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Planned Parenthood Under Attack Again

Here we go again.    

             

The opportunity to possibly dismantle Planned Parenthood (PP) has raised its misguided head once again. In my half century on this planet I don’t think I have gone 2 years in a row without the radical religious trying to eliminate an organization that, statistically, saves more “lives” then it harms. I use quotes around “lives” because it still has not been scientifically determined exactly when a mass of tissue becomes a human life and no, potential doesn’t count, otherwise squirrels would be stashing whole trees away for the winter. 

Once science can determine exactly when life begins, I am sure we will have an agreed up time frame for abortion, because at that point it will be murder, no debate. But we all know that is not going to happen because making that determination is impossible. Most people do agree, however, that once a fetus can survive outside the womb, abortion is probably not the most humane thing to do. It has been agreed upon in the medical community that at 24-26 weeks the fetus becomes self-sustainable. As of this writing, 3 states allow abortion after 26 weeks and 9 states plus The District have no limits. This is not ideal and I have spoken to many liberal, pro-choice advocates that have said this is unacceptable. We are pro- CHOICE not pro-ABORTION so we do understand limits…reasonable, medically based limits.

Instead of throwing the proverbial baby out with the bath water, lets continue to work on improving these laws,  because statistics have shown, time and again, that legal abortion saves lives. If a 16 year old girl gets pregnant and is dependent on her pro-life parents, she is going to find a way to terminate that pregnancy.  Whether through a “back alley” abortion, or drinking some bogus concoction, or by using the DIY coat hanger method, she is gravely endangering her own life. Logic tells us that if an abortion is going to take place, why not do it in a safe manner so the woman does not die with the tissue, which will die whether the abortion performed is legal or not. So now, pro-lifers, you have 2 dead  “lives”; the “baby” and the “mother”. I am not making this up. This is what has happened time and again, as abortion has alternately become legal and illegal. 

These pro-lifers are not looking at the big picture, not looking at lives saved and lost, they are moralizing. I especially target the ones who think somehow it is acceptable to abort in the case of rape or incest. I did not realize that “babies” conceived under these circumstances were no considered lives…or are you really saying “Rape and incest are not your fault, therefore you may abort. But rutting in the back of a car with a boyfriend is a sin so you shall pay the price and keep that child”. Try to argue this point with someone who thinks this and do not allow them to quote the bible or cite religious beliefs. They haven’t a leg to stand on.

Which brings me to our latest dilemma, the secret taping of the PP luncheon where discussion of selling fetal tissue for profit is titillating pro-life groups. They got us now!

Not quite.  We are not talking about some weird Frankenstein fantasy the far right seems to have, we are talking about a legal situation, where the patient consents to donate the tissue removed from their bodies to medical research, no different than checking the box on your driver’s license allowing your body parts to be used to, at the least, further research into life saving cures and at most, directly saving an actual life.  Harvard researchers, among many others, are excited about the advances in curing or even preventing Parkinson’s Disease using fetal tissue, and drug companies rely on fetal tissue for drug testing,  stating that reactions and effects of experimental drugs (from cancer to diabetes, heart disease) on fetal tissue mimics those reaction on people, eliminating dangerous trials on actual standing, sentient beings.

Here is a list, almost sixteen years old, of the benefits of fetal tissue use in medicine.  I found no other comprehensive list that was more up to date and time restrictions prevent me from researching all of the progress made in the last sixteen years since this was compiled, yet even old information is encouraging:

From The American Society of Cell Biology:

• ·          Following evidence that the expression of a specific protein in the fetal thymus may be related to the development of Type I (juvenile) diabetes, fetal tissue transplantation is being evaluated as a possible treatment.
• 
  
• ·          Fetal nerve tissue has been used in experimental treatments of spinal cord injury, holding promise of a possible repair for cord damage in certain types of paralysis.

• ·          In 1998, Dr. John Gerhart derived human pluripotent stem cells from fetal gonadal tissue destined to form germ cells. When grown in culture, these cells resemble other types of pluripotent stem cells in that they can develop into cells of other tissue types. This research represents a major breakthrough in stem cell research that may lead to treatments of a variety of devastating diseases.

There is plenty more info on the internet if you have time for the research.

My points are these: Abortions will happen. Women are resourceful and sometimes desperate in these situations and will find a way to terminate their pregnancy, more than likely endangering their own health in the process, and even unknowingly risking death. See table below.

As for the outcry against fetal tissue research because of this video, the facts are that PP does not profit from this practice and that women are willfully donating their tissue to medical research, something that is not only legal, but should be praised and, frankly, could save your grandchild’s life at some future point. From FactCheck.org, a highly respected site by both political parties:

Four experts in the field of human tissue procurement told us the price range discussed in the video-$30 to $100 per patient-represents a reasonable fee. “There’s no way there is a profit at that price,” says Sherilyn J. Sawyer, the director of Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s “biorepository”

This recently edited and released, yet 2 year old video has caused a huge uproar, which is not difficult regarding this issue anyway. Once researched, it has been found that this video was edited from a 2 hour full version. In this video, it was stated by Deborah Nucatola, the senior director of medical services at Planned Parenthood, “Affiliates are not looking to make money by doing this. They’re looking to serve their patients and just make it not impact their bottom line.”

Nucatola also says, “No one’s going to see this as a money making thing.” And at another point she says,” Our goal, like I said, is to give patients the option without impacting our bottom line. The messaging (sic) is this should not be seen as a new revenue stream, because that’s not what it is.”

Another complaint has been the “casual” tone of the discussion, that it seemed heartless and cold to discuss “baby parts” like this. Having worked several years in the medical profession, I can tell you that what doctors, nurses and surgeons say out of earshot of patients would curl your hair. It is not done out of callousness, it is simply a part of life. Every situation loses its shock value after extensive exposure, and we should be positive about that, otherwise a promising med student that faints at their first autopsy would not be able to become a heart surgeon and save countless lives in the future.

We must understand that Planned Parenthood is not a baby-killing facility, but a much needed and depended on women’s health center. Abortion is only a small part of what they do in the big picture.

-80% of PP clients receive services to prevent unintended pregnancy and prevent approximately 516,000 unintended pregnancies annually.

-PP provides nearly 400,000 Pap tests and nearly 500,000 breast exams annually.

-Provides nearly 4.5 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, including 70,000

  HIV tests annually

-THREE PERCENT of all Planned Parenthood services are abortions.

-Annually provides educational programs and outreach to 1.5 million people.

And finally, though a macabre point, what would the pro-lifers have us DO with fetal tissue? This issue, this non-issue, is not going to make abortion illegal. Do they expect doctors to hold burial services for aborted fetal tissue? If it doesn’t go to research, if its not used to help the living, it is going in the biohazard bin and will be incinerated. Do not kid yourselves; the local pastor will not be saying a few words and then erecting headstones.  Again, these are not people. If we knew for certain aborted tissue was a person then abortion would be murder and therefore illegal, period.