Videos released further divide the country on the issue of Planned Parenthood and what should happen next.
(Photos by MCT Campus)
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he reclines in her chair, laughing while sipping wine and munching on salad. Her body language reveals she is comfortable and relaxed. From a distance it appears as though she is having a conversation about what to make for dinner or her plans for the weekend. This could not be more deceiving. This woman, Planned Parenthood’s senior director of medical research, is explaining in detail the murder of unborn babies. BY ABBY SMITH “We’ve been very good at getting heart, lung, liver… EDITORIAL EDITOR so I’m not gonna crush that part. I’m gonna basically crush below, I’m gonna crush above, and I’m gonna see if I can get it all intact,” Deborah Nucatola said in the video released on July 14. Throughout the past several weeks, millions have viewed the sickening videos of Planned Parenthood officials caught on camera discussing abortion. Both sides have the right to be mad: American citizens with the horror and realization of what their taxes are funding and Planned Parenthood with the embarrassment of the truth finally being revealed. These recent events have exposed the longstanding issue of Planned Parenthood and abortion in general. The intent of Planned Parenthood and its practices has always been morally wrong. No matter how many ways they try to defend themselves and their actions, it is as simple as this. According to their 2013 Annual Report, they are taking the lives of over 330,000 innocent unborn lives every year. Planned Parenthood and its supporters try to defend themselves with the claim that only three percent of its total services are counted as abortions. In other words, they are only committing three murders for every 100, both female and male, patients that walk in their door. They act like this is something to be proud of. So someone can say she only cheats on tests three percent of the time or drives drunk three percent of the time, and that makes it perfectly okay? The obvious answer for this so-called women’s health clinic is yes, of
course this is okay because our annual report makes claim to this small, almost insignificant percentage. So now the number one abortion provider in America doesn’t want to be known for its abortions. Planned Parenthood receives almost half of its annual funding from government taxes. In 2014, they received a ridiculous $528.4 million from the U.S. government alone according to the Washington Post. Although it is illegal for this funding to go directly towards abortions in most cases, there is no way to track how Planned Parenthood actually uses their financial resources. In their annual reports, Planned Parenthood addresses the services provided, but does not disclose what funds are used to administer the specific services. In 2011, Texas state officials voted to cut tax funding towards Planned Parenthood. Since then, in-state abortions have dropped by almost 20,000. Think of how many lives could be saved if defunding occurred in all 50 states. In the eighth video recently released against Planned Parenthood, the CEO of StemExpress - one of the science labs Planned Parenthood “donates” fetus organs to - laughs while describing the disgust of some of her employees when they open up a box of baby parts. According to the Washington Times, Planned Parenthood accepts average payments of $75 per fetus tissue specimen. It is illegal for them to make any profit on this. However on Aug. 27, in a letter to Congress intended to defend its practices, Planned Parenthood gave proof to accusations that they have been manipulating federal rules to maximize profit on fetus parts. The defunding of Planned Parenthood is no longer a political or religious issue. It is a matter of morals. We need to stop reclining casually in our comfortable lives, waiting for others to make this change happen. This is the time to unite and take a stand against the number one abortion-provider in America. Don’t be afraid to bring it up in conversations at home, school and work. This is a matter that must be discussed in order for change to come.
Yes, Planned Parenthood should be defunded.
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LE JOURNAL September 2015
