The Center for Medical Progress has released another video revealing that Planned Parenthood officials were worried about the media and legal troubles if their organ-trafficking scheme was revealed.
“We have independent colleagues who generate a fair amount of income doing this,” Deb VanDerhei, the national director for the Consortium of Abortion Providers at PPFA. “Obviously we would have a huge P.R. issue, by doing this,” she said while sipping a pint of beer at a party.
VanDerhei wasn’t the only Planned Parenthood official who was concerned about the image problem associated with harvesting and selling aborted baby parts.
“This could destroy your company and us, if we don’t time those conversations correctly,” said Dr. Vanessa Cullins, vice president for external medical affairs for PPFA.
It’s clear that officials all the way to the top were concerned about the bad press, and intentionally did not create a set of guidelines at the national organization to intentionally distance themselves from organ-harvesting.
VanDerhrei explains, during what looks like a conference, that Planned Parenthood officials at the national level of the organization were worried about implementing a policy for compensation. She explains that the organization doesn’t have a national policy for how clinics should handle procuring organs. The lack of guidelines is clearly an intentional measure to keep distance between the national organization and the organ-trafficking at a more localized level.
“Nothing is written. There’s nothing in stone,” Dr. Deborah Nucatola said in what appears to be footage from the first video CMP released on Planned Parenthood’s organs-for-cash scheme. “Folks will ask the national office questions, and we certainly have answers to those questions, but we don’t have a policy per se and that’s by choice.”
“If they do it, that’s fine. We’re not going to say no, but we want them to really think about the New York Times‘ headline,” VanDerhrei said. “It’s an issue you might imagine that we’re not comfortable talking about on email? And so we want to have the conversation in person.”
A conversation between VanDerhrei and Vanessa Russo, compliance program administrator for Planned Parenthood Keystone States, reveal some of the tensions between the national and local levels of the organization surrounding the lack of national policy on the organ-trafficking side of the organization.
Russo says that exchanging money for baby parts is “a valid exchange and that’s okay.” She goes on to explain that Planned Parenthood shouldn’t be “bullied by ridiculous laws and this media that doesn’t understand the big picture.” She vents some of her frustrations of the lack of national policy to VanDerhrei: “We shouldn’t participate in ridiculous social discussions,” she said. “We should participate in valid ones.”
VanDerhrei responds that no one at national is telling the clinics to stop, but rather to just be careful not to get caught by the media. After Planned Parenthood’s run in with the law 15 years ago, the organization is wary of drawing media attention to their organ-harvesting program.
“There was a person that said Planned Parenthood changed the way it does its procedures so that they can sell tissue,”VanDerhrei said. “It turns out that was false.”
Based on earlier footage released by CMP, it’s obvious by now that Planned Parenthood does indeed alter their procedures in order to collect and sell more organs. Their lack of national policy is clearly a tactic to distance the national level of the organization from the gritty realities at the local clinics.
VanDerhrei also revealed that Roger Evans, head of PPFA litigation and law, told the national leaders: “I’m going to say a number of things, and I only want you to go away with one message: I think this is a good idea.”