By now, half of the people in the country have either seen or heard about the infamous video clip, depicting a live fetus, approximately 18 weeks old, laying and struggling on a stainless steel table after allegedly having been aborted. The video was released by anti-abortion activist Gregg Cunningham. However, when interviewed by Time magazine, Cunningham refused to identify when or where the video was made or who filmed the scene. Claiming that his organization, the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, enters into “confidentiality agreements” in order to acquire the videos.
During the second GOP debate a few weeks ago, Fiorina said, “I dare Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama to watch these tapes…watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.” Significantly, Cunningham would neither “confirm nor deny” whether or not the video was filmed at a Planned Parenthood clinic. He nonetheless stated that he was “confident” that the procedure shown was an abortion.
It turns out that it was nothing of the kind. A few hours following the video’s publication online, medical experts pointed out that it is virtually impossible to resuscitate a baby younger than 23 weeks. One doctor pointed out that “the chance of survival below [23 weeks] is simply so remote that application of aggressive neonatal resuscitation and intensive care would be not only futile, but cruel.”
What happened is that one of Cunningham’s fellow activists, David Daleiden, had taken the raw footage, then used a voice-over from an entirely different procedure in which fetal tissue was being harvested for medical research. That voice-over had nothing to do with the events in the video clip, which by now, is known to be of a miscarriage – not an abortion.
Caught with his pants down, Daleiden admitted that it was a miscarriage – but told CNN that it “didn’t matter” – as long as it proves his point. Egregiously, Daleiden did not have the distraught mother’s permission to film the event or use it. “We used it to illustrate exactly the kind of late-second trimester baby…fetus that we’re talking about in these cases of organ harvesting.”
In other words, Daleiden, Cunningham and the rest are perfectly willing to present blatant fabrications in order to advance their agenda. Furthermore, Fiorina knew that the video was misleading and depicted a miscarriage rather than an abortion. Nonetheless, she was also willing to spout lies and distortions in order to pander to the base she believes will support her.
It is typical of the right-wing religious nut jobs who don’t give a tinker’s damn about the child once he or she is born. When they are caught in a lie and attempt to cover up the truth, they simply respond that it’s not relevant. It’s not the only example of this kind of behavior. Recently, GOP Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah was called out by Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards in front of the House Oversight Committee when he brought out a chart supposedly demonstrating that the number of abortions performed at PPH clinics was on the rise. He claimed the chart was taken from PPH’s own annual reports. It was actually from another anti-choice group, Americans United for Life – and the chart was completely misleading.
Fiorina and the rest of the sex-obsessed theocrats can rant all they like. The bottom line is, revelations about this infamous video is further destroying the right-wing’s credibility. They’re even alienating their pro-life supporters.
