Most Americans are unaware of the fierce battle that took place as Sandra Merritt and David Daleiden defended themselves in mid-September.
With a majority of this case being based upon the criminal prosecution of two pro-life journalists, this story is just the type of thing CNN wouln’t air on TV. The media ignored the case because they do not want to face the truth about the cruelty of abortion.
Both individuals are associated with an organization called the Center for Medical Progress, which brought allegations of Planned Parenthood’s illicit activities to light. Merritt and Dalieden posed as prospective buyers of fetal tissue in order to expose Planned Parenthood in its most uncomfortable, natural, and vicious state. And expose them they did.
The daring journalists captured video and audio evidence of employees at Planned Parenthood casually discussing the sale of fetal body parts in a “shocking” tone, as spectators who heard the undercover video played in court proceedings described the abortionists’ language.
The accusations of those prosecuting the two journalists have a political motive. The defense attorney pointed out that Merritt and Daleiden are the first undercover journalists to be prosecuted in California history. On an even more controversial note, Daleiden has testified that current presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., used her political sway to order a raid on his apartment with intent to seize his camera equipment.
Most of America doesn’t understand exactly what is at stake in this case. Given the obvious unwillingness of liberal media outlets to cover the story, America is being shielded from the horrific reality of a policy that provides for hundreds of thousands of murders a year.
Through the brave work of activists such as Deleiden and Merritt, however, we are coming closer to a reality where those who believe abortion is a women’s rights issue are forced to face the consequences it has on human life.
“It’s unconscionable for the Health and Human Services department of a pro-life administration to be every month basically setting these abortion quotas, having a number of orders of fresh fetal body parts,” said Dalieden in January. “These are their own words in their own contracts, that they’re ordering and expecting to receive from abortion clinics every month for taxpayer-funded experimentation.”
There is something inherently jarring about seeing the members of an organization like Planned Parenthood, who claim to be providing a caring and conscientious service to society, sit around and talk about fetal tissue as if it is nothing more than pieces of merchandise. There’s something intrinsically revolting about companies such as StemExpress, who take the tissue, perform tests on it in cold, sterile labs, and dispose of it carelessly.
If this story was on every newspaper’s front page in the country, then America would be faced with the reality of what happens within the country on a daily basis, and no one would feel at peace about it.
Merritt and Daleiden’s actions were illegal, but the real question is why Planned Parenthood finds themselves on the opposite side of the law. If the Planned Parenthood advocates are correct, and the fetus isn’t a valuable individual but merely a collection of cells, then why is it that selling the tissue is illegal?
And maybe a better question, why does it make us feel sick to see such things being done?
When I asked Protect Life Michigan member Trevor Pollo this very question, he said, “The fundamental value of human life means human life should not be taken and used for the financial benefit of others.”
The law prohibits Planned Parenthood from trafficking human body parts, thus defining the fetus as human. The fetus may not be a well-developed human, it may not yet be a born human, but whether it is convenient for us or not, the undeveloped fetus is a human.
If we really believe that abortion is healthcare, and nothing more than the right of the mother to remove a pest-like growth from within her body, then we should be able to look at pictures of this growth used for testing, and then thrown away like garbage, without sickness in the pit of our stomachs.
If we really believe that a fetus is just a mass of cells, then the law should allow Planned Parenthood to do whatever it wants with the fetal tissue so long as they have the mother’s permission.
However, the fact remains that it is illegal to sell human body parts.
Will we protect those who can’t protect themselves, or in the words of Pollo, become indifferent to a group who “murdered for money?” It is up to us to decide who we want to become.
Quin Colhour is a freshman studying biology.