Only Easter Message from Planned Parenthood: ‘Stop the Investigations’

Hundreds of demonstrators gather outside the governor's mansion in St. Paul, Minn., W
AP File Photo/Jim Mone
Lana Shadwick

The only Easter message from Planned Parenthood on Sunday morning asked people to sign a petition to “stop the investigations” into “PP health centers” and included “#StandWithPP.” As of the time of publication, neither @PPact or @PPFA had tweeted out any message for this Easter day.

@PPact tweeted:

As can be seen in this Tweet, @PPact and Planned Parenthood use the term “health centers” and women’s “healthcare” when describing their services, a practice many pro-lifers find offensive and a deceptive public relations tool.

Clicking on the link in the tweet, @PPact has the following message:

Officials in 12 states have investigated the outrageous claims made by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) about the sale of fetal tissue, and each and every one has cleared Planned Parenthood of wrongdoing. A Texas grand jury has indicted the leaders of that group for their criminal acts. And now, two more Planned Parenthood affiliates where CMP operatives took their fraud have joined a lawsuit to hold them accountable for the very real damage they caused to patients’ privacy and access to care.

Breitbart Texas was at a press conference in early August 2015 when Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asked Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson to investigate Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. His request came just a day after the release of the damning fifth video of the practices at the Houston affiliate. This video, like the others, were filmed by the undercover investigative journalists from the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), David Daleidon and Sandra Merritt.

As reported by Breitbart Texas, Daleidon and Merritt were indicted by a Harris County, Texas grand jury in January of this year. The grand jury declined to indict the Houston abortion affiliate at the center of the video.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott responded to the failure of the grand jury to indict Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast by saying, “The Health and Human Service Commission’s Inspector General and the Attorney General’s office have an ongoing investigation into Planned Parenthood’s actions. Nothing about today’s announcement in Harris County impacts the state’s ongoing investigation.” Abbott continued, “The State of Texas will continue to protect life, and I will continue to support legislation prohibiting the sale or transfer of fetal tissue.”

As reflected in @PPact’s tweet on Easter Sunday morning, officials in other states and in the U.S. Congress, are still pushing for investigations into the practices at Planned Parenthood facilities. The expose videos filmed by Center for Medical Progress, raise the real issue of whether the organization is violating state and federal laws by engaging in the sale of baby body parts.

The undercover video involving the Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Houston was the fifth released by Daleiden. As reported by Breitbart News’ Austin Ruse, it shows the director of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Melissa Farrell, discussing the sale of whole intact aborted babies and discussing the altering of the abortion process in order to obtain whole intact babies.

In the video (which is included the Breitbart News article), Farrell talks about “specimens” ranging from 14 to 22 weeks in gestational age and she says she has six “providers” who will abort babies that are older than sixteen weeks.

As reported by Ruse, the video shows Farrell talking about “diversification of the revenue stream.” Moreover, when she is complimented on her financial background and her ability to see the financial benefits in buying and selling fetal body parts, she does not correct the investigator who complimented her. She also does not deny that Planned Parenthood is in the business for financial gain.

As reported by Breitbart News after the video was released, the Houston Planned Parenthood director nods and agrees that her department “contributes so much to the bottom line” and says her research department is the largest of all other similar departments at the abortion provider combined.

Planned Parenthood and StemExpress, the primary purchaser of aborted baby organs, deny that the organs are sold for a profit. They claim any funds obtained cover reasonable expenses.

Federal and state laws provide that it is illegal to sell the body parts of aborted babies for profit. The exception to that is where a patient consents and the body parts are used for medical research. Federal law allows reimbursement for basic costs associated with transporting, processing, and storing of this human tissue or organs for research.

The only Easter message from Planned Parenthood on Easter Sunday morning:

@PPact is the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, a 501(c)(4) organization. It describes its mission  – “We engage in education and advocacy to protect and advance women’s health and rights.”

Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as an associate judge and prosecutor in Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2

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