The Week’s Paul Waldman agrees with conservatives that the undercover Planned Parenthood videos raise a profound moral issue, but disagrees sharply with them over what that issue is. In a Friday post, Waldman asserted that “this controversy simply has nothing to do with fetal tissue” and claimed that it’s really about the right’s disgust with women’s sexual “autonomy.”
“Republicans have always hated Planned Parenthood, not only because it provides abortions but because it's a forthright advocate on behalf of women's rights to control their own reproductive lives,” wrote Waldman. “Nothing is more horrifying to a certain kind of conservative than a woman who has sex because she wants to, and does so without being punished for her sin.”
From Waldman’s post (bolding added):
In the Planned Parenthood tapes, what one actually sees isn't the commission of a crime or even the violation of ethical norms, but a failed attempt at a sting. Posing as medical researchers, the anti-abortion activists attempt to get representatives of the organization to say things suggesting that they profit off the sale of fetal tissue, which would be illegal. But they fail; the group's representatives repeatedly say they can only charge a small fee to cover their expenses…
Nevertheless, Republicans in Congress are using this as an excuse to renew an old effort to "defund" Planned Parenthood. Most of the money the organization gets from the government comes through Medicaid reimbursements, which…pay for things like gynecological exams, cancer screening, and contraception. So defunding Planned Parenthood would just make it harder for poor women to get medical services, by forcing them to look elsewhere for their care.
Nobody is even bothering to pretend that these activists, or the Republican politicians who have used the tapes as an opportunity to go after Planned Parenthood, are primarily or even secondarily concerned with stopping fetal tissue research…
…Republicans have always hated Planned Parenthood, not only because it provides abortions but because it's a forthright advocate on behalf of women's rights to control their own reproductive lives. This is an excuse to attack the organization, nothing more and nothing less…
…Republicans…would have supported defunding Planned Parenthood before the videos emerged, and even if they actually watched them and realized that the group isn't profiting from the sale of fetal tissue, they'll still support defunding Planned Parenthood. This controversy simply has nothing to do with fetal tissue.
I could go a step further, and make the case that abortion opponents barely care at all about the "babies" they supposedly want to save, because their real interest is in controlling women's lives and limiting their autonomy. Nothing is more horrifying to a certain kind of conservative than a woman who has sex because she wants to, and does so without being punished for her sin; witness the recent turn in conservative circles not just against abortion but even against contraception.
But you don't have to agree with me on that to acknowledge that all this talk about fetal tissue research has nothing to do with fetal tissue research at all. I'm guessing not too many of Ben Carson's fans will turn away from him [because Carson did fetal-tissue research]. He's as committed as ever to taking away women's reproductive rights, and that's what really matters.
