‘Shame on Pelosi’

Trying to stave off the growing momentum nationwide to cut off its federal funding, Planned Parenthood on Tuesday suffered another devastating blow: A third undercover video was released spotlighting its alleged organ trafficking activities.

The group, reeling from the impact of the shocking videos, has tapped a D.C.-based PR firm specializing in crisis management to help shepherd the abortion giant through the coming weeks and months. SKDKnickerbocker, the firm that was hired, will seek to protect the image of the abortion provider and dull any momentum in Congress to strip the group of the $540 million in taxpayer funds it receives annually.

Many lawmakers think the time to strike at the controversial organization is now, given the startling videos.

[lz_jwplayer video=”eNNnqCoz” ads=”true”]

“I believe we need to do this immediately,” Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., said on “The Laura Ingraham Show” on Tuesday. She said she has 144 co-sponsors for a bill that would cut federal funding for one year.

Despite an indication of support from House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in a statement Tuesday, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has been noncommittal. He said last week he wants to wait for the results of a congressional probe before making funding decisions.

“We still do not have from the Speaker’s office a move-forward plan, but I am continuing to gather sponsors on my bill,” Black told Ingraham. “Of course, the more that we can show the Speaker there is support within our conference, the more likelihood that it will come to the floor.”

In the upper chamber, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., is sponsoring a companion bill. But the Republican leadership has not yet committed to bringing it up.

“The senator is hopeful that some bill — it may not be his, it may be someone else’s — will get a vote on the floor next week,” Lankford’s communications director, D.J. Jordan, told LifeZette.

Even with Planned Parenthood buffeted by the ongoing controversy, the arcane rules of the Senate make it difficult to push legislation forward. And President Obama has maintained unwavering support for the organization.

But Black said she believes the Center for Medical Progress videos have changed the politics.

“One thing that I have seen that I think is a little unusual. … My Democrat colleagues are not flooding the floor protecting Planned Parenthood,” she told Ingraham.

“One thing that I have seen that I think is a little unusual. … My Democrat colleagues are not flooding the floor protecting Planned Parenthood,” she told Ingraham. “I think this time, it is very difficult for Planned Parenthood to be able to change the topic.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., continues to back Planned Parenthood and told reporters there should be an investigation — of the people who “ensnared Planned Parenthood in a controversy that doesn’t exist.”

Responding to that information, Black said,  “Shame on her. Just shame on her.”

Black questioned how Pelosi, presumably a “woman of faith,” could not acknowledge “that this is wrong.”

“Even if you are someone who believes in abortion, what is happening in these films is wrong,” Black said. “It is immoral. It is a devaluing of life. And I cannot believe that anyone that has any sort of conscience at all could sit there and not just be totally turned off by what’s occurring.”

Black, a former nurse, said she believes the Planned Parenthood controversy could fuel opposition not just to the sale of fetal body parts but to abortion more broadly. She said ultrasounds and other technological advancements have helped move public opinion.

“People are now recognizing that this is really a life. This is not a blob of tissue,” she said. “There are women who are angry that they have been deceived. … Planned Parenthood has lied to these women all these years.”

The new Center for Medical Progress video released on Tuesday features a phlebotomist, Holly O’Donnell, talking about her work for a company that helps preserve organs for aborted babies, and shows a Planned Parenthood official talking about the abortion provider’s practices. O’Donnell says on the video that she had no idea what she was signing up for when she applied for a job as a procurement technician for StemExpress LLC.

“They weren’t looking for a compassionate individual at all,” she says. “They were just looking for someone who could get as much money, as many samples. I think that’s why they were interested in me as a phlebotomist, because I can draw [the samples] quick.”

“They wanted someone who could get the numbers up. … It’s a pretty sick company.”

She adds: “They wanted someone who could get the numbers up. … It’s a pretty sick company.”

In a statement released before the video became public, California-based StemExpress defended its work.

“Cells produced by the physicians, scientists, medical technicians and nurses at StemExpress are currently used in research globally aimed at finding cures and treatments for cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, cardiac disease, and other significant medical conditions,” the statement reads. “StemExpress prides itself on complying with all laws.”

The company noted that written consent is required for any tissue donation that the firm provides at the request of “the nation’s and the world’s great research institutions” trying to find cures to diseases.

A fee schedule lists prices ranging from $25 for a case report form to $550 for first trimester specimens.

The video also shows Dr. Katherine Sheehan, the medical director emerita of Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest in San Diego, telling people posing as potential organ buyers that the abortion provider has a 10-year relationship with Advanced Bioscience Resources. A fee schedule lists prices ranging from $25 for a case report form to $550 for first trimester specimens.

Sheehan tries to think of other abortion providers that she could refer the buyers to.

The latest video comes on the heels of two other undercover videos that have caused an uproar on Capitol Hill and among abortion opponents. Planned Parenthood said they expect more videos to surface. Outraged women, meanwhile, rallied across the nation Tuesday in 50 cities in so-called ‘Betrayed Women’ events, lending their voices to the call to defund the group.