Commentary

New Planned Parenthood Video Exposes Trafficking

Posted on by David Ripley

Just last week, the Center for Medical Progress released a new video, this one showing a Planned Parenthood abortionist in San Diego carry on a lengthy conversation about the ways in which she can help meet the demand for in-tact baby cadavers. Dr. Jennefer Russo discusses a complex business arrangement with a company called Da Vinci Biosciences.

Like previous abortionists caught on tape, Dr. Russo also confirms that she alters abortion procedures on babies as old as 6 months-gestation in order to harvest intact cadavers. She also suggests the possibility that those babies are being killed through a partial-birth abortion procedure since she is no longer using the drug digoxin to chemically kill the baby in the womb.  Instead, the baby is delivered feet first in order to obtain the best tissue samples for its client, Da Vinci.

Da Vinci is a for-profit organ trafficking company, who markets baby parts across the country. Their price sheets indicate they are making handsome profits: $350 for half a baby liver; $500 for an aborted baby’s thymus, and $750 for a baby’s intact brain.

Those prices suggest each baby can be harvested for thousands of dollars, which raise clear questions about violation of federal law which makes such profiteering illegal.

In another important revelation about the organ harvesting/trafficking industry – the Center for Medical Progress has also documented that Da Vinci Biosciences is listed as charitable donor to the Planned Parenthood facility in Orange County. This would suggest another back-door revenue stream for Planned Parenthood clinics to get around the federal prohibition on profiting from organ “donation”.

The Select Congressional Committee, chaired by Rep. Blackburn, has opened its investigation into this sordid business.

And the Idaho Legislature has before it our proposed law to stop such barbaric practices in the state of Idaho. We ask for your prayerful support of SB1349.

Idaho House Passes Ultrasound Bill

Posted on by David Ripley

The House of Representatives passed HB516 on Tuesday by a wide margin. 56 legislators supported the idea of giving women more information about their babies before an abortion.  13 of 14 Democrats in the chamber stood proudly with Planned Parenthood.

The legislation is fairly modest: It would require the state to provide a list of pregnancy centers who offer free ultrasounds to pregnant women.

And yet, access to ultrasounds is one of the most powerful tools we have to combat the denial which permeates the abortion decision. A look at a moving, living, wondrous independent life in the womb makes it almost impossible to hang on to the self-deception that there is just a collection of cancerous-like cells invading a woman’s body.

Planned Parenthood knows the power of ultrasound. They fought the measure tooth-and-nail in committee.  During that hearing before the House State Affairs Committee, Planned Parenthood tried to posture itself as already offering this service.  Under some intense questioning, however, it became clear that Planned Parenthood uses ultrasound as part of its abortion procedure – so a woman would already have to commit to killing her baby in order to access Planned Parenthood’s “service”.

Of course, Planned Parenthood proudly proclaims that it “trusts women” and happily provides them with all the “scientific” information they need to choose abortion. But the truth is – they have fought every single measure over the past 25 years to ensure that women get information about the risks and alternatives to abortion.  Every one.

One of the more bizarre turns of this legislative debate can be found in the press coverage of the House debate. Betsy Russell, of the Spokesman Review, actually reported a gender tally of those debating for and against the bill on the House floor.  Russell, who clearly has no sympathy for the pro-Life movement, was apparently trying to help advance the narrative that abortion is solely a “woman’s issue”.

In response to such a suggestion, bill sponsor Rep. Ron Nate (R-Rexburg) argued on the House floor: “I’m a man, I’m a husband, I’m a father of three beautiful daughters … I also have a mother. To say that a man can’t have a voice here in terms of respecting women … is mistaken.”

A Hero of the Republic Goes to His Reward

Posted on by David Ripley

The nation was stunned by the sudden loss of Justice Antonin Scalia yesterday. Grief is mixed with alarm over the prospect that Barack Obama could somehow gain the upper hand to send the Supreme Court, and the nation with it, over the great abyss by picking a history-changing replacement on the high court.

But there will be plenty of days to worry and pray that the GOP Majority in the Senate will be up to the task of stiff-arming Obama’s radical judicial agenda until his term mercifully ends.

For now, we should gratefully celebrate the incredible contributions Justice Scalia has made to his nation. His powerful reason and rabid defense of the Constitution has earned him a place in that great Hall of Patriots.

One could – and many will – read his opinions and blistering dissents on any number of challenges to the fundamental liberties of our Republic. But we are most appreciative of his stellar defense of the right to life and his scorn for those who invented a right to kill out of pure ideological fancy.  Here is but one sample of his potent pen, written in the first case on Partial Birth Abortion:

I am optimistic enough to believe that, one day, Stenberg v. Carhart will be assigned its rightful place in the history of this Court’s jurisprudence beside Korematsu and Dred Scott. The method of killing a human child-one cannot even accurately say an entirely unborn human child-proscribed by this statute is so horrible that the most clinical description of it evokes a shudder of revulsion. . . . The notion that the Constitution of the United States, designed, among other things, “to establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, . . . and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,” prohibits the States from simply banning this visibly brutal means of eliminating our half-born posterity is quite simply absurd.

We acknowledge the grief of a nation, and that of the Scalia family over his sudden departure. But it is hard not to celebrate such a life as well. We are certain that he was warmly greeted at Heaven’s Gate with those most precious words: Well done thou good and faithful servant!

Go Out and Annoy an Abortionist

Posted on by David Ripley

The winning ad from this year’s Super Bowl has to be the Doritos ad, which shows a playful interaction between a Dad and his preborn baby. It was warm, funny and made the point that Doritos are pretty tasty.

On the way, it also built upon the common sense understanding that the preborn child is a conscious human being while yet in the womb.

That was enough to outrage the folks over at NARAL – the association of professional baby assassins. They actually blasted out a tweet denouncing the ad: “Not Buying It – that Doritos ad using the anti-choice tactic of humanizing fetuses ….”

This tells us everything we need to know about the mindset over at NARAL – an understanding of the world which hinges upon a delusional fantasy in which the “fetus” is not even human. These are the lies they must tell themselves to get up each day.

We urge our friends to go out and buy a bag of Doritos in the next couple days, if only to annoy an abortionist.

Death Lobby Descends on Utah

Posted on by David Ripley

Utah Democrat state representative Rebecca Chavez-Houck introduced legislation today that would create a right to physician-assisted suicide in the state of Utah.

HB 264 is called the “End of Life Options Act”, and would allow a physician to prescribe deadly drugs for a patient diagnosed with a condition that could reasonably be expected to cause natural death within six months.

There are various clap-traps in the bill – including a requirement that the attending physician determine that the patient is acting voluntarily, and encouraging the patient to share his or her determination to die prematurely with family members. But the primary purpose of the legislation is to implement the agenda of the Death Lobby.  Under the rhetorical cloud of “compassion”, Ms. Houck and others seek to end the lives of elderly and sick citizens prematurely.  This saves money and trouble for many.

A similar effort was threatened in Idaho several years ago. Fortunately, through the leadership of this organization and people like Russ Fulcher, Cliff Bayer and Governor Otter, Idaho instead implemented an outright Ban on Assisted Suicide.

We pray that the Utah Legislature takes a similar tack: The only way to be rid of the Death Lobby is to take decisive action in positively rejecting their message and agenda.

Democrats Side wtih Planned Parenthood

Posted on by David Ripley

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan held true to his word, and brought a veto override motion to the House floor last night. Republicans attempted to override President Obama’s veto of the Planned Parenthood defunding measure.  Unfortunately, the effort fell short of the two-thirds’ majority required.

The motion to override on HR 3762 received 241 votes, while 186 members voted with Planned Parenthood and Obama.

Only 1 Democrat (Colin Peterson of Minnesota) voted to override the veto.

Idaho’s Mike Simpson and Raul Labrador voted again to defund Planned Parenthood.

The effort to sever our partnership with America’s largest abortion chain must now await the election of a new president.

Planned Parenthood Goes in for Hillary

Posted on by David Ripley

Planned Parenthood announced that it would be spending “six-figures” on media to help protect Hillary Clinton in Iowa from the insurgency campaign of socialist Bernie Sanders over this closing weekend.

The head of Planned Parenthood’s PAC argued in a press release, “There’s too much at stake for us to take a back seat in this election. Every single leading Republican candidate would strip health care from millions across the country – blocking patients from seeking services at Planned Parenthood, banning safe, legal abortion and even ending insurance coverage for birth control”.

She went on to burn her brand into the Abortion Industry champion:

“At the end of the day, [Hillary’s] the one we trust to go head-to-head with the extreme anti-abortion politicians hell-bent on rolling back the progress we’ve made….”

We’ll see if their endorsement can save Clinton from the quixotic campaign of Sen. Sanders. If she does, it will be up to us to make sure that Americans are confronted with the specter of Planned Parenthood’s hand-picked agent occupying the world’s most powerful office.

More is revealed …

Posted on by David Ripley

Operation Rescue provided more background information on the grave injustice playing out in Houston, where undercover investigators are facing criminal charges – but the baby butchers walk.

The first thing we learn is that the Grand Jury impaneled by DA Devon Anderson never even took a vote on whether to indict Planned Parenthood for violations of federal statutes like the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act. (Despite video evidence that Houston Planned Parenthood doctors engage in such practices in order to harvest more valuable organs and tissue).  In fact, it is not clear that the Grand Jury in Houston was even presented with evidence about potential wrong-doing by Planned Parenthood officials.

We suspect that Ms. Anderson’s true agenda was to protect the Abortion Industry. From the beginning of her “investigation” she indicated that she would be looking closely at the behavior and methods of the undercover reporters who stunned America with their findings.

Despite being appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to the post, Ms. Anderson has a rather questionable past with respect to the Abortion Industry.

In 2013, Operation Rescue brought a complaint in Houston against an abortionist named Douglas Karpen. They uncovered a pile of evidence showing that Karpen was operating a practice very similar to that of Kermit Gosnell: killing babies after birth by snapping their necks.  Turns out that the attorney who defended Karpen (Chip Lewis) is a close personal friend of D.A. Anderson – and a major donor to her political campaigns.

Just as interesting: Anderson assigned the same female deputy to run the Planned Parenthood grand jury as botched the Karpen grand jury. (Karpen walked away from those 2013 charges).

It seems quite obvious that justice is going to be a very difficult thing to find in Houston. Hopefully Governor Abbott will have greater success at the state level.

The Chicago Way

Posted on by David Ripley

Along with most Americans, we were shocked to hear that Planned Parenthood of Houston has been “exonerated” by the Houston DA – while the investigators will face criminal charges. Is this not a perfect example of the corrosive effect of legalized abortion upon our legal system?

We are a long way from Houston, and do not know the Houston D.A., Devon Anderson. We don’t know her politics or position on abortion.  But we do know that she has an attorney working in her office who also serves on the Board of Planned Parenthood – Houston, the very organization Anderson set out to “investigate”.

The pressure Planned Parenthood is bringing to bear on the noble souls who exposed their butchery-for-profit scheme is unbelievable. It demonstrates the Mafioso-like ethics which animate Planned Parenthood: Just a week or so ago, they brought suit in San Francisco against David Daleiden, leader of the Center for Medical Progress.  It is the second lawsuit filed by the Abortion Industry to silence Daleiden, and to prevent America from being confronted with the ugly truth about legalized abortion.

In response to the criminal actions by the Houston D.A., Mr. Daleiden issued the following statement:

“The Center for Medical Progress uses the same undercover techniques that investigative journalists have used for decades in exercising our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and of the press, and follows all applicable laws…. Planned Parenthood still cannot deny the admissions from their leadership about fetal organ sales captured on video for all the world to see.”

That is a fairly careful, if pointed statement. No doubt, Mr. Daleiden’s response was drafted with help from his attorney since he must now mount a criminal defense.

We prefer the statement issued by Congresswoman Diane Black (R-TN):

“It is a sad day in America when those who harvest the body parts of aborted babies escape consequences for their actions, while the courageous truth-tellers who expose their misdeeds are handed-down a politically-motivated indictment instead.”

Amen.

We are going to have to hold Mr. Daleiden in prayer, and we are going to have rise, as a community, to help support him as he works his way through the legal harassment Planned Parenthood has laid for him.

In the meantime, we must also not lose heart: Gov. Abbott (R-TX) is vigorously pressing a state-led investigation into Planned Parenthood’s activities, which may go a long way toward correcting this blatant injustice at the hands of Ms. Anderson.  He said today that the antics in Harris County will have no impact on the state’s determined investigation into Planned Parenthood.

And we can also take heart by remembering the words of the prophet Isaiah, who faced incredible levels of social corruption in his day:

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil … who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent … for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore the Lord’s anger burns ….”  (Isaiah 6:20 -25).

 

Grieving for a Hurting Nation

Posted on by David Ripley

Today marks the 43rd year in which America has been shackled by an edict which allows for the mechanized destruction of some 4,000 innocent babies every day.  The official total is something like 58 million babies lost to abortion – but that figure understates the carnage by a considerable degree.

A day like today is one in which we should take stock of the price being paid by this great nation for legalized abortion. The great scandal of organ harvesting revealed last year is an alarming sign of the darkening of America’s soul.  Of course it is ghoulish to imagine Planned Parenthood chopping babies in the back room in exchange for Lamborghinis.  Yet we must ask: Where is all the money coming from?

Behind the curtain of Planned Parenthood scandal is the mountains of money being spent to procure organs and tissue from tiny human beings who could not defend themselves. Presumably “respectable” companies and institutions are using these babies as organ farms to pursue research that once would have been widely denounced as clearly unethical.  Does not the silence point to a coarsening of the American conscience?

Yet there are signs of awakening, as well: The U.S. Congress has finally had its fill of financing America’s largest abortion provider.  The number of abortion clinics is at an historic low.  Planned Parenthood is having serious trouble recruiting new abortionists.  And the number of pro-Lifers continues to grow.

That strength will be on display today as the national March for Life takes place in the midst of a big winter storm. Snowflakes or not – tens of thousands of Americans will stand up for those who cannot defend themselves. That march offers the nation an invitation to repentance, to healing, to real freedom.  May the Lord amplify those voices raised today and awake a people in need of healing.