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Planned Parenthood 2

primary 6 22 re target, note BLM t shirt attack Az 6/22 violence justified by abortion, claim ex-cop [arpaio land?]

html  “heavily

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OCI 10 26 PP ~ BILL TAX...ifornia has taken an oppositional stance towards a Billionaire wealth tax in California, which is insane, it's because Establishment corporate Dems installed a corporate lobbyist named Jodi Hicks as President of the organization.

Before she was President of Planned Parenthood, she was Vice President of Government Affairs for the California Medical Association, the #1 lobbying group that works to kill universal healthcare. And before that, she was with two corporate lobbying firms. Jodi Hicks is one of the reasons we don't have universal healthcare in California, now she's using her perch as President of Planned Parenthood to try to kill a billionaire wealth tax in California.

She also runs cover for notorious sex abusers in Sacramento, but that's a different story. You may also know her husband: Paul Mitchell of PDI (Political Data), that the Party and campaigns use for their data.

The real culprit is Gavin Newsom: He called in favors with CTA, Fire, Planned Parenthood and others to come up with nonsensical reasons to block a wealth tax. Newsom is trying to protect his billionaire donor base with Tech Titans he intends to tap for his Presidential race, and it stinks. It's full blown pay-to-play corruption.

Make sure folks in your circles know: It's YES on Prop 40, and NO on Props 41 and 42.

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rww

06/26/2025

by

Kyle Mantyla

The Republican justices just nuked much of federal Medicaid law, in order to spite Planned Parenthood.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attempted to bully journalists for covering the leaked Iran strikes report.

Perhaps the most dire prediction right-wingers made in the first 15 years of this century was that legalizing marriage between two people of the same sex would end civilization. No less than the pope warned that humankind was in peril because of countries legalizing marriage.

Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney who plotted to use fake electors to overturn the 2020 presidential election on behalf of President Donald Trump, was disbarred in the state of New York this week.

Once it became apparent that New York state Rep. Zohran Mamdani was the presumptive winner of New York City’s mayoral primary, right-wing figures went into full-blown hysterics. But few could top the meltdown from self-proclaimed “proud Islamophobe” Laura Loomer, who claimed that Mamdani will support firebombing synagogues and murdering the rich — including President Trump.

The U.S. appeals court nominee claimed it is “political” to say Biden got the majority of votes and Electoral College votes to become president.

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5th-circuit-planned-parenthood-abortion-00206327

Alice Miranda Ollstein

02/26/2025

A three-judge panel at the conservative-leaning 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed a lower court ruling that Planned Parenthood could be liable for nearly $2 billion for defrauding Medicaid.

The unanimous ruling overturns a decision by Texas U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Donald Trump appointee. In 2023, he ruled that Planned Parenthood had to return millions in funding it received from Texas and Louisiana’s Medicaid programs and used to provide services to low-income patients. Texas is also seeking more than a billion in damages as the case continues.

The case was triggered by an anti-abortion activist’s sting operation that produced recordings of Planned Parenthood staff discussing the donation of fetal tissue from abortions for research purposes in 2015. The tapes prompted Texas and Louisiana to try to throw the provider out of their Medicaid programs and prevent low-income patients from going to its clinics for non-abortion services like testing for sexually transmitted diseases and contraception. After several years of litigation, Planned Parenthood remains part of Louisiana’s Medicaid program but not Texas’.

Wednesday’s narrow, pre-trial ruling — from George H.W. Bush appointee Rhesa Barksdale, George W. Bush appointee Leslie Southwick and Barack Obama appointee James Graves Jr. — focused on the challengers’ attempt to hold Planned Parenthood’s national organization financially liable by arguing that the group’s lawyers wrongly advised their affiliates in Texas and Louisiana to continue billing Medicaid while the case played out. The appeals court held that the attorneys can’t be sued by a third party for advice they gave to their own clients.

“If private attorneys did not have immunity for their activities within the scope of litigation, they would be subject to suit from a third party every time they represent an unpopular client or advance an unpopular issue,” the judges wrote. “It is not difficult to imagine the chilling effect that would have on private attorneys’ willingness to participate in unpopular cases.”

Planned Parenthood maintains it did nothing wrong and described the case as an ideologically driven attempt to bankrupt it — noting that Texas sued their national arm as well as their lawyers and state medical providers.

“This baseless case has only one goal: to shut down Planned Parenthood and deny patients access to sexual and reproductive health care,” the organization’s general counsel, Susan Manning, said in a statement following the ruling. “The three-judge panel followed the law and the facts to reach their decision. We look forward to having our day in court where we expect to be vindicated.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton did not respond to a request for comment.

The case now returns to the district court for further arguments on the remaining claims against the state affiliates.

Cutting state and federal funding to Planned Parenthood is a top priority of the anti-abortion movement, and activists are pushing in Congress, state legislatures and other lawsuits to block the provider from receiving money from Medicaid, the Title X family planning program and other government sources.

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an 1 25

Two anti-abortion activists who made sensational videos of Planned Parenthood officials nearly a decade ago pleaded no contest this week to a felony count of illegally recording someone without consent.

*This story first appeared at Cal Matters.

David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt secretly filmed Planned Parenthood executives in California and edited the clips in a way that purported to show them selling fetal remains. Monday’s plea deal and felony conviction ends a criminal case that has dragged through the court system since 2017.

Their explosive videos triggered multiple state investigations into the allegations, some of which were led by Republican attorneys general. Those inquiries cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing, but court cases related to the videos are ongoing.

Daleiden and Merritt pleaded no contest in San Francisco Superior Court and waived any right to appeal. A sentencing hearing will happen roughly a year from now.

Attorney General Rob Bonta, who has taken a firm stance supporting abortion access, said in a statement that the conviction helps ensure California residents can exercise their state constitutional rights to reproductive health care.

“We will not hesitate to continue taking action against those who threaten access to abortion care — whether by recording confidential conversations or other means,” Bonta said.

The conviction comes less than a week after President Donald Trump limited federal enforcement of a law meant to protect abortion clinic workers and pardoned 23 anti-abortion activists convicted of harassing abortion clinic workers.

The terms of the plea agreement prohibit Daleiden and Merritt from contacting or naming any of the victims of the illegal recordings. They must also obey all laws.

Daleiden downplayed the felony conviction in a statement on his website, Center for Medical Progress, saying that the conviction comes with “zero punishment.”

“After enduring 9 years of weaponized political prosecution, putting an end to the lawfare launched by Kamala Harris is a huge victory for my investigative reporting and for the public’s right to know the truth about Planned Parenthood’s sale of aborted baby body parts,” Daleiden said.

At the time, then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris launched an investigation into Daleiden and Merritt’s actions after they published a series of videos showing covertly filmed conversations of Planned Parenthood executives discussing abortion procedures and how tissue is collected and exchanged with research companies.

Donating fetal tissue to researchers and recouping expenses is legal under U.S. law and states may impose additional regulations.

The recordings sparked a firestorm of national outrage, particularly from conservative activists and lawmakers who oppose abortion, fueling calls to defund Planned Parenthood. The subjects of the recordings received death threats in the aftermath.

Planned Parenthood won a $2.2 million civil lawsuit in San Francisco against Daleiden and Merritt for violating fraud, trespassing and recording laws.

In an unsigned statement, Bonta’s office said it disagreed with Daleiden’s characterization of the plea deal.

“Make no mistake: the defendants are now convicted felons. They are guilty of feloniously recording private communications.”

Under California law, Daleiden and Merritt are eligible to ask a judge to reduce the conviction to a misdemeanor in 12 months if they adhere to the terms of the plea deal.

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aha eugenics used as cudgel to go after planned parent b/c of Sanger, but it’s the neonazi who actiually want to do it?!

* ## Anti-abortion media’s reaction to the story follows decades of likening abortion to eugenics

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https://www.alternet.org/trump-2660590350/

bankrupt planned parenthood?!

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an 7 22

The Indiana abortion doctor at the center of the report involving a procedure performed on a 10-year-old rape victim is reportedly facing an onslaught of threats, according to The Guardian.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) previously warned Planned Parenthood that it had received intel about a potential threat against Dr. Caitlin Bernard and her child. The nonprofit organization, in turn, warned Bernard of the threats.The bureau indicated that Bernard had been called out on a website run by the anti-abortion group Right to Life Michiana.

Bernard was one of several doctors listed under the site's Local Abortion Threat section. Last year, Bernard testified that she was forced to "stop providing first-trimester abortions at a clinic in South Bend."

READ MORE: Anti-abortion group linked to Amy Coney Barrett has been accused of ‘harassment and intimidation’

The latest development comes months after the initial report back in January. That report included a detailed explanation of Barrett's ties to the site.Back in 2006, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was employed as a Notre Dame professor at the time, reportedly endorsed one of the group's advertisements opposing abortion.

"Barrett, who voted to overturn Roe v Wade last month, signed a two-page advertisement published by the group in 2006, while she was working as a professor at Notre Dame. It stated that those who signed 'oppose abortion on demand and defend the right to life from fertilization to natural death,'" The Guardian reported.

"The second page of the ad called Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion, 'barbaric,'" the news outlet added. "The advertisement was published in the South Bend Tribune by St Joseph County Right to Life, which merged with Right to Life Michiana in 2020."

According to the report, "Bernard is still listed on the Right to Life Michiana website," with the Guardian's Stephanie Kirchgaessner adding, "It is a common tactic employed by anti-abortion groups that supporters of abortion rights have said invites threats of violence and intimidation against abortion providers."

READ MORE:**Fox News’ Jesse Watters boasts about his own reporting after claiming child rape report was actually a hoax**

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ref

If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, one of the socially conservative justices who is almost certain to vote in favor of that is Justice Amy Coney Barrett — who has made no secret of her anti-abortion views. Barrett expressed her opposition to abortion during her pre-Supreme Court days when she signed a letter by what became Right to Life Michiana, an anti-abortion group. And according to Guardian reporter Stephanie Kirchgaessner, that has been accused of promoting harassment of abortion doctors  GUK in Indiana — including a female doctor who was warned of a kidnapping threat against her daughter.

Right to Life Michiana, Kirchgaessner reports in a Guardian article published this week, “keeps a published list of abortion providers and their place of work on its website, in what some experts say is an invitation to harass and intimidate the doctors and their staff.”

According to Kirchgaessner, “In one case, court records show, a doctor whose name was published by the group, which is called Right to Life Michiana, was warned by the FBI of a kidnapping threat that had been made online against her daughter. The threat prompted the doctor to temporarily stop providing abortion services at the Whole Woman’s Health Care clinic in South Bend, which is also named on the Michiana group’s website. The doctor said, in the court document, that the clinic regularly attracts large gatherings of protesters, who she feared could identify her.”

The anti-abortion ad that Barrett signed was published in 2006, when she was teaching at Notre Dame University and was 14 years away from joining the U.S. Supreme Court. Kirchgaessner notes that the group that sponsored that ad, St. Joseph County Right to Life, “merged with another anti-abortion group in 2020 and is now called Right to Life Michiana.”

READ: The radical right's takeover of the Supreme Court is complete

The 2006 ad described Roe v. Wade as “barbaric.” During her Senate confirmation hearing in 2020, Barrett said she signed the ad as a private citizen and claimed that her own personal views on abortion would not influence her from a judicial standpoint.

Barrett said of the ad, “It was consistent with the views of my church…. I do see as distinct my personal, moral, religious views and my task of applying the law as a judge.”

If Roe v. Wade is overturned, Indiana is among the Republican-dominated red states where abortion is likely to be outlawed. But abortion, thanks to Roe, remains legal in Indiana for now — and Right to Life Michiana’s website, according to Kirchgaessner, “urges supporters to ‘take action’ against what it calls a ‘local abortion threat.’”

“In one section of the website, which is titled Local Abortion Threat: The Abortionist, the group lists the names and educational background of six doctors that it claims performs abortions at the Whole Woman’s Health Clinic in South Bend,” Kirchgaessner notes. “Among them is a doctor — who the Guardian is declining to name — who testified, in 2021, in a case involving abortion restrictions in Indiana, that she started traveling to South Bend once a month, beginning in 2020, in order to perform first trimester abortions at the South Bend clinic. She stopped making the trip, a 2.5-hour car trip each way from her home, after she was alerted by Planned Parenthood — who had been alerted by the FBI — that a kidnapping threat had been made against her daughter online.”

READ: Here's what it would really mean to prosecute Trump

In 2021, that doctor testified, “I felt it would be best for me to limit my travel and exposure during that time. I was concerned that there may be people who would be able to identify me during that travel, as well as it’s a very small clinic without any privacy for the people who are driving in and out — and so therefore, people could directly see me.”

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video fun?

https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/patriot-front/

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/patriot-front-2657499955/

no lnx pix twt

on Saturday, June 11, 31 members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front were arrested in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for allegedly planning to attack a local gay pride event. Historian Thomas Lecaque, in an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on May 13, stresses that this alleged plot shouldn’t be viewed as an isolated incident, but as one example of the far right’s campaign for “overturning democracy.”

“The arrest of dozens of members of extremist group Patriot Front over the weekend shines a light on the new agenda for the militant factions of the far right,” Lecaque explains. “Their energies are now being focused on another goal: prosecuting a renewed culture war against sexual minorities. Packed tightly into the back of a rented U-Haul truck with their flags and weapons, members of the accelerationist fascist groupwere en route to the Coeur d’Alene Pride rally when they were pulled over and arrested.”

The historian adds, “Police made the stop on the basis of a tip from local residents. Images of the men, kneeling and zip tied in a field next to their truck, spread quickly on social media.”

Lecaque, a professor at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, describes Patriot Front as part of the openly violent wing of the far right; other examples include the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.

“As has been the case at other times in history when political instability has drawn extremist groups into open street-fighting — a Proud Boys calling card — these groups represent the sharp end of the ax that the far right is driving into American society,” Lecaque warns. “On January 6, 2021, their goal was to overturn the results of the recent presidential election. In June 2022, however, their goals have shifted.”

Lecaque notes thatPatriot Front was founded in 2017 by Thomas Rousseau, who is among the members charged with conspiracy to riot. Rousseau had been a member of Vanguard America, one of the white supremacist and white nationalist groups that was part of the infamous Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia that year. But after that event, where activist Heather Heyer was murdered, Rousseau left Vanguard America to start his own group.

“Patriot Front members believe themselves to be the ruling heirs to the continent by dint of their racial connection to its European colonizers and consider their racial identity essential to American identity more broadly,” Lecaque observes. “Of course, this is just the sort of blood genealogy nonsense one expects from Nazis…. What makes them significant, however, is their media savvy.”

Lecaque stresses that Patriot Front should be viewed as part of a broader far-right anti-democracy movement.

“Patriot Front is just one distinctive group of many,” Lecaque warns. “Other extremist groups gathered in Coeur d’Alene to watch and harass the pride march, including Three Percenters, Ammon’s Army, PDX Liberation, Proud Boys, and Atomwaffen. These groups have their own ideologies, own brands of violence, and many of them — Atomwaffen being an incredibly clear example — are much readier to engage in violence first, foremost, and often.”

Lecaque adds, “The Coeur d’Alene pride event was not the only target. Christian fascists in Dallas protested at an LGBTQ bar at the beginning of the month as part of a coordinated far-right assault on Pride Month. American Nationalist Initiative, a neo-fascist group, planned to link up with Proud Boys to flash mob outside of aPlanned Parenthoodin Plano, Texas this weekend, while other planned to harass a Pride Drag event in Arlington.”

The push for anti-gay violence, according to Lecaque, “goes beyond the White supremacists and militias” — and he cites far-right evangelical pastor Dillon Awes as an example. During a June 5 sermon, Awes called for murdering gays.

“Violent fantasies about murdering marginalized communities and overturning democracy are not new,” Lecaque writes. “We have seen them before.”

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Deeply disturbing’: Missouri health director reveals he tracked Planned Parenthood patients’ menstrual periods

Jessica Corbett / Common Dreams

Trump gag rule drives Planned Parenthood out of federal family planning program

Laura Clawson / Daily Kos

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kpfa birth control and abortion legal US till 180's when MC women used them

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http://www.alternet.org/human-rights/century-anti-abortion-attacks

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http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-grand-jury-planned-parenthood-20160125-story.html

Texas grand jury investigating allegations of misconduct against Planned Parenthood after the release of covertly-shot videos about the use of fetal tissue from abortions has instead indicted two antiabortion activists who made the videos, authorities said Monday.

David Daleiden, 26, director of the Irvine-based nonprofit Center for Medical Progress, was indicted by the grand jury on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record and a misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs, Harris County Dist. Atty. Devon Anderson said in a statement.

An employee at the center, Sandra Merritt, was also indicted on a charge of tampering with a governmental record.

The grand jury was investigating recordings made in April at Houston-based Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, according to the district attorney's statement.

Daleiden made recordings over a period of three years, using a phony name and hidden cameras to infiltrate members-only conventions of Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. He released the first videos in July, arguing that they contained evidence of unlawful trafficking in fetal tissue.

Planned Parenthood has denied the allegations.

After the recordings were released, more than two dozen states and five congressional committees began investigations. Most of those have been closed without criminal findings, and Republicans in Congress were unsuccessful in their attempt last summer to eliminate funding for the organization.

Federal law allows fetal tissue to be collected and used, but not for profit. Medical ethics prohibit altering the timing, method or procedures used to terminate a pregnancy purely to obtain fetal tissue.

Planned Parenthood officials have insisted the videos were manipulated through selective editing.

After meeting for two months, grand jurors cleared Planned Parenthood of wrongdoing, the district attorney said in her statement. She did not say what record or records the pair allegedly tampered with.

...

On Monday, Planned Parenthood officials praised the Texas grand jury’s findings.

"These people broke the law to spread malicious lies about Planned Parenthood in order to advance their extreme antiabortion political agenda,” said Eric Ferrero, a spokesman for Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

“As the dust settles and the truth comes out, it's become totally clear that the only people who engaged in wrongdoing are the criminals behind this fraud, and we're glad they're being held accountable."

Officials at the Center for Medical Progress did not immediately respond to calls and an email seeking comment on the grand jury findings.

But Daleiden’s lawyers have argued that he is protected under the 1st Amendment as a self-described “citizen journalist” who believed he was tracking criminal enterprise.

In a Monday opinion piece in USA Today, Daleiden insisted that the videos “show Planned Parenthood’s senior leadership partaking in a widespread and organized violation of state and federal laws forbidding partial-birth abortions and profiteering from the sale of fetal organs and tissues."

Officials in 11 states have cleared Planned Parenthood of wrongdoing after investigating claims that they profited from fetal tissue donation, officials said, including Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Washington.

Officials in eight other states declined to investigate citing a lack of any evidence, including California, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Virginia.

But several states are still investigating, including Arizona, Louisiana, Montana and Texas, Planned Parenthood officials said.

“Nothing about today’s announcement in Harris County impacts the state’s ongoing investigation,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement late Monday.

Texas Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton agreed.

“The fact remains that the videos exposed the horrific nature of abortion and the shameful disregard for human life of the abortion industry,” Paxton said. “The state’s investigation of Planned Parenthood is ongoing.”

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wasHINGTON — House Republican leaders on Wednesday announced a congressional investigation of Planned Parenthood, a day after anti-abortion activists released a video of an unsuspecting official from the organization explaining how it provides fetal tissue to researchers.

nyt

Echoing the activists’ allegation, Speaker John A. Boehner and other top Republicans suggested that Planned Parenthood was selling fetal parts, which is illegal if done for profit. But Planned Parenthood said that while it charges for expenses such as processing and transporting, it makes no money from the fetal tissue donated by women who get abortions. The official shown in the video repeatedly says something similar to two activists posing as biotechnology representatives.

The California-based group responsible for the video, the Center for Medical Progress, appears to have been started relatively recently. Its creator, David Daleiden, once worked with another anti-abortion group, Live Action, and he and Live Action’s leader, Lila Rose, who also promoted the video, are familiar to Planned Parenthood affiliates from previous undercover videos. Mr. Daleiden and Ms. Rose did not return calls and emails on Wednesday.

The release of the video and subsequent House investigation opens a new round in the partisan wars over Planned Parenthood that have raged since the Republicans took control of the House four and a half years ago. This time, Republicans running for president eagerly joined in, promising to stoke the furor, as anti-abortion conservatives took to social media to demand action.

Past battles provoked backlashes against congressional Republicans and against Mitt Romney, the party’s presidential nominee in 2012. But even before the video began circulating online, Republicans had moved to cut all money for Planned Parenthood and the Title X family-planning program from a spending bill awaiting a House vote.

“When an organization monetizes an unborn child — and with the cavalier attitude portrayed in this horrific video — we must all act,” Mr. Boehner said in a statement.

Four senior Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which will conduct the investigation, said in a statement that they would “get to the bottom of this appalling situation.” Two Republican governors ordered investigations in their states: Greg Abbott of Texas and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, who is a presidential candidate.

Other Republican contenders for president condemned Planned Parenthood, including Jeb Bush, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Carly Fiorina and Rick Perry. Another candidate, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, drew the most applause during a campaign stop in South Carolina on Wednesday when he boasted of having defunded Planned Parenthood in his state.

A spokesman for Planned Parenthood, Eric Ferrero, said in a statement that the Republicans’ claims were “flat out” untrue, “but that doesn’t matter to politicians with a longstanding political agenda to ban abortion and defund Planned Parenthood.”

“Our medical practices and guidelines in this area are clear,” he added, “and we do this important work just like other high-quality health care providers — with full, appropriate consent from patients, under the highest ethical and legal standards, and with no financial benefit for the patient or Planned Parenthood.”

But the companies that acquire such tissue from Planned Parenthood can command high prices, depending on the processing required, given the demand among researchers.

“These tissues are very valuable for studying human development and finding out what makes it tick,” said Dr. Susan Fisher, who directs the Human Embryonic Stem Cell Program at the University of California, San Francisco. “Can we reprogram cells in the same way to repair disease processes? Can we have a better understanding of the sort of haywire development that accompanies some tumors?”

“A lot of women want to make these donations” in the hope that useful information can be gained, Dr. Fisher added.

The National Institutes of Health spent $76 million in 2014 on research involving human fetal tissue, and it expects to spend the same amount this year. Researchers at universities with medical centers that perform abortions may obtain fetal tissue there, but private companies also act as middlemen, obtaining tissue from abortion providers and selling it to researchers.

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, Cecile Richards, the 58-year-old president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, went before Congress to defend her organization. A few months earlier, the Center for Medical Progress, an undercover anti-abortion group, had released a series of doctored videos that purported to show Planned Parenthood illegally profiting from the sale of fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood denied the accusations, but outrage spiraled furiously among conservatives. Republican officials launched state and federal investigations, while presidential candidates and members of Congress called for defunding Planned Parenthood entirely, threatening to shut down the government if their demands were not met.

Riding this whirlwind of righteous anger, Republicans eagerly anticipated their confrontation with Richards. Yet when she came before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Republicans suddenly found Richards grilling them, not the other way around. “Mr. Chairman, you and I do disagree about whether women should have access to safe and legal abortion,” she said, staring into the eyes of Jason Chaffetz, the Republican from Utah who chaired the hearing. “At Planned Parenthood, we believe that women should be able to make their own decision about their pregnancies and their futures—and the majority of Americans agree. We trust women to make these decisions in consultation with their families, their doctors, and their faith, and not by Congress.”

A week later, Chaffetz admitted that after formally investigating Planned Parenthood, he and his colleagues had been unable to find any evidence of financial wrongdoing. Eight states that launched their own investigations have also failed to produce any smoking guns. The absence of evidence, however, hasn’t deterred GOP-controlled state governments from attempting to cut funds for Planned Parenthood, or moderated Republicans’ demonization of the organization.

These attacks, though, have only inspired Planned Parenthood’s supporters to rally to its defense. Three days before Richards testified, a progressive coalition delivered a petition in support of Planned Parenthood to Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and Senator Elizabeth Warren; it had more than 1.2 million signatures. On the day of Richards’s testimony, hundreds of thousands of advocates across the country organized rallies and Internet campaigns to demonstrate solidarity, in what would be Planned Parenthood’s first ever “National Pink Out Day.”

The clout and moral credibility that Planned Parenthood has added under Richards’ leadership were evident this week, too, when Republican plans to use the budget resolution to defund the organization and curtail abortion rights largely came to naught. A unified Democratic Party was also able to derail GOP proposals to reduce spending on women’s health and family planning.

In 2016, the battle over reproductive rights will almost surely grow more intense. The Supreme Court is set to rule on two major cases: one concerning contraception coverage, and the other on abortion access. The latter, both sides agree, may be the most consequential case for abortion rights since 1992, when the high court ruled that states could not impose an “undue burden” on women who wish to end a pregnancy. State legislatures, which enacted 288 abortion restrictions between 2011 and 2015, will no doubt continue to test the limits of what such “undue burdens” really mean.

2016 also marks the centennial anniversary of Planned Parenthood, an organization that has become the target of an anti-abortion movement that steadily grows more aggressive and violent. The FBI reported an increase in the number of arson attacks and vandalism incidents at abortion clinics in the wake of the Center for Medical Progress videos, and the president of the National Abortion Federation said abortion providers have seen “an unprecedented increase in hate speech and threats” since the videos were released. In late November, a man opened fire in a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, injuring nine people, and killing three. After the shooting, the suspected gunman invoked the doctored videos, telling local authorities, “no more baby parts.”

Richards, who has spent a decade at Planned Parenthood’s helm, toils at ground zero of the culture wars being fought across the country. Every day she is flooded with hundreds of hateful messages on social media, calling her evil, a Nazi, a monster, a murderer. In 2006, Jim Sedlak, the vice president of American Life League and one of the nation’s most ardent Planned Parenthood critics, predicted she would never last more than a year or so as Planned Parenthood’s leader. (A mere “place holder” president, he dubbed her.)

Yet ten years later, Richards remains self-assured in her post, guiding the nation’s largest reproductive-rights organization through the most politically fraught period it’s ever faced. She comes well-suited for the challenge. Richards brings to her role decades of experience in political organizing, and a career as a premier coalition builder across liberal America. She brings as well a strategic and moral vision that has impelled her to push Planned Parenthood beyond where it’s been, to lead more forcefully in the broader cultural and economic battles for women’s autonomy and equality.

IN 2006, JUST THREE WEEKS after Richards started her new job as Planned Parenthood’s president, South Dakota’s governor signed a bill outlawing abortion, the nation’s first state-legislated ban. (It was soon struck down in federal court.) “Listen, the reason I took this job is, I feel like we need to go into the 21st century,” she told The Washington Post that year. “Clearly, with some folks in the country, we're going to get there kicking and screaming.”

Hiring Richards, in many ways, signified a new moment for Planned Parenthood. The abortion issue had been growing increasingly more politicized and polarized since the mid-1980s. (In the 1970s, the share of pro-life Democrats actually exceeded that of Republicans.) The partisan polarization of recent decades first became evident in 1984, and by the 1990s, political scientists were noticing a new and statistically significant relationship between voters’ abortion attitudes and whom they cast their ballot for in elections.

The three presidents who preceded Richards came in with backgrounds in health care, nursing, and Planned Parenthood itself. Richards’s resume, on the other hand, listed years of experience in organizing, campaigning, and electoral politics. While Planned Parenthood had been inching toward political advocacy in the 15 years before Richards arrived, she came in prepared to steer Planned Parenthood to the front lines.

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mojo

Since undercover videos that captured Planned Parenthood staff discussing fetal tissue donations were released last month, GOP officials in more than 10 states have clamored to launch investigations into the organization. On Tuesday, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley joined that group, ordering her state's health department to review the policies and practices of all abortion clinics in the state, including the three operated by Planned Parenthood.

"These practices are not consistent with the laws or character of our state," Haleywrote in her letter to the state agency tasked with regulating abortion clinics, adding that it "cannot allow an organization with broken internal oversight and a flawed corporate culture to behave the way Planned Parenthood has in other states."

In the videos, recorded surreptitiously and released by the anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress, Planned Parenthood officials talk frankly about the organization's tissue donation program and the costs associated with donating fetal tissue from an abortion. Though fetal tissue donation is a long-standing and legal practice in the United States, and has contributed to medical advancements like the polio vaccine, conservatives have used the videos to attack the health care organization, saying they provide evidence that Planned Parenthood illegally profits from the sale of aborted fetuses. And they've pushed for investigations to unmask this purported criminal wrongdoing.

But so far, those investigations are falling flat. Completed probes in Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, and South Dakota have spent thousands in taxpayer money but turned up no evidence that Planned Parenthood is trafficking in the sale of fetal tissue. And in most of the other states that have launched investigations—including Ohio, Arizona, Texas, and Kansas—Planned Parenthood affiliates don't even have fetal tissue donation programs, making it hard to believe the states will find any illegal activity related to the practice. In Louisiana, where Gov. Bobby Jindal ordered an investigation in mid-July, Planned Parenthood does not even operate a single abortion clinic.

"In every state where these investigations have concluded, officials have cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing," Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation, told the Huffington Post. "We've said all along that Planned Parenthood follows all laws and has very high medical standards, and that's what every one of these investigations has found."

Not every governor has taken the bait. Democratic governors in Minnesota and Virginia have rejected state legislators' pleas to look into the group, saying they won't waste time investigating programs that don't exist in their states.

"As far as I'm concerned, there's no basis for an investigation at taxpayer expense into a private nonprofit organization that has stated they don't engage in those practices," Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton told local reporters after he received a letter from GOP lawmakers asking him to take action.

Other states have taken another approach since the release of the videos: Governors in Alabama and Arkansas, along with Louisiana's Jindal, have moved to block Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, which they may not be able to do under federal law. Meanwhile, public opinion of the organization remains high. A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that despite weeks of bad news, Planned Parenthood is still more popular than every major 2016 presidential contender, the NRA, and the Supreme Court.

==

hillary punked?

Lawmakers have used the videos to justify calling for Congress to ban Planned Parenthoodfrom receiving federal funds for services unrelated to abortion. State lawmakers in Texas held a hearing Wednesday to investigate the issue, even though Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas don’t currently collect fetal tissue for donation in medical research. Lawmakers across the country have compared Planned Parenthood to everything from drug dealers to Nazis.

“Elected officials need to listen to the public outcry for an immediate moratorium on Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding while the 10 state investigations and 3 Congressional committees determine the full extent of Planned Parenthood’s sale of baby parts.” Daleiden said in a statement.

Reproductive rights advocates, however, have called the videos a “smear campaign” and harmful to women seeking abortion care. “To the right, they want to stamp out abortion by stamping out Planned Parenthood. But what they really want is to stamp out our ability to make the most personal, private decisions about our lives. They are using the latest campaign to shut down Planned Parenthood to do just that,” said Wisconsin Rep. Chris Taylor (D-Madison) in an op-ed for the Center for Media and Democracy’s PR Watch.

Questions also have been raised about CMP’s deceptive tactics, ideological agenda, andconnections to radical and violent anti-choice activists.

An *RH Reality Check* investigation found that Daleiden and his associates may have violated California and federal laws—including forgery, credit card fraud, and identity theft—when filming the videos.

===

What the Planned Parenthood Hoax Really Proves: Right-Wing Extremists Have No Qualms About Destroying Peoples’ Lives

By Bob Cesca [1] / Salon [2]

July 18, 2015

They say a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth gets its pants on. That’s certainly the case with a new and highly deceptive anti-choice propaganda video that claims to show a Planned Parenthood official caught on a hidden camera while allegedly discussing how the women’s health clinics are involved with the harvesting and selling of aborted fetus organs via a sordid underground black market.

In the video, Dr. Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood’s senior director of medical services, is seen eating salad and drinking a glass of red wine as she discusses what the selectively edited video would lead us to believe is the process of acquiring intact organs from aborted fetuses and then selling them to buyers. Nucatola describes the most desirable organs, as well as the admittedly disturbing manner by which the fetuses are aborted in a way that doesn’t damage the organs that are to be harvested. She also appears to discuss the prices that buyers pay for a particular fetal organ.

As we’ve seen with similar “gotcha!” videos, this one completely misrepresents what Nucatola was discussing, and numerous sites have almost too-easily debunked just about every claim. (Full debunkery here [3], here[4], here [5] and here [6].) It turns out, Nucatola wasn’t discussing the illegal black market sale of fetal organs, but instead the perfectly legal donation of the organs to biomedical research laboratories that use the organs to help save lives. The price range of the organs described by Nucatola is, in reality, the reimbursed expenses accrued in the delivery of the specimens. (Which makes sense: $30 to $100 is hilariously below the going rate for human organs.) Furthermore, the video was produced by an anti-choice pop-up outfit called the Center for Medical Progress, which not only claimed that this one video required three years of research, but which also has ties to known video fraudster James O’Keefe.

Yet as rapidly as the video was resoundingly debunked as a fraud, it wasn’t fast enough to catch up with the zealous haste of the lies.

As soon as the video hit The Daily Caller and The Drudge Report, it was pretty much game over for the already beleaguered Planned Parenthood. Social media immediately erupted with garment rending and all varieties of unhinged screeching over what too many gullible viewers perceived as the ultimate smoking gun indictment of the organization. Anyone pointing out the obviously deceptive editing and the false claims made by the video were attacked as ghouls, Nazis and baby-killers.

The intensity of the outrage closely matched the degree of the flimflam. Anti-choice activists wanted desperately to believe the video was an accurate representation of what Planned Parenthood is up to behind the scenes, so they overlooked the obvious scare-edits and manipulative soundtrack. Clinically speaking, the video is cleverly produced, even though it’s really easy to make abortion sound creepy. That said, it flagrantly exploits the worst and most ignorant aspects of social media: the utter lack of critical viewing, the impulse to rapidly retweet clickbait without reading, and especially the internet’s torch-and-pitchfork mob justice.

On the Tuesday edition of my podcast [7], I predicted that in addition to the radical far-right mob, the video would also be accepted at face value by A-list Republicans and especially the congressional GOP. And why not? It’s happened before. Congress buried ACORN based on a provably fake video. Planned Parenthood has been relentlessly de-funded due to previously fraudulent videos. Indeed, members of the most powerful governing body in the world spoke on-the-record from the floor of both the House and Senate and permanently attached their names to more than one egregiously fake smear video. Legislation was passed and livelihoods were ruined because congressional Republicans were repeatedly duped by James O’Keefe and his acolytes.

Sadly, my prediction came true on Wednesday when Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee announced [8] they’d hold hearings on the video.

“This video is abhorrent and rips at the heart. The committee will get to the bottom of this appalling situation,” the press release quotes Republican lawmakers Fred Upton, Marsha Blackburn, Tim Murphy, and Joe Pitts as saying.

Again, taxpayer money will be wasted on an investigation into Planned Parenthood based on a video that was debunked within 24 hours of dropping. Even anti-choice Americans ought to be outraged by this total waste of resources. But they won’t be because now the “respected” members of an elite governing body of 535 powerful Americans have announced that this mendacious video is, in fact, “abhorrent” and “appalling.” So, now, the video is endowed with the legitimacy of a congressional committee.

Meanwhile, several GOP presidential hopefuls have condemned [9] Planned Parenthood for the (misleading) content of the video.

“The video showing a Planned Parenthood employee selling the body parts of aborted children is a disturbing reminder of the organization’s penchant for profiting off the tragedy of a destroyed human life,” said former Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

“Today’s video of a Planned Parenthood official discussing the systematic harvesting and trafficking of human body parts is shocking and gruesome,” said Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. [...]

“This latest news is tragic and outrageous,” said businesswoman Carly Fiorina. “This isn’t about ‘choice.’ It’s about profiting on the death of the unborn while telling women it’s about empowerment.”

We seriously have to question whether any of these Republicans have given their bank account information to Nigerian princes with dubious Hotmail email accounts. I hate to be a Debbie Downer, Republicans, but guess what? Professional wrestling is fake and the Easter bunny isn’t real. Sorry.

Arguably the worst aspect of this scam video, beyond the harm it will do to reproductive rights and Planned Parenthood, is the reality that Dr. Nucatela’s life is all but ruined for the foreseeable future. At this moment, anti-choice extremists are likely fanning out around the internet, collecting damaging information about her; finding out her home address and contact information; discovering whether she has children and where they go to school; planning rallies outside her house; or worse. Based on wrongful charges, she now represents Enemy Number One for googly-eyed radicals, fueled by visions of aborted fetuses and the false impression of Planned Parenthood as the Walmart of black market fetus organs.

==

nyt

February 2, 2011

ANTI-ABORTION GROUPS STEP UP CAMPAIGN AGAINST PLANNED PARENTHOOD

BY ERIK ECKHOLM AND JENNIFER MEDINA

:{:{}:

PLANNED PARENTHOOD HAS FIRED A CLINIC MANAGER WHO WAS SEEN ON VIDEOTAPE ADVISING A MAN POSING AS A SEX TRAFFICKER, AND ANTI-ABORTION GROUPS SEIZED ON THE EPISODE TO STEP UP THEIR CAMPAIGN TO CUT OFF PUBLIC FINANCING FOR THE ORGANIZATION.

THE MANAGER WAS VIDEOTAPED COVERTLY IN A CLINIC IN PERTH AMBOY, N.J., BY ACTORS WORKING FOR AN ANTI-ABORTION GROUP, LIVE ACTION. THE MANAGER GAVE ADVICE ON HOW TO GET MEDICAL CARE FOR UNDER-AGE PROSTITUTES. THE TAPE’S RELEASE ON TUESDAY EMBARRASSED PLANNED PARENTHOOD, WHICH PROVIDES CONTRACEPTIVES, GYNECOLOGICAL CARE, CANCER SCREENING AND ABORTIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, MAINLY TO LOW-INCOME WOMEN.

THE PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA SAID THAT IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE “HIGHLY UNUSUAL” VISIT, ITS AFFILIATE HAD NOTIFIED PROSECUTORS.

THE ORGANIZATION SAID LAST WEEK THAT PEOPLE CLAIMING TO BE SEX TRAFFICKERS VISITED AT LEAST 12 OF ITS CLINICS IN SIX STATES IN JANUARY AND THAT IT HAD CONCLUDED THAT THE VISITS WERE A HOAX BY LIVE ACTION. BUT PLANNED PARENTHOOD OFFICIALS EXPRESSED DISMAY AT THE STATEMENTS OF THE OFFICE MANAGER IN THE VIDEOTAPE, AND FIRED HER ON TUESDAY NIGHT.

“WE WERE PROFOUNDLY SHOCKED WHEN WE VIEWED THE VIDEOTAPE,” PHYLLIS KINSLER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE AGENCY’S CENTRAL NEW JERSEY BRANCH, SAID IN A STATEMENT. MS. KINSLER SAID THE TAPE “DEPICTED AN EMPLOYEE OF ONE OF OUR HEALTH CENTERS BEHAVING IN A REPUGNANT MANNER THAT IS INCONSISTENT WITH OUR STANDARDS OF CARE AND IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE.”

STUART SCHEAR, VICE PRESIDENT FOR COMMUNICATIONS OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION, SAID IN AN INTERVIEW ON WEDNESDAY THAT PLANNED PARENTHOOD HAD “ZERO TOLERANCE” FOR UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR AND THAT THE BEHAVIOR FILMED IN THE VIDEO WAS “VERY ISOLATED.”

“WE CANNOT LOSE SIGHT OF THE BIGGER PICTURE THAT WE HAVE OPPONENTS WHO ARE IN MANY CASES OPPOSED TO BIRTH CONTROL, HONEST SEX EDUCATION AND LEGAL ABORTION, AND ARE COORDINATING WITH ALLIES ON CAPITOL HILL TO DEFUND PLANNED PARENTHOOD,” MR. SCHEAR SAID.

ON WEDNESDAY, A LARGE NUMBER OF ANTI-ABORTION GROUPS INCLUDING LIVE ACTION ANNOUNCED A NEW CAMPAIGN CALLED “EXPOSE PLANNED PARENTHOOD,” TIED TO THE VIDEOTAPE, WHICH WILL PROMOTE A BILL NOW BEFORE THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THAT WOULD CUT THE MORE THAN $75 MILLION IN FEDERAL MONEY THAT PLANNED PARENTHOOD AFFILIATES RECEIVE EACH YEAR FOR FAMILY PLANNING.

FEDERAL COMPENSATION FOR ABORTION IS ALREADY OUTLAWED, BUT CONSERVATIVE GROUPS ATTACK PLANNED PARENTHOOD FOR INCLUDING ABORTIONS AMONG ITS SERVICES.

SOME CRITICS GO FURTHER. IN THE VIDEOTAPE AND SOME PREVIOUS INCIDENTS, PLANNED PARENTHOOD OFFICIALS “COLLABORATED WITH THE EXPLOITATION OF YOUNG GIRLS,” SAID MARJORIE DANNENFELSER, PRESIDENT OF SUSAN B. ANTHONY LIST, AN ANTI-ABORTION GROUP THAT IS HELPING TO ORGANIZE THE DE-FINANCING CAMPAIGN, IN AN INTERVIEW WEDNESDAY. “THEY DON’T HAVE INSTITUTIONAL CONTROLS TO PREVENT THIS.”

MR. SCHEAR OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD SAID THAT ABORTION ACCOUNTS FOR ONLY 3 PERCENT OF THE ORGANIZATION’S HEALTH SERVICES AND THAT THE FEDERAL MONEY UNDER ATTACK GOES TOWARD FAMILY PLANNING AND PREVENTIVE HEALTH CARE FOR WOMEN, “INCLUDING MANY LOW-INCOME WOMEN WHO HAVE RELIED ON OUR SERVICES FOR DECADES.” HE SAID THAT PLANNED PARENTHOOD AND AFFILIATES RECEIVED A TOTAL OF ABOUT $363 MILLION A YEAR FROM FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS COMBINED.

THE VIDEO WAS PRODUCED BY 22-YEAR-OLD LILA ROSE, WHO RUNS LIVE ACTION. IT SHOWS A WOMAN IDENTIFIED AS AMY WOODRUFF, THE OFFICE MANAGER, RESPONDING TO AN UNSEEN MAN AND WOMAN. THE MAN SAYS HE IS INVOLVED IN SEX WORK AND WANTS TO BRING GIRLS, SOME ONLY 14 OR 15 AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, FOR MEDICAL EXAMS.

THE MANAGER SAYS THAT 14-YEAR-OLD GIRLS SHOULD NOT ADMIT THEIR AGES, BECAUSE DOING SO TRIGGERS EXTRA REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. “FOR THE MOST PART, WE WANT AS LITTLE INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE,” SHE SAYS. ASKED IF THE GIRLS CAN OBTAIN ABORTIONS, THE MANAGER REPLIES THAT IF THEY ARE UNDER 15, THEY SHOULD GO TO ANOTHER CLINIC WHERE “THEIR PROTOCOLS ARE NOT AS STRICT AS OURS.”

THE NEW VIDEO RESEMBLES THOSE MADE IN 2009 BY A CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST, JAMES O’KEEFE, IN WHICH EMPLOYEES OF THE COMMUNITY GROUP ACORN GAVE TAX ADVISE TO A MAN POSING AS A PIMP.

MS. ROSE WORKED IN THE PAST WITH MR. O’KEEFE ON UNDERCOVER VIDEOS IN PLANNED PARENTHOOD OFFICES BUT SAYS SHE HAS NOT WORKED WITH HIM IN RECENT YEARS. HE IS SERVING THREE YEARS’ PROBATION AFTER BEING ARRESTED FOR ENTERING THE NEW ORLEANS OFFICE OF SENATOR MARY LANDRIEU UNDER FALSE PRETENSES, WITH THE PURPOSE OF COMMITTING A FELONY.

IN A STATEMENT ON WEDNESDAY, MS. ROSE INDICATED THAT HER GROUP HAD OTHER DAMAGING MATERIALS. “SOON, WE WILL BE RELEASING MORE EVIDENCE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS AND THE PUBLIC SHOWING THAT PLANNED PARENTHOOD IS WILLING TO AID AND ABET SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF MINORS AND YOUNG WOMEN,” SHE SAID.

LILA ROSE’S VIDEOS FIRST MADE HEADLINES IN 2007, WHEN, AS A FRESHMAN AT THEUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES, SHE WENT UNDERCOVER TO AN ABORTION CLINIC IN CALIFORNIA AND TOLD WORKERS THAT SHE WAS 15 YEARS OLD AND PREGNANT BY A 23-YEAR-OLD MAN. BY LAW, CLINIC EMPLOYEES SHOULD HAVE REPORTED THE INCIDENT AS STATUTORY RAPE BUT DID NOT DO SO.

THAT VIDEO PROPELLED HER INTO THE EMBRACE OF ANTI-ABORTION ACTIVISTS. NOW, AT 22, SHE HAS ACHIEVED A SORT OF CELEBRITY STATUS IN SOME CONSERVATIVE CIRCLES — HER FACEBOOK UPDATES ARE FOLLOWED BY NEARLY 5,000 FANS.

“WE WERE THRILLED WHEN WE SAW THAT SHE WAS DOING SOMETHING SO NEW AND EXCITING AND CREATIVE,” SAID REV. PATRICK MAHONEY, WHO RUNS THE CHRISTIAN DEFENSE COALITION, A WASHINGTON-BASED ADVOCACY GROUP. “THE FACT THAT SHE WAS NOT SOMEONE LIKE ME IN HER MID-50S, BUT A YOUNG BRIGHT STUDENT, REALLY ADDED TO THE IMPACT.”

MS. ROSE GRADUATED FROM U.C.L.A. IN DECEMBER WITH A BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN HISTORY. DURING HER TIME THERE, THE UNIVERSITY’S LIVE ACTION CHAPTER (ONE OF FOUR IN CALIFORNIA) ORGANIZED A “GENOCIDE AWARENESS PROJECT” IN THE CAMPUS CENTER. ACCORDING TO THE GROUP’S FACEBOOK PAGE, THE DISPLAY SHOWED “THE DISTURBING PARALLELS BETWEEN ABORTION AND PAST GENOCIDES LIKE THE HOLOCAUST AND RWANDA, AS WELL AS THE LYNCHING IN THE JIM CROW SOUTH.”

MS. ROSE DECLINED TO BE INTERVIEWED. BUT SHE USED TWITTER AND FACEBOOK TO CLAIM A VICTORY AGAINST PLANNED PARENTHOOD, TELLING FOLLOWERS THAT ITS DECISION TO FIRE THE OFFICE MANAGER POINTED TO “MUCH BROADER AND MORE ENDEMIC” PROBLEMS IN THE ORGANIZATION.

MR. SCHEAR REPLIED: “WE’RE STAYING FOCUSED ON GIVING WOMEN THE HEALTH CARE THEY NEED AND DESERVE.”

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN REVISED TO REFLECT THE FOLLOWING CORRECTION:

CORRECTION: FEBRUARY 10, 2011

AN ARTICLE ON FEB. 3 ABOUT PLANNED PARENTHOOD’S FIRING OF A CLINIC MANAGER WHO WAS SEEN ON VIDEOTAPE ADVISING A MAN POSING AS A SEX TRAFFICKER REFERRED INCORRECTLY TO CHARGES AGAINST AN ACTIVIST KNOWN FOR MAKING SIMILAR UNDERCOVER VIDEOS IN THE OFFICES OF THE COMMUNITY GROUP ACORN. THE ACTIVIST, JAMES O’KEEFE, WAS CHARGED IN 2010 WITH ENTERING THE NEW ORLEANS OFFICE OF SENATOR MARY LANDRIEU UNDER FALSE PRETENSES, WITH THE PURPOSE OF COMMITTING A FELONY; HE WAS NEVER EXPLICITLY ACCUSED BY THE AUTHORITIES OF PLANNING TO TAMPER WITH THE SENATOR’S TELEPHONES. (THE ERROR ALSO APPEARED IN AN ARTICLE ON MARCH 27, 2010, ABOUT CHARGES IN THE CASE.)

}:

===

Live Action is an anti-abortion group that in 2011 produced a hoax "sting" video to target Planned Parenthood. The video was similar to those produced by conservative activist James O'Keefe, who in 2009 made heavily edited video targeting the community group ACORN. Live Action is run by Lila Rose, who produced the anti-Planned Parenthood video. Rose previously worked with O'Keefe producing undercover videos of Planned Parenthood offices.[1]^

Contents[hide]

Sourcewatch resources

External resources

Contact

:{:{Live Action}:

117 Bernal Road, #70-153

San Jose, CA 95119}:

Web page: http://liveaction.org/

Phone: (323) 454-3304

References

  1. ↑ Eric Eckholm, Jennifer Medina Anti-Abortion Groups Step Up Campaign Against Planned Parenthood, New York Times, February 2, 2011

Lila Rose is a conservative activist and anti-abortion videographer whose work is promoted by Andrew Breitbart. Her goals are to undermine organizations that provide legal abortions and de-fund Planned Parenthood. She is president of the anti-abortion group Live Action. Rose likened herself to Martin Luther King, Jr. in a CNN documentary called "Right on the Edge." At the November, 2009 Value Voters Summit, she said that as long as abortions are legal, they should be "done in the public square," thus disgusting people into action. And then "we might hear angels singing as we ponder the glory of conception." ^[1][2][3]^

Contents[hide]

Colleague of James O'Keefe

Lila Rose is a colleague of conservative activist James O'Keefe. As a UCLA freshman in autumn of 2006, she and O'Keefe came up with the idea of infiltrating clinics. Rose and O'Keefe, both told the Los Angeles Times that they were inspired by the work of Mark Crutcher, a Texas antiabortion activist who in 2002 taped fake calls to hundreds of Planned Parenthood clinics around the country featuring women posing as pregnant minors.[4]^

In 2006 Rose has carried out undercover "sting" visits at Planned Parenthood clinics in Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Bloomington, Tucson, Phoenix and Memphis. She makes hidden camera videos as she and a friend pose as abortion-seeking young teens who have been impregnated by older men. Rose's videos are then edited down to about boiled five minutes, and are enhanced with portentous music and fast cuts to heighten the drama. Rose them posts the videos on her website, LiveAction.org, and on YouTube.[5]^

Sourcewatch resources

-----

Stearns' Connections To Anti-Choice10070009

Americans United for Life

Americans United For Life:  "The First National Pro-Life Organization In The United States." From Americans United for Life's website:

Founded in 1971 as the first national pro-life organization in the United States, Americans United for Life (AUL) is a nonprofit, public-interest law and policy organization whose vision is a nation in which everyone is welcomed in life and protected in law. [...]

Currently, we are working with pro-life lawmakers to compose and pass legislation that would:

  • Mandate standards for abortion clinics to protect the health and safety of women and correct often substandard conditions.
  • Protect the rights of conscience of all healthcare professionals.
  • Protect parental rights, ensuring parents and guardians are involved in medical decisions of children.
  • Protect unborn victims from criminal violence, including homicide.
  • Ban all forms of human cloning.
  • Promote adult stem cell, cord blood and other forms of life-affirming stem cell research.
  • Prevent euthanasia and assisted suicide.
  • Inform women of the health risks of abortion including the link between abortion and breast cancer.

Americans United for Life, accessed [10/6/11]

Stearns Launched Investigation After He "Was Asked To Look Into Planned Parenthood By Americans United For Life." According to the Florida Independent: "Florida Congressman Cliff Stearns, R-Ocala, has asked the president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, for the organization's financial and policy records as part of an investigation into the chain of clinics. Stearns chairs a subcommittee on oversight and investigations in the U.S. House. Stearns was asked to look into Planned Parenthood by Americans United for Life, an anti-abortion rights group that put together a report with the aim of convincing members of Congress to defund Planned Parenthood." *Florida Independent*, [9/30/11]

Conservative policy group Americans United for Life's stated plans to help defund Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) one state at a time were amplified Thursday with the release of a report citing supposed violations of federal-funding rules by the national family planning and abortion provider. AUL is calling for Congress to launch an investigation against Planned Parenthood, with the hopeful outcome of stripping the organization of all public money now and forever.

The majority of the allegations in this report are not new - many of the claims of wrongdoing date back several years - but they have been organized into deliberate categories and bolstered by a 144-page appendix that consists of financial and annual statements from Planned Parenthood since the early 1990s; documents including old court records and memos, as well as clandestinely recorded conversations between Planned Parenthood employees and Live Action members posing as minors. *American Independent*, [7/7/11, emphasis added]

Live Action

Live Action Is A Self-Described "Youth Led Movement Dedicated To Building A Culture Of Life And Ending Abortion."From Live Action's website:

WHO WE ARE: We are a youth led movement dedicated to building a culture of life and ending abortion, the greatest human rights injustice of our time. We use new media to educate the public about the humanity of the unborn and investigative journalism to expose threats against the vulnerable and defenseless. LiveAction.org, accessed [10/6/11]

Rep. Stearns Cited Live Action Videos Purporting To Show "Planned Parenthood's Cover-Up Of Child Sex Trafficking."From a February 10, 2011, press release from Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL):

In response to videos produced by Live Action showing Planned Parenthood workers willing to conspire in sex trafficking, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) joined other members in calling for the defunding of that organization. At a news conference today hosted by Live Action and Susan B. Anthony List, Stearns stated that he plans to call the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Kathleen Sebelius, to testify on taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood and that organization's tolerance of sex trafficking and other criminal activities.  Stearns is Chairman of the Energy & Commerce Committee's Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over HHS, and the hearing will be scheduled soon.

"Taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood is increasing, rising from $337 million in 2008 to $363.2 million in 2009," said Stearns. "We have a $14 trillion national debt while running a deficit this year of $1.5 trillion - Planned Parenthood is an egregious abuse of taxpayer funds.  Not only does this organization provide about one in every five abortions in this nation, its centers have also been caught violating state sexual assault and child abuse reporting laws, and it has encouraged young girls to lie about their ages to circumvent state reporting laws."

The undercover videos from Live Action expose Planned Parenthood's cover-up of child sex trafficking.  In one, a Planned Parenthood manager coaches a man and woman posing as sex traffickers in how to obtain abortions and other services for child sex workers.  "Taxpayers are demanding to know how their money is being spent and these videos answer how Planned Parenthood uses public dollars." Stearns.House.gov, [2/10/11, emphasis added]

Stearns Used Live Action Videos To Threaten HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius With A Personal Investigation.From Politico:

On Thursday, Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns demanded that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius explain the videos in which anti-abortion activists with the group Live Action pose as pimps and secretly record their conversations with workers at the family planning organization. [...]

Stearns threatened to ask the Department of Justice to investigate Sebelius if she refuses to answer questions before the Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, which he heads. 

"We're going to bring Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius, put her under oath in the spring and ask her to explain what is she doing about these videos," Stearns said Thursday, flanked by anti-abortion activists at a press conference on Capitol Hill, including the president of the group that recorded and released the videos. 

"We're not going to wait for Attorney General [Eric] Holder to do anything," he added, as supporters clapped and cheered. "And if she lies, then we're going to ask the attorney general to investigate her." 

Sebelius, whose agency oversees grants to Planned Parenthood, has appeared before the Senate health and education committee, but hasn't yet testified in the GOP-dominated House. *Politico*, [2/10/11, emphasis added]

Stearns Thanked Live Action For Research, Called For The Defunding Of Planned Parenthood.From a blog post by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) titled "Defund Planned Parenthood" on BigGovernment.com:

Thanks to Live Action, a group of young people dedicated to strengthening the culture of life, we learn from undercover videos that Planned Parenthood is all too willing to ignore the law in promoting its services, among them abortion.

Working with Live Action, a man and woman posed as sex traffickers at a Planned Parenthood center and asked about abortions and other services for their child sex workers.  Instead being reported for what appeared to be a horrendous sexual exploitation of children, the pair received information on how to arrange abortions for their child sex workers.

This just adds to Planned Parenthood's record of violating state sexual assault and child abuse reporting laws, and of encouraging young girls to lie about their ages to circumvent state reporting laws.

Although Planned Parenthood eventually ordered new training for its employees, I have a better solution - defund it. BigGovernment.com, [2/12/11, emphasis added]

Planned Parenthood Reported Potential Sex Trafficking To FBI After Visits From Live Action.From a press release titled "Planned Parenthood Informs Federal Authorities of Potential Sex Trafficking," released on January 24, 2011:

Last week, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) alerted federal authorities to a potential multistate sex trafficking ring.  Over a five day period, visitors to Planned Parenthood health centers in six states said they were seeking information from Planned Parenthood about health services Planned Parenthood could provide to underage girls who were part of a sex trafficking ring.  Subsequent to alerting U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Planned Parenthood learned the identify of one of those involved and believes these visits are likely a hoax by opponents of legal abortion seeking to discredit Planned Parenthood, which delivers preventive health care and abortion services to three million women each year.

Men, sometimes accompanied by a woman, have visited at least 11 Planned Parenthood health centers in six states within a one-week time frame.  During their visits, they claimed to be involved in sex trafficking of teens, some of whom are in the United States illegally.  These men appeared at health centers without appointments and said that they were seeking health services for themselves, but they quickly turned the conversation to the sex ring they said they were managing.

"When Planned Parenthood learns of an operation that exploits young women, we vigilantly work with law enforcement authorities to uncover and stop this abhorrent activity," said Stuart Schear, PPFA vice president for communications.  "Planned Parenthood's top priority is the health and safety of our patients and the health and well-being of women and teens across the country, and we have been in contact with federal and local authorities to identify the persons involved in these visits." PlannedParenthood.org, [1/24/11, emphasis added]

In Addition To Reporting  Live Action Visits, Planned Parenthood Fired Employee Seen In Video.As reported by the New York Times:

Planned Parenthood has fired a clinic manager who was seen on videotape advising a man posing as a sex trafficker, and anti-abortion groups seized on the episode to step up their campaign to cut off public financing for the organization.

The manager was videotaped covertly in a clinic in Perth Amboy, N.J., by actors working for an anti-abortion group, Live Action. The manager gave advice on how to get medical care for under-age prostitutes. The tape's release on Tuesday embarrassed Planned Parenthood, which provides contraceptives, gynecological care, cancer screening and abortions across the country, mainly to low-income women.

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America said that immediately after the "highly unusual" visit, its affiliate had notified prosecutors.

The organization said last week that people claiming to be sex traffickers visited at least 12 of its clinics in six states in January and that it had concluded that the visits were a hoax by Live Action. But Planned Parenthood officials expressed dismay at the statements of the office manager in the videotape, and fired her on Tuesday night. *New York Times*, [2/2/11]

==

nyt

In the end, Mr. O’Keefe’s Planned Parenthood campaign — in which some of the organization’s workers were recorded accepting donations from one of Mr. O’Keefe’s characters who said the money should go to abort only black fetuses — forced Planned Parenthood to apologize in multiple states, though officials also complained that some tapes were “heavily edited.”

==

Pranksters

http://www.salon.com/2014/04/01/the_despicable_rise_of_conservative_pranksters_race_baiting_conspiracy_theories_in_the_age_of_obama/

The despicable rise of conservative pranksters: Race-baiting & conspiracy theories in the age of Obama

How Glenn Beck and James O'Keefe perfected a bizarre — and dangerous — new brand of conservative anger

KEMBREW MCLEOD

The despicable rise of conservative pranksters: Race-baiting & conspiracy theories in the age of Obama

Glenn Beck, James O'Keefe

Excerpted from “Pranksters: Making Mischief in the Modern World”

The history of political pranks is littered with lefty characters. Conservatives, on the other hand, do not gravitate toward irreverent hijinks. One exception is James O’Keefe, a right-wing prankster who uses hidden cameras to stage encounters with his ideological enemies. At the same time that progressive organizations such as MoveOn.org were hailed for their savvy uses of online media, O’Keefe, Andrew Breitbart, and other conservatives employed similar DIY methods. O’Keefe’s provocations began in 2004 while attending Rutgers University. In a satire of political correctness, what he viewed as a pious sensitivity to ethnicity on college campuses, he launched a campaign to remove Lucky Charms from the dining hall. He secretly videotaped himself complaining to a food-service employee about the leprechaun on the cereal box. While the school official earnestly scribbled notes, O’Keefe deadpanned, “As you can see, we’re not short and green—we have our differences of height—and we think this is stereotypical of all Irish Americans.” While at Rutgers, he gained notoriety by organizing an “affirmative-action bake sale,” in which whites paid exorbitant prices and African Americans got discounts.

In developing his craft, O’Keefe read Saul Alinsky’s ”Rules for Radicals,” the bible of many liberal activists. Rule Four especially inspired him: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”He applied this directive in 2007 when he punked Planned Parenthood in an attempt to expose white liberal hypocrisies about race, abortion, and eugenics. It is certainly true, for instance, that some early-twentieth-century Progressives could be racist. Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger is a women’s right pioneer, but some of her projects ran hand in hand with a desire to reduce the size of “undesirable” populations. Particularly unsettling was Sanger’s “Negro Project,” which was arguably a thinly veiled eugenics scheme. This sordid history has enabled conservative commentators to take the moral high ground by claiming that white liberals are the real racists. To dramatize this claim, O’Keefe secretly taped a phone conversation with a Planned Parenthood staffer, who was asked if his donation could be used to abort black babies (so to prevent his future son from being discriminated against through affirmative action). He was told the organization would accept the money, for whatever reason. Even though Planned Parenthood dismissed the tapes as “heavily edited,” the public-relations damage was done.

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