Matt O’Reilly: 5 Points on the #PlannedParenthood Video

on July 30, 2015

Rev. Matt O’Reilly is a young adult in the Alabama-West Florida Conference. He serves as pastor of St. Mark United Methodist Church in Mobile, Alabama, and an adjunct New Testament professor at both Wesley Biblical Seminary and Asbury Theological Seminary. He is also pursuing a Ph.D. in New Testament studies at the University of Gloucestershire. His great passion is Christian discipleship. This piece originally appeared on his personal blog. Republished with permission. 

 

You’ve probably seen the widely shared video of a Dr. Deborah Nucatola, Senior Medical Director at Planned Parenthood, nonchalantly discussing the way Planned Parenthood traffics the body parts of aborted preborn babies. If you haven’t seen it, stop reading, scroll to the bottom of this post, and watch it. Then come back and finish reading. I’ve included both edited and full versions. In response, Planned Parenthood has defended themselves saying that (1) they are only being “reimbursed” for specimens donated for scientific research, and (2) the group that recorded Dr. Nucatola is really a dastardly and dishonest and you shouldn’t believe them. Most people who see the video are horrified, as well they should be, as was I. So, here are five points characteristic of what’s been rolling around my head since first seeing the video.

  1. It’s worse than we thought. Let’s begin with a reminder that selling preborn baby bodies is not the worst thing that Planned Parenthood does. The worst thing they do is kill preborn babies. That is their greater sin, and that is bad enough. This week we learned that it is not their only sin. They also turn around and exchange the organs and extremities of aborted babies for money, which means it’s worse than we had previously known. So, let’s be disgusted at what we’ve seen, but let’s remember to keep perspective and not lose sight of the bigger issue. It’s wrong to kill babies.
  2. You should be outraged, but not surprised. We should be horrified by the practice and the attitude of the power players at Planned Parenthood. What we should not be is surprised. These are the folks who make their living by ripping the arms and legs off the most vulnerable and defenseless people on the face of the planet. That their consciences are so seared as to be unbothered by the thought of selling the bits and pieces they’ve sliced, diced, hacked, and whacked is not much of a stretch. After all, they are in the business to make money, and they’ve found a way to make more of it. So, be angry. Be frustrated. Be horrified. Be furious. Be disgusted. But don’t be surprised. Don’t even begin to be surprised.
  3. Please pass the dressing. The cavalier attitude with which Dr. Nucatola discussed the harvesting and pricing of preborn baby bodies is stunningly reprehensible, not to mention alarmingly reproachable. What’s that? How much is a head? That’ll cost you $30. Lungs? Let’s call it $50. If you want an intact heart, it’ll run you a little more. Please pass the dressing. Oh, and how ’bout one more glass of Merlot. Callousness like that is enough to make the Devil blush, just before swelling with pride at the success of his merchants of death.
  4. Let’s talk dollars. As indicated above, Planned Parenthood insists they are not making money off these preborn baby organs. They are simply being “reimbursed” for the shipping and handling costs incurred in the delivery of “tissue” donated for “research.” My first thought upon reading their response was simply: how stupid do they think we are? Even if they post a loss or break even, they are still exchanging the pieces of infant corpses for cash. Make no mistake. They tinker with language in order to sanitize their sins, desensitize our consciences, and deflate our indignation. Don’t fall prey to their Newspeak. Watch the video. They have “buyer(s)” whose demand they supply. There is a price range in which dollar amounts are set per “specimen”. A menu is available. They are in the business of sales.
  5. The idols of our age. I’ve long said that abortion is the child sacrifice demanded by the false gods of convenience and sex without consequence. This episode has allowed us to see that the pantheon is more crowded than we realized. There’s another idol demanding not only allegiance but the lives of our children. This one has been around for a long time; that presence just became a little easier to perceive. What is its name? You can call it mammon. This new information is surprisingly beneficial, however, because if you want to tear down the high places, you need to know where they are.

 

 

  1. Comment by Eternity Matters on July 30, 2015 at 11:52 am

    The new video is even worse.

    Buyer: “Was that crack, the little bits of the skull?”PP assistant, dissecting an 11-week human fetus: “Mhm. I just want to see one leg… Here’s a foot.”
    PP abortionist: “It’s a baby.”
    Buyer: “Is that the heart?”
    PP assistant: “Here’s the heart. My fingers will smush it if I try to get it out.”
    PP abortionist: “So do people want brain? What do they do with brain? Do people do stuff with eyeballs?”
    PP assistant: “Here’s a stomach, heart, kidney… And [it’s] another boy!”

    Remember that rhe “Christian” Left is far more extreme in their pro-abortion agenda than the average pro-choice person. They insist that life begins at the first breath and insist that Jesus is fine with killing unwanted children until that point. I realize how ridiculous their views sound and how many people must think I’m making a straw-man argument. But that is just because their own words are so clear and extreme: “According to the bible, a fetus is not a living person with a soul until after drawing its first breath.” More here about how to respond, with full, in-context quotes from them: https://1eternitymatters.wordpress.com/2015/01/14/the-christian-left-is-far-more-extreme-than-the-average-pro-choice-person-2/

  2. Comment by ConservativeJunkies on July 30, 2015 at 12:36 pm

    Great, concise piece. Thanks for sharing!

  3. Comment by Beth on July 30, 2015 at 2:39 pm

    Mr. O’Reilly, how do you square your pro-life views with the Methodist Church’s official endorsement of legalized abortion? I couldn’t, and that’s why I left Methodism.

  4. Comment by James Brown on August 1, 2015 at 11:45 am

    i’d also be interested in what the U.M.C. has to say today.

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