A deceptively edited video alleging that Planned Parenthood sold fetal tissue for profit has been debunked after an investigation by FactCheck.org. The group behind the video has also been revealed to be an extremist anti-choice organization, the so-called "Center for Medical Progress," which has connections to the violent "Operation Rescue" organization. Fetal tissue is used by a range of medical research organizations, including the National Institutes of Health and university medical centers, to find a cure for such illnesses as Parkinson's disease, HIV, hepatitis, and congenital heart defects. When requested, Planned Parenthood provides such tissue to medical research at cost, with no profit involved.
Rethuglican politicians fighting for restrictions on women's reproductive rights had pounced on the fraudulent video, while they resumed their attacks on Federal funding for Planned Parenthood. However, as the New York Times editorial board wrote today about the edited video:
"….it is the latest in a series of unrelenting attacks on Planned Parenthood, which offers health care services to millions of people every year. The politicians howling to defund Planned Parenthood care nothing about the truth here, being perfectly willing to undermine women’s reproductive rights any way they can."Another day, another lie propagated by the extreme right, their Rethuglican representatives, and their media enablers.
UPDATE: Democrats are now requesting the Justice Department investigate the "Center for Medical Progress" and it's discredited "sting" operation on Planned Parenthood.
