Planned Parenthood has increasingly become the organizational arena in which the debate over abortion rights is fought. Despite the fact that the health-care provider receives no federal funds for the abortions it performs, and the vast majority of its services are for cancer screening, contraception and other routine matters, Planned Parenthood is the target of pro-life groups aiming to demonize the group and the services it performs – specifically that of abortion. It is a distorting and dangerous effort to discredit an organization that provides essential and affordable health-care services – and staunchly defends reproductive rights – in all 50 states.
The latest campaign against Planned Parenthood stems from videos – captured surreptitiously and edited heavily – that purports to staff members of the organization discussing the sale of fetal tissue for profit. In fact, the videos, when released in their entirety, depict the personnel explaining a completely legal practice: donating fetal tissue for research. This practice is allowed under federal law, and donors of the material are entitled to reimbursement for storage and transportation. Planned Parenthood’s own policies forbid the organization from profiting by the tissue donation, and the video – captured and released by the Center for Medical Progress, an anti-abortion group – does nothing to call the organization’s practices into question. There is nothing there.
Nevertheless, 10 states have joined together to investigate the charges against Planned Parenthood, though Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman declined to participate. That was the right move: The allegations are without merit, and any effort to corroborate them is a waste of resources – to no discernible end. That did not stop 30 Republican legislators from sending a letter to Dr. Larry Wolk, director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, demanding that he look into the matter. Wolk, too, declined the request – as he should have. These legislators are participating in a witch hunt based on polemics, not reality. The tone and text of the letter relies heavily on anti-abortion rhetoric, closing with a plea to Wolk’s civilized sensibilities: “regardless of any personal views of legalized abortion, a civilized society cannot allow unethical and illegal medical practices such as the harvesting of aborted human organs and babies for monetary gain.” There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that this has ever been the case with Planned Parenthood.
While it is disappointing, at least, that Colorado legislators would take the political bait and attempt to cast yet another shadow on Planned Parenthood’s good name, not all Republican lawmakers participated. Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, Rep. J Paul Brown, R-Ignacio, and Rep. Don Coram, R-Montrose, did not join their colleagues and, in staying out of the fray, have made a strong statement for practical use of public resources – to say nothing of goodwill. Putting effort into a smear campaign that could potentially affect access to essential basic health-care services – which comprise 97 percent of Planned Parenthood’s activities – has no place in Colorado politics. Roberts, Brown and Coram were right to bow out of the fray, as were Wolk and Coffman in declining to investigate the matter. It is time to move beyond this unfortunate episode in the long and steady attack on Planned Parenthood.
