Planned Parenthood investigation begins

USA (MNN) — This summer, the Planned Parenthood scandal led to protests and petitions across the U.S.

Now, the House Judiciary Committee is taking its first steps toward uncovering the truth.

In an official Planned Parenthood investigation, the committee will be determining whether Planned Parenthood’s abortion practices violate federal law.

“Planned Parenthood Exposed”

Yesterday, the committee held its first hearing in a series of hearings titled, “Planned Parenthood Exposed: Examining the Horrific Abortion Practices at the Nation’s Largest Abortion Provider.”

Officials heard from both pro-life and pro-choice lawyers, as well as two abortion survivors.

Find full-text versions of all testimonies here.

“Recorded conversations, released by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), reveal many legal issues with Planned Parenthood’s procedures and practices,” claimed pro-life attorney James Bopp, Jr.

On the other side, “It is my opinion, based on a review of the federal laws at issue and these videos, that there is simply no evidence in these misleadingly-edited videos of a violation of either of these laws,” argued pro-choice Yale Law School researcher Priscilla J. Smith.

As lawyers debated the legality of the issue at-hand, abortion survivors Gianna Jessen and Melissa Ohden offered a different perspective.

“My biological mother was 7 1/2 months pregnant when she went to Planned Parenthood, who advised her to have a late-term saline abortion,” shared abortion survivor Gianna Jessen.

“Instead of dying, after 18 hours of being burned in my mother’s womb, I was delivered alive in an abortion clinic in Los Angeles on April the 6th, 1977.”

Four months later, fellow survivor Melissa Ohden survived the same procedure.

“By the grace of God, I am more than a statistic,” said Ohden. “A bucket of formaldehyde in a utility closet was meant to be my fate after I wasn’t scalded to death through the abortion.

“Yet here I am today.”

Why it matters

The Planned Parenthood investigation is more than just another headline not carried by most media outlets. It’s a call to realize the sanctity of human life.

Through their respective ministries, LIFE International and Life Matters Worldwide help save unborn lives and direct attention to God’s plan for the people He creates.

LIFE International

Taking a “new” approach to pro-life ministry, LIFE International equips the Body of Christ to save unborn lives. Through partnerships and training, LIFE International connects believers with God’s intentions.

“Our day-in and day-out focus is to equip, empower, and release leaders for life-giving ministry worldwide,” a statement on the ministry’s Web site reads.

“We seek to equip the Church to bring a Gospel-centered, life-affirming message to the world and to walk in her God-given authority to defend life and rescue those being led away to death (Proverbs 24:11).”

Learn more about LIFE International here.

Life Matters Worldwide

Education, mobilization, and partnership are the “three-legged stool” of Life Matters Worldwide. Life Matters works with local churches, missionaries, and pregnancy care centers (PCCs) to introduce eternal life by protecting temporal, unborn ones.

“Life Matters Worldwide helps the Body of Christ articulate the biblical pro-life message in word and deed,” reads a description on Life Matters’ Web site.

Their vision is “to see local churches all over the world engaged in compassionate sanctity of human life ministry as they fulfill the Great Commission.”

Learn more about Life Matters Worldwide here.

Prayer Points

• As the Planned Parenthood investigation continues, please pray for the truth to be exposed.
• Pray that women who’ve had abortions in the past will not suffer emotional trauma from this current event, but instead discover the grace and redemption offered by Christ.
• Pray that more people will support pro-life ministries like LIFE International and Life Matters Worldwide.