CMP Releases Sixth Video Attacking Planned Parenthood

Center For Medical Progress Claims Planned Parenthood “Sold Baby Parts Without Patient Consent.” In a video released on August 12, the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) claimed Planned Parenthood “sold baby parts without patient consent.” The video featured an interview with Holly O'Donnell, a former tissue procurement technician who worked at StemExpress, a middleman company that receives donated tissue from Planned Parenthood which it then sells to medical researchers. During the video, O'Donnell claimed, “If there was a higher gestation, and the technicians needed it, there were times when they would just take what they wanted. And these mothers don't know. And there's no way they would know.” Like the five previous deceptively-edited videos CMP has already released, this effort does not include any evidence of illegal activity on the part of Planned Parenthood. [Center for Medical Progress, 8/12/15; Media Matters, 8/12/15]

Fox Hosts Claim Video Proves Planned Parenthood Was “Not Telling These Mothers That They Were Harvesting These Organs”

Sean Hannity: “An Undercover Video Showing They Did Not Tell The Parents.” Sean Hannity and his guest, anti-choice activist Lila Rose, repeatedly claimed that the latest video from CMP showed Planned Parenthood “did not tell the parents” about the donation process, and accused Planned Parenthood of breaking multiple laws:

HANNITY: And now we have this: an undercover video showing that they did not tell the parents, they were not telling these mothers that they were harvesting these organs. So many different laws violated here.

[...]

JEANINE ZAINO: It has not been proven that Planned Parenthood did anything illegal in this and that is their position --

HANNITY: You're wrong. No, Lila, we've had you on the program before. We've had many legal experts on the program as well. There are multiple laws that you keep citing that have been broken. Number one, you can't take it without the parent, or the mother's, consent. Number two, you can't change or alter the procedure to harvest body parts, which they admit, “well we'll crush this part, but not that part of the baby.” So there are laws that are broken, correct?

LILA ROSE: This is -- exactly. This is actually the fifth law that's showing Planned Parenthood selling without the consent of the mother the parts of the child that they've just aborted. [Fox News, Hannity, 8/13/15]

Eric Bolling: New Video “Proves That They Don't Ask For -- Sometimes They Don't Let The Mother Know.” On The Five, co-host Eric Bolling claimed:

BOLLING: They say “full consent” in their literature, and now we have another video, this proves that they don't ask for -- sometimes they don't let the mother know, fully aware, make them fully aware of what they're going to use with them. They're bad -- the abortion part of Planned Parenthood is bad. You got to stop them. Let them reopen as Planned Parenthood 2 and don't provide the services, and then give them taxpayer money. [Fox News, The Five, 8/13/15]

But The Video Refers To Employees Of StemExpress, Not Planned Parenthood, And StemExpress Denies The Allegations

Politico: Video “Appears To Be Referring To StemExpress Technicians Working At A Planned Parenthood Clinic”; StemExpress “Unequivocally” Denies Allegations. Politico noted that the woman interviewed in the CMP video, former StemExpress technician Holly O'Donnell, appeared to be referring to her colleagues -- not Planned Parenthood -- when she claimed she witnessed the illegal collection of fetal tissue without consent (emphasis added):

An anti-abortion group has released its latest video in its campaign against Planned Parenthood, this one featuring an interview with a former StemExpress technician who claims she saw people illegally collect fetal tissue and organs without patients' permission at a clinic.

[...]

O'Donnell, who has appeared in previous videos released by the Center for Medical Progress, appears to be referring to StemExpress technicians working at a Planned Parenthood clinic.

“I'm not going to tell a girl to kill her baby so I can get money. And that's what this company does,” she said in the video. No one else is interviewed in the video, and the group making the videos didn't provide any evidence to support her claims.

StemExpress said that it has never gotten blood or tissue from a patient without permission and “unequivocally” denied the allegations in the video. [Politico, 8/12/15]

RH Reality Check: “O'Donnell Claims StemExpress Employees Working In Planned Parenthood Clinics Would Obtain Fetal Tissue Without Obtaining Consent.” From RH Reality Check:

O'Donnell claims StemExpress employees working in Planned Parenthood clinics would obtain fetal tissue without obtaining consent from the patients. “If there was a higher gestation, and the technicians needed it, there were times when they would just take what they wanted. And these mothers don't know. And there's no way they would know,” said O'Donnell. [RH Reality Check, 8/12/15]