The Planned Parenthood sting reveals the ugly truth about America's abortion business

The Planned Parenthood scandal isn’t about whether or not abortion should be legal. It’s about medical ethics, big money politics and public morality. You can be pro-choice and still feel sick to your stomach about it.

A group called the Center for Medical Progress accuses the American abortion provider of selling terminated foetuses for money. Its case is based upon a series of undercover videos in which CMP activists, disguised as tissue brokers, discuss terms of purchase for medical experimentation.

The videos are repellent. In one, Dr Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood's senior director of medical research, casually talks about crushing an embryo while she's drinking wine. In another, Dr. Mary Gatter, the president of Planned Parenthood’s Medical Directors’ Council, says: “I want a Lamborghini!” There are shots of Planned Parenthood workers laughing over baby parts “mixed up in a bag”. You can make out tiny arms and legs.

The organisation insists that it has done nothing illegal; patients are asked if they want to donate foetal material and any cash changing hands is to cover costs. They also say that the videos are selective and that the whole thing amounts to a conservative sting.

Yet the latest video lends strong support to two of the CMP’s biggest claims. First, Melissa Farrell, director of research at Planned Parenthood’s Gulf Coast branch clearly states on camera that the abortion procedure is adapted in order to extract foetal material. Quote: “If we alter our process and we are able to obtain intact foetal cadavers, then we can make it part of the budget.” Alteration is accomplished by aborting the foetus in such a way that it is either removed from the mother intact or with one particular part left whole. This is illegal. Under federal law, medical operations must be conducted exclusively in the interests of the patient.

Second, Farrell not only discusses the alternation of the abortion but also how it can be costed: “We can make it part of the budget that any dissections are this, and splitting the specimens in to different shipments is this... it’s all just a matter of line items.” Some have inferred that Farrell is not only discussing how much is paid for body parts but how Planned Parenthood can maximise income by splitting the body parts up. If that is true then it is also illegal. Either way, while Planned Parenthood publicly states that the money is just a “donation”, the language used in these videos (“line items”) is far colder and acquisitive.

Remarkably, Planned Parenthood receives federal money to do what it does. A lot of money. Last year it got $528 million from the government, more than 40 per cent of its revenue. Conservatives have launched an effort to defund it – after all, the uncontroversial sexual health services that it provides are now rendered unnecessary by Obamacare’s expansion of medical insurance. This effort ought to enjoy bipartisan support given the growing case against Planned Parenthood. And yet it’s already suffered a setback in the Senate. Why? Well, partly because at the same time as the government gives a lot of money to Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood gives a lot of money to politicians. And those politicians then vote to ensure that Planned Parenthood continues to get money.

Call it the cycle of anti-life.

Let's follow the money. The White House has indicated that Barack Obama will veto any bill to defund Planned Parenthood. In 2012, Planned Parenthood endorsed Obama and spent millions slamming his opponent. Obama once addressed the group and concluded by saying: "God bless you." Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi says the Planned Parenthood scandal was manufactured by the Republican Party. She received $1,000 from the organisation during her recent re-election campaign. And Hillary Clinton has also come out in defence of Planned Parenthood. As well she should. Hillary has received 20 times as much in political donations from its employees than any other Democratic presidential candidate. If she wins in 2016, they’ll have a gal pal in the White House. Ain’t that grand?

Some Democrats are abortion fanatics. Others are pragmatists. They calculate that while the American public tells pollsters that it’s broadly pro-life, they don't actually vote that way. And they probably also calculate that the body parts scandal won’t prick the public conscience too deep, because abortion is something that folks simply don’t want to think about.

It would be nice if they were proven wrong. Planned Parenthood can’t wiggle out of the accusation of a breach of ethics. Nor can it escape the media attention that has shone on the culture of the abortion business – and it is the culture of a business. We have long been assured that abortion is a tragic necessity, a matter of profound soul searching and something performed in the sole interests of the mother. Yet here we have film of people cynically discussing crushing body parts while eating a salad. They talk about how to manipulate this invasive, emotionally difficult medical procedure in order to supply organs on the open market, for which – at the very least – they expect to get generous reimbursement. This is not the language or behaviour of compassionate doctors. It’s the stuff of abattoirs.

Will the American public take notice? Maybe, maybe not. The problem with the abortion industry is that we are actively encouraged to look away from it. Images of abortions are controversial and can be censored. We prefer to think of something clinical, done quietly and cleanly and with the best of intentions. Safe, legal and rare. The reality, we are slowly discovering, can be different. It takes courage to watch these videos and acknowledge that something might be happening in our society that we need to have a serious conversation about. Political correctness be damned.