Defending the Indefensible

The following editorial is by Maureen Ferguson, Senior Policy Advisor, The Catholic Association.

Any mother remembers that moment in the delivery room (or during the sneak peak at the 20-week ultrasound) when her doctor announces after months of suspense, “It’s a girl!” or “It’s a boy!” This is one of the most joyful moments of a mother’s life.

How heartbreaking, then, to think of the mothers who have been clients at Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, site of the fourth undercover video exposing Planned Parenthood’s callous operations.

“Another boy!” wryly announces a Planned Parenthood official, while literally standing over a petri dish dissecting the little boy, separating out his aborted body parts, in this case the trademark parts that identify this little one as male.

Our abortion culture has led us to a place that is beyond heartbreaking. Heartbreaking that so many little lives, with amazing potential, have been snuffed out. Heartbreaking that so many women have been so deeply wounded by a culture that offers abortion as a solution to the challenges of a crisis pregnancy.

Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards has penned a defense of its practices in the Washington Post, referring to her operation as a “trusted” provider of “high-quality, nonjudgmental, compassionate care” for women.

Compassionate? Planned Parenthood’s Dr. Savita Ginde asks in a decidedly non-compassionate manner during the dissection, “Do people do stuff with eyeballs?” When they have trouble locating brain tissue in the petri dish, Dr. Ginde remarks casually, “Usually you can see the whole brain usually come out.”

As a solution she suggests perhaps she can train her providers to abort “a bit more gentle.” That way, Dr. Ginde says, looking at the mess in the petri dish, “I don’t think it would be as war-torn.” In her own words, this little boy’s body is war-torn.

Trusted high-quality care? Ms. Richards bewails that her organization has been secretly taped without consent. It is highly ironic that the tapes reveal top Planned Parenthood doctor’s willingness to change the method of abortion, without a woman’s consent, to better access fetal organs with the “less crunchy” technique. This lack of consent is unethical, against the law, and couldn’t be called high-quality trustworthy care for women.

The abortion lobby and Ms. Richards response to these grisly videos is to chalk it up to the unpleasantness of details of any surgical procedure, “medical and scientific conversations can be upsetting to hear.” Only the willfully ignorant will fall for that defense. While there is certainly a yuck-factor in hearing the medical details of an appendectomy, it is not comparable to the deep sadness and moral revulsion engendered by the blatant disregard for the humanity of the little boy in this video, and the deep disrespect for the dignity of his mother. Ditto for all the other women who find themselves in a Planned Parenthood clinic, but deserve so much better.

Maureen Ferguson is Senior Policy Advisor to The Catholic Association.
Used with permission.