Earlier today I posted on a decision out of the Fifth Circuit that permits Texas to stop making Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood. There are several interesting parts in the story. First, the Fifth Circuit panel states that the district court judge, a guy named Sam Sparks, conducted a biased and unfair hearing. Second, this case may open the gate to demolishing a Supreme Court precedent that Planned Parenthood has used to evade state imposed Medicaid sanctions. Third, the panel verified the authenticity of the videos produced by activist David Deleiden, under the guise of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), showing Planned Parenthood officials offering parts of aborted babies for sale (check out my coverage of the issue including the videos).
Ever since the videos were released, the mantra from Planned Parenthood and the pro-abort press has been that the videos were “selectively edited” or otherwise illegitimate. This despite CMP posting the raw, unedited footage for viewing and examination. This fable has become so widespread that Judge Sparks stated, “without evidence,” as they say, that the videos had never been authenticated and may have been edited or altered. While it is a fable it is a critical one. By casting doubt on the videos documenting the venal, corrupt and inhuman process used by Planned Parenthood to monetize the fragments of dead babies, and the equally venal, corrupt, and inhuman functionaries who do this job for Planned Parenthood and making their authenticity the issue, the abortion industry was able to move past a major scandal that should have resulted in an extensive federal investigation and long prison terms for Planned Parenthood personnel and for some medical researchers.
This was the finding of the court:
In fact, the record reflects that OIG had submitted a report from a forensic firm concluding that the video was authentic and not deceptively edited.
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1086061495916613633
Jerry Dunleavy (if you are on Twitter, give him a follow) has done the heavy lifting of calling out people who have made the claim that the videos aren’t authentic:
Hey @politicususa — You repeated Planned Parenthood’s false talking points, but the Fifth Circuit just ruled on a PP case & included the fact that a forensic firm reviewed the videos & concluded they were NOT deceptively edited. Care to retract this?
👉 https://t.co/g2CQzmn6FJ pic.twitter.com/sXOX56m15d— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) January 18, 2019
Hey @MMFA — You repeated Planned Parenthood’s false talking points, but the Fifth Circuit just ruled on a PP case & included the fact that a forensic firm reviewed the videos & concluded they were NOT deceptively edited. Care to retract this?
👉 https://t.co/g2CQzmn6FJ pic.twitter.com/CUGoIS7eOg— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) January 18, 2019
Hey @Rewire_News — You repeated Planned Parenthood’s false talking points, but the Fifth Circuit just ruled on a PP case & included the fact that a forensic firm reviewed the videos & concluded they were NOT deceptively edited. Care to retract this?
👉 https://t.co/g2CQzmn6FJ pic.twitter.com/3zqon7sGr5— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) January 18, 2019
Hey @LEBassett — Yesterday, the Fifth Circuit ruled on a Planned Parenthood case & included the fact that an independent forensic firm reviewed the videos & concluded they were authentic & NOT deceptively edited. Care to retract this tweet & update it?
👉https://t.co/g2CQzmn6FJ https://t.co/4d2MU4DaP4— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) January 18, 2019
Hey @EmilyLindin — Yesterday, the Fifth Circuit ruled on a Planned Parenthood case & included the fact that an independent forensic firm reviewed the videos & concluded they were authentic & NOT deceptively edited. Care to retract this tweet & update it?
👉https://t.co/g2CQzmn6FJ https://t.co/sSAnbIJg7P— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) January 18, 2019
Hey @ChrisCuomo — Yesterday, the Fifth Circuit ruled on a Planned Parenthood case & included the fact that an independent forensic firm reviewed the videos & concluded they were authentic & NOT deceptively edited. Care to retract this tweet & update it?
👉 https://t.co/g2CQzmn6FJ https://t.co/4ZSP6xeXU4— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) January 18, 2019
Hey Planned Parenthood (@PPFA) — here are examples of you falsely claiming the undercover videos from Center for Medical Progress were deceptively edited. A federal appeals court just said a forensic audit shows the videos are authentic. Care to retract?
👉https://t.co/g2CQzmn6FJ pic.twitter.com/MdupLn5qP6— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) January 18, 2019
Hey @TexasTribune — here are examples of you falsely claiming the videos from Center for Medical Progress which exposed Planned Parenthood were deceptively edited. Today, a federal appeals court stated that the videos are authentic. Care to retract?
👉 https://t.co/g2CQzmn6FJ pic.twitter.com/CQs7DMHafh— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) January 18, 2019
Hey @NBCNews — here is an example of you falsely claiming the videos from Center for Medical Progress which exposed Planned Parenthood were deceptively edited. Today, a federal appeals court stated that the videos are authentic. Care to retract?
👉 https://t.co/g2CQzmn6FJ pic.twitter.com/bBHk8Bv3Kz— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) January 18, 2019
Hey @voxdotcom — here is an example of you falsely claiming the videos from Center for Medical Progress which exposed Planned Parenthood were deceptively edited. Today, a federal appeals court stated that the videos are authentic. Care to retract?
👉 https://t.co/g2CQzmn6FJ pic.twitter.com/heQClwlFyu— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) January 18, 2019
Hey @NYTimes — here is an example of you falsely claiming the videos from Center for Medical Progress which exposed Planned Parenthood were deceptively edited. Today, a federal appeals court stated that the videos are authentic. Care to retract?
👉 https://t.co/g2CQzmn6FJ pic.twitter.com/YYhZuQfp51— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) January 18, 2019
And there are lots more.
What all of this demonstrates is just how deeply the cabal devoted to protecting abortion has burrowed into American culture. Whatever bullsh** story Planned Parenthood puts out will be picked up by major media like NBC and the New York Times. it will work its way down the alimentary canal of pro-abort media and writers until it becomes an article of faith. Then some feckless, biased federal judge will use the urban rumor in an opinion that defends abortion. Thank heaven this incident didn’t occur in the Ninth Circuit where respect for the law has disappeared or it would have been quoted in the Circuit Court opinion as fact.
A recent Marist Poll shows just how weak and unsupported the pro-abort position is.
Only 15 percent of Americans agree with the Democratic party’s position on abortion, that women should be able to obtain an abortion at any point during pregnancy for any reason. Interestingly, less than 30 percent of Democrats and only one-quarter of self-described pro-choice respondents favor abortion with no limitations.
Nearly 60 percent of respondents said they support banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, including 55 percent of those who identified as pro-choice and half of Democrats. More than 60 percent of Americans said they do not support abortion in cases where the fetus has been diagnosed with Down syndrome.
The poll also asked respondents what they think best aligns with a scientific view of the human fetus. Only 35 percent said they think a fetus is “part of the mother’s body,” while more than half of respondents said they see the fetus as a unique life.
According to the survey results, Americans also tend to oppose taxpayer funding for abortion. Three-quarters of respondents said they oppose taxpayer funding of abortion overseas, while just 19 percent said they support such funding. Among independents, 80 percent oppose taxpayer-funded abortion overseas, as do more than half of Democrats and more than 60 percent of pro-choice Americans.
Meanwhile, Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion in the U.S. by a double-digit margin, 54 to 39 percent. More than half of respondents said they believe that medical professionals with moral objections should be allowed to opt out of performing abortion procedures.
For the first time in the history of the poll, Marist asked respondents what they would like to see the Supreme Court do, if and when it reconsiders its decision in Roe v. Wade. Almost two-thirds of respondents said the Court should rule either to allow restrictions as decided by each state (49 percent) or to outlaw abortion entirely (16 percent). Less than one-third of Americans said they’d like the Court to rule to allow unrestricted abortion. This means that more than 60 percent of Americans disagree with the central holdings of Roe, including nearly half of those who call themselves pro-choice and more than 40 percent of Democrats.
Quite honestly, if 60% of the population would ban abortion after 20 weeks, they are persuadable to outlaw the procedure altogether.
This decision by the Fifth Circuit provides a roadmap for all other states in the Fifth that want to choke off Medicaid money that flows to Planned Parenthood (this cost PP over $3 million/year in billings). It also gives a legal imprimatur to any other state that wants to use the CMP videos as a reason to cut off Medicaid funding. This isn’t a death blow to the abortion industry but it will weaken it substantially.
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