Body Parts Scandal 'Infuriates' President Obama!

By Ken Blackwell, CP Op-Ed Contributor Sunday, August 09, 2015

Ken Blackwell is the Senior Fellow for Family Empowerment at the Family Research Council, and the Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow for Public Policy at the Buckeye Institute in Columbus, Ohio

Finally, our distinguished President, our Nobel Peace Prize Laureate has spoken out about the infamous scandal of body parts being trafficked. "It is infuriating and I have no patience for it," President Obama said in a strong show of righteous indignation.

But wait, that was in response to a question about the killing of Albino people in Africa. Of course, he is absolutely right in his visceral reaction against trafficking in body parts for pagan ritual purposes in parts of Africa. And the young African leaders — to their great credit — asked the President to lend his moral authority to their effort to stamp out this horrific practice.

How strange, then, how truly bizarre it is to see this White House's reaction to the burgeoning Planned Parenthood scandal. There can be no doubt that this outfit--the recipient of billions in taxpayer dollars — has been caught hawking hearts, lungs, and livers of unborn children killed by abortion.

The Center for Medical Progress's series of exposės have proven that Planned Parenthood top executives are willing to lie, to bend or break the law, and do almost anything else necessary to cover up their scavenging of body parts of their victims.

Journalist Amelia Hamilton dissects Planned Parenthood's tissue of lies here. This talented writer is careful to follow the documentary trail and to point out discrepancies in how the world's largest abortion profiteer falsely claims (1) they don't alter the process to maximize income, (2) they aren't making money from the organs they take, and (3) it's not really a baby they are carving up.

The Center for Medical Progress's exposės should prompt a full-ranging investigation by the U.S. Justice Department, but they probably won't. In the absence of vigilant law enforcement by this increasingly lawless administration, the U.S. Congress surely must delve into this appalling matter thoroughly.

Among the questions Congress should consider is whether young women and girls are offered discounts on the cost of their abortions if they agree to let Planned Parenthood have the organs of their dead child. Also, are these young women induced to delay elective abortions in the expectation that Planned Parenthood can thus obtain more developed organs that will fetch higher market prices? Nor should Congress fail to seek information about the possible disparate impact of this execrable traffic. Do minority women and girls find themselves sought out for later term abortions?

The Center for Medical Progress's latest video — Number 5 in the series — was done at the Houston "mega-facility" — the largest abortion killing center in the country. It is also one located — as so many Planned Parenthood centers are — in or near minority neighborhoods.

Let us be clear — that's President Obama's favorite phrase, it seems: this President fully backs Planned Parenthood. He has threatened to shut down the federal government if even one dollar is cut from Planned Parenthood's federal largesse. His press secretary tells us the President has not seen the Center for Medical Progress's videos. And the press secretary has not seen them. Nor, apparently, has President Obama's secretary of Health and Human Services, attorney general, or surgeon general. It would seem that no one in this administration has taken the trouble to view these alarming videos.

So let's commend the President for his "telescopic philanthropy." That's the virtue that Charles Dickens ascribed to Mrs. Jellaby in his classic novel, Bleak House. Mrs. Jellaby was forever promoting relief schemes for starving children in Africa while her own babies went hungry in England.

Our White House's cold indifference to the horror of the slaughter of innocents at home contrasts most cruelly with its commendable condemnation of barbarism abroad. It is time for the President to end this hypocrisy.

Ken Blackwell is the Senior Fellow for Family Empowerment at the Family Research Council. He serves on the board of directors of the Club for Growth and the National Taxpayers Union. He is also a member of the public affairs committee of the NRA. Mr. Blackwell is also the former Mayor of Cincinnati and a former Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.