The admissions by Planned Parenthood personnel about harvesting the body parts of aborted foetuses have been panned by a US cardinal.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley, chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said videos showing the admissions reveal a lack of respect for human life.
The undercover videos were recorded by a pro-life non-profit group in the US, the Center for Medical Progress.
Planned Parenthood and other officials are shown talking about the recovery of unborn children’s organs and financial aspects of the process.
In the first video, Dr Deborah Nucatola says: “We’ve been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that, so I’m not gonna crush that part, I’m going to basically crush below, I’m gonna crush above, and I’m gonna see if I can get it all intact.”
Cardinal O’Malley said abortion and the distribution of foetal organs and tissues “fail to respect the humanity and dignity of human life”.
“Pope Francis has called abortion the product of a ‘widespread mentality of profit, the throwaway culture, which has today enslaved the hearts and minds of so many’.
“The recent news stories concerning Planned Parenthood direct our attention to two larger issues involving many institutions in our society.
“The first is abortion itself: a direct attack on human life in its most vulnerable condition. The second is the now standard practice of obtaining foetal organs and tissues through abortion.
“Both actions fail to respect the humanity and dignity of human life. This fact should be the centre of attention in the present public controversy,” he said.
In his statement the cardinal cited Project Rachel, which helps women who are suffering from the trauma of having had an abortion.
Planned Parenthood has denied that it is selling the foetal body parts for profit, which is illegal.
Rather, it says it is only trying to recoup its costs.
The videos have sparked calls for Planned Parenthood to lose federal funding of US$500million a year.
A White House spokesman has defended the organisation, saying the videos were edited in a fraudulent way.
A bill has been introduced to the US Senate to remove federal funding from Planned Parenthood.
Sources