In some areas of the country, Planned Parenthood has gone on the offensive against local and regional news outlets in an attempt to minimize the exposure of damning undercover videos produced by the Center for Medical Progress. They are telling these outlets that the videos "should not be aired."

This is an attempt at corporate censorship which the establishment press would treat as important news if almost any other business — for-profit or not-for-profit — made such an attempt.

Following on the heels of two videos released during the past two weeks, today's third video, titled "Human Capital - Episode 1," which clearly indicates that there's more to come, as Breitbart News describes it, "shows doctors discussing how to maximize revenue from (the) sale of fetal tissue." A North Dakota TV station (HT Jammie Wearing Fool via Truth Revolt and Life News) reports that it has obtained what it described as "a letter (sent) to TV stations in Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota."

Here is the full letter (bolds are mine), complete with reckless, desperate and unsubstantiated charges:

To: North Dakota Health and Political Reporters and Producers

From: Jen Aulwes, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota

Date: July 27, 2015

Re: Center for Medical Progress Expected to Violate Patient Privacy The Center for Medical Progress (CMP) is an extreme activist organization whose sole mission is to prevent women from accessing health care and to destroy Planned Parenthood. The board members of this group believe that abortion is “genocide,” and employ people who went to jail for attempting to bomb a women’s health clinic. They are also connected with the man who murdered abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. CMP has used footage obtained through deceit and unlawful behavior, including possible violations of state recording laws, federal tax laws and falsified state identification. Then, they concoct wildly false stories through selective editing. We expect this video will be no different in that regard; however, footage yet to come is expected to represent an extreme violation of patient privacy by including footage of post-abortion fetal tissue neither patients nor health care professionals authorized be filmed. When your network decides whether to consider this story newsworthy, or whether to use any of this footage at all, we urge you to keep this in mind: The extremists who entered Planned Parenthood labs under false pretenses violated research protocol, and, worse, violated the privacy of patients involved. Those patients’ privacy should not be further violated by having this footage shared by the media. The storage and examination processes that CMP used to get this footage are medically necessary. It is necessary medical professionals ensure an abortion is complete so that patients do not get an infection. When tissue is donated for medical research, these steps are also necessary for the donations to be completed. It is also medically necessary that researchers evaluate the laboratory procedures of a medical provider for safety standards and best practices. Some of the conversations and protocols that occur in medical settings and among professional peers can sound jarring when taken out of context. While this can be difficult to hear or watch, it should not be used as an excuse to defund Planned Parenthood. CMP gained access to Planned Parenthood facilities under false pretenses and filmed without securing approval from the Planned Parenthood staff being filmed or the patients whose privacy is compromised by this secret videotaping. The material should not be aired. Please contact me at 651-755-9557 or jaulwes@ppmns.org if you have any questions or need any more information.

The "privacy" argument is a joke, as there is no way, unless Planned Parenthood itself figures it out and publicizes the names of the women who had the related abortions, that anyone can possibly know whose baby or babies are being dissected in the video.

The linkage to George Tiller's murder and to other violent events doesn't exist. As I noted in 2009, his murderer had no connection to pro-life groups and Tiller's murder was immediately denounced by pro-life groups across the land. Planned Parenthood's letter dishonestly rewrites history by pretending that he did, hoping that its readers at media outlets won't know any better.

The question a media outlet should be asking is not, "Should Planned Parenthood be defunded?" That's not their job. The real question is whether the videos are sufficiently important that they should be treated as a news story, and coverage concerning them aired. The answer is, "Of course" — unless you're the wannabe censors at Planned Parenthood.

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.