Defund Planned Parenthood and Stop Fetal Organ Trafficking !
August 25, 2015
Philadelphia, PA- The Board of Directors of the Catholic Medical Association (CMA), the largest association of Catholic physicians and healthcare professionals in the United States, calls upon the American Medical Association and all other medical organizations to condemn fetal organ trafficking. The Catholic Medical Association is deeply disturbed by revelations that Planned Parenthood and its affiliates are harvesting human tissue and organs during abortions of nearly-born yet alive babies and babies whose viability is terminated in a specific manner solely to maximize tissue marketability. The harvesting and trafficking of aborted babies’ body parts and organs amply demonstrate that unborn children are not simply “blobs of tissue” but human beings worthy of respect and dignity. Under no circumstance is the activity depicted in these videos a “humanitarian undertaking” as Planned Parenthood has recently asserted.
Current research shows that pain receptors are present throughout an unborn child’s body 16 weeks after fertilization, and the baby’s thalamus recognizes pain by 20 weeks. Thus many of these infants feel intense pain during such tissue harvesting procedures.
The Hippocratic Oath that commits members of the medical profession to uphold the sanctity of life and to ensure they do not, in the words of CMA Episcopal Advisor, the Most Reverend James D. Conley, “become hardened against human dignity.” The practices discussed by officials on these videos not only exploit women and children and betray their trust; they also create a conflict of interest that may lead some medical professionals to seek ways to personally profit from the harvesting.
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The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) is the largest non-profit association of Catholic individuals in health care, representing over 2,000 physicians and healthcare providers, and over 75 medical specialties. The CMA helps members grow in faith, maintain ethical integrity, and provide excellent health care in accordance with the teachings of the Church. As a leading national voice, the CMA creates and organizes educational resources and events; advocates for members, the Church, and the medical profession in public forums; and provides guidance for bishops and other national leaders on healthcare ethics and policy, and publishes a quarterly bioethics journal, The Linacre Quarterly. CMA builds communities of support through over 95 local guilds and is dedicated to educating and supporting the next generation.
http://cathmed.org/assets/files/Updated_PP_Press_Release.pdf
