AUGUST 22, 2015, 5:50 PM LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2015, 5:54 PM
BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Approximately 300 protesters crowded the sidewalks on both sides of Main Street in Hackensack on Saturday for a two-hour anti-abortion demonstration outside the offices of Planned Parenthood, one of hundreds that were to take place around the country, including four in New Jersey
The protests were in response to undercover videos released by anti-abortion groups that advocates say show that Planned Parenthood is profiting off the sale of aborted fetuses for medical research. Planned Parenthood has denied that, saying payments they’ve received for fetal tissue merely reimburse their costs and that the statements of the Planned Parenthood officials captured on the videos were taken out of context.
Among the protestors in Hackensack on Saturday was Marjorie Cox, 71, who said she had never before demonstrated or spoken up about her anti-abortion beliefs until she watched the videos.
“I can’t believe this is happening anywhere in the world, let alone in the United States. It’s barbaric,” said Cox, of Maywood. “This is my first time to a protest. Now I’m going to get involved.”
The videos were created by the Center for Medical Progress, an organization founded in 2013 three long-time anti-abortion activists, according to a filing with the California Attorney General.
So far the group has released eight videos. The latest, released Friday, is two minutes long and has been described as a “teaser,” indicating that more videos may be released in the future. The first recording was released in July. Edited down to nine minutes, it shows a secret recording from a two-hour lunch between Dr. Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood’s senior director of medical services, and two people pretending to be buyers of fetal tissue.
“What would you expect for intact tissue?” asked one of the people posing as buyers.