In the past week, anti-abortion group Center For Medical Progress has released two videos attacking Planned Parenthood, one three hours long and the other edited down to just eight minutes, both of which imply that the non-profit illegally sold fetal organs. While Planned Parenthood has defended itself against the allegations, the videos have created a PR firestorm for the organization, even prompting a swift response from House Republicans looking to defund Planned Parenthood while a congressional investigation takes place.
Writer Wagatwe Wangjuki joined HuffPost Live on Thursday to explain how the videos have been used to further an anti-abortion political agenda.
"It's a great way to sort of help these Republicans who want to shut down down Planned Parenthood, and it's a way to keep the organization … in a negative light for a really long period of time," Wangjuki told host Caroline Modaressy-Tehrani.
She also said some responsibility lies with the media for feeding into the frenzy surrounding the accusations.
"Unfortunately, I just really wish the media wasn't buying into it. ... [The rumors have] been debunked. Time and time again these tactics just aren't true. Planned Parenthood would have been defunded by now if they were participating in any illegal activity," she said.
Wangjuki lamented the fact that the controversy overshadows the other areas of medical care Planned Parenthood offers. In fact, abortion services constitute just 3 percent of the organization's overall health care services.
"They care about providing care to people, very often, who cannot afford it anywhere else," Wangjuki said. "They're the primary care provider of medical care to a majority of their patients. So we're focusing on this very small part of what Planned Parenthood does."
For more on this discussion, watch the HuffPost Live clip above.
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