twists and distorts what was said on the tape.
Late in the day, the Live Action-offshoot group released a longer video. It shows that the Planned Parenthood staffer was talking in the context of stem cell research, and was talking about standard reimbursement rates for costs associated with tissue donation — all of which was edited to change the meaning.
The 2.5-hour video also shows that the Planned Parenthood staffer's discussion of brain stem tissue that can help researchers study brain tumors and spinal chord injuries was distorted by editing to make it appear that she was talking about trafficking body parts, which she clearly wasn't.
Not to be a Debbie Downer, but there is a problem with all of this.
They are facts. And as we know the conservatives are driven by faith, in this case faith that Planned Parenthood is an abortion providing fetal parts mill, and not facts.
As much as I hate to say it, this video and the response by conservative politicians to it, will have dire consequences for Planned Parenthood.
Don't believe me? Well then tell me, when was the last time you visited the offices of ACORN?
Planned Parenthood releases 5 facts about those doctored videos that we all need to know.
5:34 PM
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