WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (UPI) — A report commissioned by Planned Parenthood said an analysis of videos showing officials discussing fetal tissue were doctored with intentionally deceptive edits, missing footage and inaccurately transcribed conversations.
The report by research firm Fusion GPS said videos created by the anti-abortion group the Center for Medical Progress conclude the degree of manipulation means the videos have no “evidentiary value” in a legal context, can’t be used in “official inquiries” and lack journalistic credibility.
The firm said it can not characterize how much the edits distorted the meaning of the conversations and there was no “widespread evidence of substantive video manipulation.”
The Center for Medical Progress released eight undercover videos that allegedly show Planned Parenthood illegally profits from the sale of fetal tissue to medical researchers and used procedures that violate a ban on so-called partial-birth abortions. Planned parenthood denied the claims. Federal law allows the use of fetal tissue in transplants and research. At least four congressional committees and several states have launched investigations.
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Harry Reid, said the organization is “doing as much as we can to collect the facts and share them with you.”
“While the edited videos are replete with distortions and selective editing, it is what is missing from the videos that is most important: any credible evidence that Planned Parenthood has done anything wrong,” Richards wrote. “We’ve said all along that these videos were heavily edited to deceive the public, and that’s what this expert analysis now shows. The more the public learns about this fraudulent, baseless attack on women’s health, the better, and that’s why today we’re laying everything out for leaders in Congress and for the public.”
The Center for Medical Progress said Planned Parenthood’s “desperate, 11th-hour attempt to pay their handpicked ‘experts’ to distract from the crimes documented on video is a complete failure.”
“The absence of bathroom breaks and waiting periods between meetings does not change the hours of dialogue with top-level Planned Parenthood executives eager to manipulate abortion procedures to get high-quality baby parts for financially profitable sale,” the center said.
