The Center for Medical Progress has released an undercover video showing Planned Parent Federation Senior Director of Medical Services, Dr. Deborah Nucatola, discussing the harvesting and sale of fetal parts.
In the video, Nucatola is having a business lunch with actors who are posing as buyers from a human biologics company. As head of PPFA’s Medical Services department since 2009, Nucatola has overseen medical practice at all Planned Parenthood locations. According to the Center for Medical Progress, she also trains new Planned Parenthood abortion doctors and performs abortions herself at Planned Parenthood Los Angeles up to 24 weeks.
Nucatola remarks how abortion procedures are modified to ensure that requested body parts can be collected:
“We’ve been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that, so I’m not gonna crush that part, I’m gonna basically crush below, I’m gonna crush above, and I’m gonna see if I can get it all intact.”
Nucatola explains how Planned Parenthood abortionists may move the fetus into a breech delivery position in order to best preserve the body, a description that sounds like partial-birth abortion, which is illegal in the United States. Nucatola describes the procedure this way:
“I’d say a lot of people want liver. And for that reason, most providers will do this case under ultrasound guidance, so they’ll know where they’re putting their forceps… "The kind of rate-limiting step of the procedure is calvarium. Calvarium—the head—is basically the biggest part… "And with the calvarium, in general, some people will actually try to change the presentation so that it’s not vertex. …“So if you do it starting from the breech presentation, there’s dilation that happens as the case goes on, and often, the last step, you can evacuate an intact calvarium at the end.”
Nucatola says that Planned Parenthood is concerned internally about the legality of their own behavior. She says the Litigation and Law Department at the national office "just really doesn’t want us to be the middle people for this issue right now… but I will tell you that behind closed doors these conversations are happening with the affiliates.”
U.S. federal law prohibits the sale or purchase of human fetal tissue, a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000.
Live Action reported on the story and president Lila Rose, who has worked to expose illegal and unethical actions of Planned Parenthood, responded to the video:
"This investigation by the Center for Medical Progress reveals the unimaginable horror that is Planned Parenthood. The exploitation of human life, the cover-up, and the black market profiteering by America’s largest abortion chain is not only egregious and heartbreaking, but exposes how the abortion giant is corrupt to the core — from the CEO, Cecile Richards, down to the local clinic. As Live Action has investigated through the years, Planned Parenthood’s barbaric practices reveal their contempt for rule of law and human life. This latest expose of Planned Parenthood’s trafficking of baby parts for profit should be the final nail in the coffin for the abortion giant. Congress must take immediate action to stop all taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood and end the bankrolling of this horrific human rights abuser."
A separate clip shows Planned Parenthood President and CEO Cecile Richards praising Nucatola’s work to facilitate connections for fetal parts collection.
Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic director and now president of And Then There Were None, a group devoted to helping abortion workers leave the industry, said this after viewing the video:
"When I worked at Planned Parenthood, I was directly involved with the legal harvesting of fetal body parts for research. This is not necessarily new information, even though it is always devastating to hear about the loss and objectification of innocent human life. As horrifying as it is to the general public, we all need to remember that conversion is possible for any person. All of us at my ministry, "And Then There Were None," are praying for Dr. Nucatola and hoping that she will contact us."
Rebecca Kiessling, an attorney and president of Save The 1 and co-founder of Embryo Defense said, in reaction to the video:
"It makes my stomach turn to read about the buying and selling of baby body parts by Planned Parenthood, because that could easily have my fate since I was nearly aborted, but ultimately protected by law. I hope others will be able to put themselves in the place of these babies and seek the justice for them which they deserve."
This video is the first in a series called "Human Capital," a nearly 3-year-long investigative journalism study of Planned Parenthood’s illegal trafficking of aborted fetal parts by The Center for Medical Progress.
And today we celebrate...