Mary Rose Short
“Have you watched the Planned Parenthood videos?”
Common answers include: “You know the guy who made those is in jail for making fake videos, right? He was convicted in Texas.” Or: “Everyone knows those were debunked. The guy who made them even admitted he made it up.” Or: “I know that Planned Parenthood is bad, but I found out that the videos aren’t real.” One woman told me that she wouldn’t believe that Planned Parenthood sold baby body parts even if Cecile Richards called her up and told her it was true. She’s an outlier. It’s usually difficult, but not impossible, to budge someone from the belief that the videos are pure fiction.
Who started the rumor that Center for Medical Progress’ videos are not true? Planned Parenthood, of course.
In the wake of the first video releases, in summer of 2015, Planned Parenthood commissioned an “independent” forensic analysis by the political opposition research firm Fusion GPS. Selected quotes from the sketchy “analysis” provided the perfect tools for the abortion giant’s media allies to quell public outrage and discredit the videos for allegedly being “deceptively edited.”
The so-called “deceptive edits” in the videos include every time the shorter, highlight videos were shortened and spliced—even when the removed portion contains no conversation. That the two- to five-hour long raw videos were clipped at all counts as a “deceptive edit” to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood also claims that certain exculpatory statements by their employees were “deceptively edited” out of the videos. A comparison of the highlight videos and the full-length videos, both of which are available on CMP’s Youtube channel shows that the supposedly exculpatory statements either were included in the highlight videos or, viewed in the context of the full conversation, were not actually exculpatory. In short, none of the “deceptive edits” are deceptive at all, though Planned Parenthood’s list of them certainly is.
Planned Parenthood’s damage control strategy has worked: the media took the phrase “deceptively edited” and communicated to the public that the videos were not just edited, but “doctored,” “falsified,” “fabricated,” “dubbed,”—you name it: completely fake from beginning to end.
Politics makes strange bedfellows, however, and by partnering with Fusion GPS, Planned Parenthood found itself in bed with an organization that is itself widely viewed as discredited for having fabricated information about Donald Trump at the behest of the Clinton campaign. Now Planned Parenthood, which relied so heavily on the Fusion GPS report in bringing its accusations of fraud and illegality against David and CMP, has notified Life Legal that it does not intend to rely on the Fusion GPS report in its lawsuit!
David and Center for Medical Progress worked for years to research and infiltrate the abortion industry, gather video evidence, release it to the public, and expose Planned Parenthood’s wrongdoing. Their struggles are far from over. In addition to lawsuits brought by Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation, David and fellow investigator Sandra Merritt face criminal charges in California. More of CMP’s damning video footage is being suppressed by a court order. Almost every day brings a new legal crisis or project, and Life Legal stands with David and Sandra as they continue to battle Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry.
David and CMP fought to bring Planned Parenthood’s wrongdoing into the light. Planned Parenthood’s propaganda machine worked to push it back into the dark. Now it’s our turn. Ask someone, everyone, “Have you watched the Planned Parenthood videos?” Don’t let Planned Parenthood’s dirty secrets slip out of sight.