The dominant news in the pro-life world this week was the announcement from Harris County, Texas, that a grand jury, investigating possible criminal wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood, decided to bring criminal charges against the whistleblowers from the Center for Medical Progress who filmed PP personnel discussing baby body parts.
The whistleblowers were charged with using an assumed name (while engaging in an undercover investigative operation) on what looked like a California driver’s license. They were also charged with attempting to buy baby body parts.
Both of these charges are clearly without merit. The charge involving a supposed “government document” (the driver’s license) is only applicable when a person obtained goods or services or received money as a result of using the altered document. None of that happened in this case. The only thing received by the individuals involved was the evidence that PP was engaged in an illegal activity.
If what the whistleblowers did was, in fact, a crime, this would mean that just about every undercover operation by journalists or others would also be a crime. This is ridiculous.
Equally ridiculous is the charge that the folks from CMP actually tried to buy baby body parts. Everyone in America who has seen the undercover videos knows that CMP never had any intention of obtaining any parts. They were simply testing to determine if PP was willing to sell them.
Yet, charges have been filed and the pro-lifers will need to engage lawyers to defend themselves. Please pray that God will use all of this to help bring about the end of the culture of death.
Other news this week included the announcement by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland that it will be closing its abortuary in Dubuque, Iowa. Planned Parenthood cited low customer volume as the reason for the closing—which will happen when its building in Dubuque is sold. Due to the focused efforts of Iowa Right to Life and its local groups across the state, with some assistance from STOPP, Planned Parenthood has closed 14 centers in the last four years and was thwarted in its efforts to open six new ones.