Disturbing covert video

Abortion remains a provocative topic in America, the political debate truncated in large measure by the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which found that privacy rights inherent in the 14th Amendment make it unconstitutional to block a woman’s access to an abortion.

Passions run high on both sides. Advocates for legal abortion consider it a critical women’s rights issue, while opponents view termination of a fetus akin to homicide.

All should agree, however, that it is not a topic to be treated cavalierly.

That is among the reasons the recent conversation by Planned Parenthood’s senior director of medical research, Deborah Nucatola, captured in an undercover video, is so disturbing. Ms. Nucatola, who thought she was having a lunch with buyers from a biologics company interested in obtaining fetal organs and tissue, was actually sitting down with two actors employed by the anti-abortion group, the Center for Medical Progress.

“We’ve been very good at getting heart, lung, liver,” explains Ms. Nucatola between sips of wine and bites of her lunch. “Because we know that— so I’m not gonna crush that part. I’m basically going to crush below, I’m going to crush above, and I’m gonna see if I can get it all intact.”

In the video, Ms. Nucatola provides an estimate of a per specimen price “from$30 to $100, depending on the facility and what’s involved.”

Buying and selling human fetal tissue is illegal in the United States, as is altering the method of an abortion to protect tissue for research or other uses.

Planned Parenthood issued a statement that its health centers do help patients who want to donate tissue for scientific research and that it only seeks reimbursement for its expenses. The conversation with Ms. Nucatola, however, suggests the potential for more extensive dealings by Planned Parenthood clinics.

In any event, conducting an abortion in a manner that prioritizes anything other than the safety of the patient raises serious ethical issues.

A congressional review is in order, particularly given that Planned Parenthood is a beneficiary of federal aid. Unfortunately, the Republican Congress would likely use such a process to renew the debate on abortion. Its focus should be on determining if regulations were violated and need to be adjusted.

Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood should do some self-reflection as to whether the callousness displayed by one of its top officials suggests it has become too casual about a procedure that, in the words of President Obama, frequently results from “a difficult, oftentimes tragic situation.”