Chris Christie Has a Question for Hillary Clinton. Allow Me to Answer It.

Hillary Clinton made a video in support of Planned Parenthood.


Apparently Chris Christie was so incensed by this that he made his own video demanding that Clinton answer this question.

Do you think that Planned Parenthood should be able to use federal funding to kill children in the womb in a specific way, so that they can maximize the value of body parts that they then sell on the open market for profit?

I hope Hillary won't mind if I answer that question for her...

No. And if that is what Planned Parenthood was doing, I would oppose it. But here's what people like Christie and other Republicans don't want to hear. That question bears zero resemblance to reality. Let's break it down:

"Do you think Planned Parenthood should be able to use federal funding to kill children in the womb..."

First of all, federal law prohibits the use of any federal funding for abortions except in the case of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. The abortions performed by Planned Parenthood are not funded by the federal government.

Secondly, the question of whether or not abortion involves killing a child in the womb is the foundational issue on which pro-life and pro-choice advocates have disagreed for decades. Pro-lifers are free to assume that abortion involves killing a baby in the womb. But pro-choicers (like Hillary Clinton) don't see it that way. In 1973, the Supreme Court decided that women have the right to terminate a pregnancy until the third trimester.  If Gov. Christie wants to spark a discussion about that decision, he is welcome to do so. But for now, what Planned Parenthood is doing is providing women with a constitutionally protected service.

...so that they can maximize the value of body parts that they then sell on the open market for profit.

When a woman choses to have an abortion, she is given the option to donate the fetal tissue to scientific research. Going back as far as the 1930's, such research has contributed to vaccines for polio, rubella and chicken pox. While it is illegal to sell fetal tissue, it has been common practice for laboratories to pay for handling costs.

Given that selling fetal tissue on the open market for a profit would be a felony, it is surprising that Gov. Christie is not calling for a federal investigation - if that is what he thinks is happening. After all, he likes to make a point of the fact that he is a former federal prosecutor. So I'm sure he has at least some familiarity with the law. But instead of doing that, he seems content to stir up outrage at Hillary Clinton's video and DEMAND that she answer his question.

You don't suppose that perhaps candidate Christie is simply using this as a way to score some points with the Republican base by going after Clinton, do you?