A group that opposes abortion has released a video that appears to show a Planned Parenthood manager advising a sex trafficker on how to get medical care for young girls who work as prostitutes, The New York Times reports.
Planned Parenthood said that it had notified legal authorities as soon as one of its New Jersey clinics received what it considered a “highly unusual” visit.
Last week Planned Parenthood told the Justice Department that at least 11 of its clinics had reported visits from people who said they were sex traffickers and it asked the FBI to start an inquiry.
The video was made by Live Action, an anti-abortion group. Lila Rose, president of the group, said it “proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Planned Parenthood intentionally breaks state and federal laws and covers up the abuse of the young girls it aims to serve.”
Planned Parenthood denies those allegations, and said that Live Action has a history of “surreptitious videotaping and manipulative editing.”
The central New Jersey branch of Planned Parenthood said that the behavior depicted on the video violated the charity’s policy and that if it found the video to be accurate, the employee would be punished.
8 Responses to Group Releases Undercover Planned Parenthood Video
nelsonatmcc - February 2, 2011 at 2:29 pm
So just how did Live Action get this video? This story has more holes in it than a sieve. Lila Rose should let the courts determine what “proves beyond a shadow of a doubt”. One of the principles this country was founded on is “Seperation of Church and State”. We should keep it that way. Some people still believe that there viewpoint is right and everyone else’s is wrong. Live Action’s myopic perspective is tantamount to a cultural U-turn. Go away please!
jameyc - February 2, 2011 at 3:00 pm
nelsonatmcc, I would appreciate your showing me in the constitution the phrase “separation of Church and State.” Feel free to cut and paste it as a comment.
ltiara - February 3, 2011 at 9:28 am
Here is the section of the First Amendment to The Constitution that deals with religion. The rest of the amendment guarantess freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press. A pretty important amendment! “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
wiley13 - February 3, 2011 at 9:29 am
@ jameyc (from Wiki)
The concept of separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state. The term is an offshoot of the phrase, “wall of separation between church and state,” as written in Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists Association in 1802. The original text reads: “…I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”[1] The phrase was quoted by the United States Supreme Court first in 1878, and then in a series of cases starting in 1947. Like many long-established constitutional principles such as freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, the phrase “separation of church and state” itself does not appear verbatim in the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendment to the Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
jameyc - February 3, 2011 at 2:29 pm
So do we all agree that the phrase “separation of Church and State” appears nowhere in the US Constitution? Just want to be sure I am not missing anything. I know full well the origin of the phrase and get tired of people referring to it as a “constitutional principle.” It seems the very definition of a “constitutional principle” is something actually found in the constitution. I am not saying I agree or disagree with the idea. I just want to be sure we are all reading the same document.
jatichen - February 3, 2011 at 3:20 pm
No, we don’t agree. A constitutional amendment is an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and therefore, becomes a part of the constitution. Our founding fathers set up the Constitution so that it could be amended to keep it vital and alive for future generations, knowing that those Americans in the future would face needs to clarify their liberties that the nation’s founders would not be able to contemplate in their lifetimes. (BTW, to amend means “to change.”)
So, yes, you are missing something BIG–that is, you’re missing the FACT that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, becomes, by definition, part of the Constitution.
You’re also missing the fact that James Madison (a co-author of the U.S Constitution), along with 11 others, wrote the First Amendment. His name is also on the Declaration of Independence. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is one of the first ten amendments known as the Bill of Rights. Google it all, if you don’t believe me.
nelsonatmcc - February 3, 2011 at 3:26 pm
jameyc:
If you read my comment nowhere do I state the constitution uses the phrase “seperation of church and state”. That arguement is a question of semantics not principal. The Protestants came to the New World to escape religious persecution, thus when the Founding Fathers were writing the constitution it was expressed as a principle, not written that this country shall be founded on the principal of seperation of church and state.
nelsonatmcc - February 3, 2011 at 3:33 pm
nelsonatmcc
Ok let’s move on. We have more issues to tackle. This is a lively group. I enjoy reading all the posts. Let’s remember to stay respectful of opinions that are different from our own.