Commentary

A firestorm has been lit by the release of a video showing Planned Parenthood actively involved in the gruesome business of harvesting, packaging, marketing and selling body parts and human tissue harvested from the thousands of babies it destroys each day.

Many talking heads are rightly outraged. Plenty of fresh material for bloggers, presidential candidates and talk show hosts.  And, certainly, in the Age of Obama, the last thing Americans need is more cause for outrage: the bucket is overflowing.

But this issue is different.  This outrage carries with it tremendous spiritual and societal consequence.

What happens now?

We are guaranteed to have a week or so of media attention and discussion regarding the true scope of evil surrounding Planned Parenthood and legalized abortion in America.  We believe God has created a window, has pulled back the curtain on the institutionalized evil in our midst.  But after the shock passes, what will America do about this heinous practice?

Will we simply turn the page?  Go back to our comfortable space and pretend this is not happening?

Will we allow ourselves to be too disgusted to turn our outrage into persistent, undeniable demands for action by our government and elected officials?  Will Planned Parenthood be brought to account?  Will Congress enact legislation to clearly prohibit the disgusting practice of trafficking in human remains for profit?  Will they move to strip these gangsters of all public tax subsidy?

In short: Now that this huge morsel of evil is in our mouths … will we spit it out as the moral poison it is?  Or will we allow ourselves to swallow another chunk of evil, going back to the ball game, movie or even a discussion of any other political issue beside abortion and its broad bevy of consequence?

If we collectively digest this evil, America will fall another ten or twenty fathoms into the moral abyss.  One would be left to wonder what obscenity or practice Planned Parenthood could commit that would finally be “too much” for our collective conscience to bear.

Of course, the sale and marketing of fetal tissue pales in comparison to the industrialized slaughter of the babies themselves.  But it is a concrete place from which to reinvigorate our battle against evil.

So what is to be done?

First, we ask you to speak, personally, with your pastor or priest. We need the moral leadership of our clergy to confront this evil and to rally the Body of Christ to concrete action.

Second, we need to call upon on our Congressional delegation to ensure that there are broad investigations into this practice on a national scale – by both the House and Senate.

Third, we call upon Governor Otter and Attorney General Wasden to launch independent, state-based investigations into the practices of Planned Parenthood here in Idaho.  This is likely a criminal conspiracy, and it must be taken seriously at the local, as well as the national, level.  Not only is the trafficking in human tissue-for-profit illegal – the evidence produced thus far strongly suggests that Planned Parenthood may be violating the national and state bans on Partial Birth Abortions.  The state must also make demand on Planned Parenthood to establish whether the mothers involved in aborting their children have given informed consent regarding the harvesting and sale of their baby’s remains to various research firms and universities.

Will YOU take a moment to pick up the phone and demand action from your elected officials and pastors?

May God save us from spiritual lethargy at this critical hour.