The Denver Post recently published two guest op-eds on Planned Parenthood -- one in favor of defunding the national health care provider and another explaining the myriad benefits the organization provides its patients. But the newspaper presented readers with a false balance by allowing the author favoring defunding to present widely-discredited information and proven falsehoods about Planned Parenthood's involvement in fetal tissue donation, despite the fact that these accusations have been widely debunked.

Opposing Denver Post Op-Eds Argue For, And Against, Federal Funding Of Planned Parenthood

Alliance Defending Freedom Op-Ed: Planned Parenthood Should Lose Federal Funding. An August 29 Denver Post guest op-ed titled, “Yes, Planned Parenthood should lose its federal funding” by Natalie L. Decker, legal counsel of the nation's largest anti-LGBT advocacy group, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), claimed a Denver Planned Parenthood clinic engaged in the sale of fetal tissue. Decker based her claims on a series of deceptively-edited, undercover smear videos targeting Planned Parenthood of America from the anti-choice Center for Medical Progress. From Decker's op-ed:

The Center for Medical Progress continues to release more devastating footage revealing the horrific practices of Planned Parenthood. Some of the videos include scenes from the Denver abortion facility of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains (PPRM).

Dr. Savita Ginde, vice president and medical director of PPRM, is caught opining on which payment option for baby parts would be most financially beneficial to the abortion giant. Ginde states, “I think the per-item thing works a little better just because we can see how much we can get out of it.” Never mind the fact that state and federal law prohibits the sale or purchase of fetal tissue.

Ginde clearly recognized the disgust that people would have for the ghoulish practice of tearing apart babies and selling their body parts. She comments, “You can imagine where they would run with this. 'You're selling body parts!' ”

Yes, this practice does constitute the sale of body parts, and yes, normal people find that abhorrent regardless of their position on abortion. Planned Parenthood has proven, once again, that its bottom line is far more important than women's health. [Denver Post, 8/29/15]

Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains Op-Ed: We “Rejected The Proposed Illicit Contract Terms Offered By The Fake Company 'BioMax'.” The same day the Denver Post ran Decker's op-ed, it published an opposing view from Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains (PPRM), who wrote that not only do the undercover videos from the Center for Medical Progress fail to show anything illegal, the “extended video footage clearly shows that each provider repeatedly stated that they follow strict ethical and legal guidelines” (emphasis added):

While PPRM does not participate in a fetal tissue research program currently, we salute patients and providers who do. Research on polio, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, HIV, cancer, and many other diseases is made possible by fetal tissue donation. The resulting medical breakthroughs benefit us all.

[...]

PPRM receives no Title X funding to provide family planning services in Colorado, but we strongly oppose defunding nationally. [Denver Post, 8/29/15]

CMP's Deceptively-Edited Undercover Videos Have Been Discredited By Media And Independent Analysts

Center For Medical Progress' Maliciously-Edited Videos Claim To Show Planned Parenthood Acting Illegally. The Center For Medical Progress (CMP) has released nine deceptively-edited videos that they claim prove Planned Parenthood is “selling aborted baby parts” and agreeing to alter abortion procedures purely for tissue procurement. A July 30 video released by CMP claimed that Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains Vice President and Medical Director Dr. Savita Ginde was “negotiating a fetal body parts deal, agreeing multiple times to illicit pricing per body part harvested.” The July 30 video, as well as others released by CMP featuring Planned Parenthood officials, was deceptively edited and does not show any evidence of illegal activity on the part of Planned Parenthood. The longer version of the Colorado video shows staff at a Denver Planned Parenthood clinic simply discussing legal reimbursement fees for donations from women. Both CMP's “actor” and Dr. Ginde state that compensation is based on reimbursement of “processing and time,” as allowed under federal law. [Media Matters, 8/31/15; 7/30/15]

Multiple Media Outlets Have Called Out CMP's Videos For Showing “Nothing Illegal” And Taking Planned Parenthood Staff “Grossly Out Of Context.” Multiple media outlets, including The New York Times¸The Guardian, the Huffington Post, and the Daily Beast, have condemned CMP's release of deceptively edited videos. After the first video appeared, FactCheck.org debunked CMP's claim that Planned Parenthood was “selling aborted baby parts,” and detailed the ways in which the allegation was inaccurate and unfounded. The videos have also been condemned for taking Planned Parenthood personnel's words “grossly out of context” and for showing “nothing illegal.” The New York Times editorial board wrote that the videos were part of a “campaign of deception” and said those who use the videos for political purposes care “nothing about the truth.” [Media Matters, 7/15/15; 7/21/15; 7/22/15]