WASHINGTON — Two stealthily recorded videos show Planned Parenthood officials discussing how they provide aborted fetal organs for research. The videos have put the group and its Democratic allies on the defensive.
It’s unclear how long the political damage may last or whether Planned Parenthood has broken federal law — as abortion foes contend.
What’s clear is that anti-abortion groups are giving no signs of letting the issue fade quickly.
SO FAR Anti-abortion activists, under the banner of the previously obscure Center for Medical Progress, released two videos secretly recorded in 2014 and 2015 by people posing as buyers of fetal tissue. One video shows their conversation with Dr. Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood’s senior director of medical services; the other is with Dr. Mary Gatter, one of the organization’s medical directors.
In both videos, the Planned Parenthood officials discuss the amounts the group charges to provide the organs and the abortion procedures used to obtain the organs.
Abortion opponents say the videos show that Planned Parenthood is illegally harvesting and selling the organs. Planned Parenthood says it has done nothing wrong and that the videos were deceptively edited to support activists’ claims.
THE POLITICAL PROBLEM The businesslike way the Planned Parenthood officials are seen discussing abortions, at times in grisly terms, has people from all camps wincing.
Planned Parenthood’s president, Cecile Richards, has apologized for the “tone and statements.” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he has seen no indication that the organization broke federal laws but that it “should be looked into.” Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., said Democrats will not abandon their support for women’s reproductive rights, but “nor are we going to defend the indefensible.”
PLANNED PARENTHOOD AND THE LAW Three federal laws are most frequently mentioned in arguments over whether illegality has occurred.
One bans for-profit sales of fetal tissue but allows the provider to recover the procedure’s costs.
Another law bars providers from changing “the timing, method or procedures” of abortions to recover fetal tissue for research.
A third law bans “partial-birth abortion,” in which a living fetus is partly extracted from the mother as it is aborted.
Planned Parenthood says the videos show no illegal actions.
