Preserving life is not "an exercise in futility".

• Author: Vliet, Elizabeth Lee
• Position: Medicine & Health

SENATE Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) should be challenged to answer just exactly how defending life has ever in American history been viewed as an "exercise in futility." People should be shocked at such callous disregard for human life. Who would expect an elected representative to be so indifferent to public opinion and the rule of law that he would make such an outrageous statement that it is an "exercise in futility" even to allow a Senate vote on whether or not it is appropriate to continue Planned Parenthood's taxpayer funding of more than $500,000,000 a year.

Investigative journalism videos from the Center for Medical Progress show the enormity of Planned Parenthood's abortion business to the near exclusion of other "women's health" services. The videos also reveal clear instances of violation of many Federal and state statutes on allowed abortion procedures, handling of human organs, and trafficking for profit in human body part sales.

Planned Parenthood is not "women's health care." More than 94% of Planned Parenthood's business revenue is from abortion services, primarily targeted to minority babies, largely black and Hispanic. More than half of the organization's budget comes from taxpayers, the majority of whom do not support abortion, especially late-term killing of viable babies.

Planned Parenthood has a profitable business selling human organs, also in violation of Federal laws against trafficking in human organs. Planned Parenthood does not involve fathers in the decision women make to abort a baby, even though every baby is created by both a man and a woman. A video well worth watching, "Her Choice, My Daughter," addresses the overlooked pain men suffer when their child is aborted.

In the undercover videos, Planned Parenthood staff members are heard admitting that clinics only have one "product" to offer a pregnant woman: abortion, with no counseling or adoption discussions. Planned Parenthood's staff and medical personnel are shown on multiple videos admitting that abortionists adjust procedures to salvage body parts for sale, in violation of Federal laws.

Moreover, Planned Parenthood is not "charity care" for low-income women. The price of services varies in different areas of the country. In Tucson, Ariz., where I practice, Planned Parenthood does not even offer IUDs or STD or HIV testing. Sample charges versus Planned Parenthood's cost include: $35 for a pregnancy test that costs 25 cents; up to $50 for two...