CBS just aired an episode of The Good Wife that brought the undercover videos exposing how Planned Parenthood sells baby parts to a whole new audience of millions – but whether the audience even knew the storyline was based on real videos is unknown. There has been a near media blackout on showing the videos, although CBS has aired the most coverage of the big three networks.
The Good Wife episode “Restraint” was remarkable in how closely it mirrors the real Planned Parenthood videos, although they don't mention them by name. In the video below, you’ll note the similarities; an abortionist cavalierly discusses selling baby parts while eating frozen yogurt – in the Planned Parenthood videos, it’s over salad. The fictional company that produced the videos is called Citizens for Ethical Medicine, the real one is Center for Medical Progress. The price – $100 per specimen – is about the same, discussion of hearts and livers is the same, talk of moving the baby into breach position to better preserve its organs for harvest is the same, and talk of “squashing” or “smushing” is pretty much the same.
- Abortionist on video: God, I love frozen yogurt. My conscious mind tells me it's not healthy, but my unconscious mind… It's an easy product to harvest, so I think $100 per specimen would be preferable.
- Woman: And what if we need to buy tissue intact?
- Abortionist: Not a problem. We mostly work under ultrasound, so we know where to put the forceps. But we can also always keep track of what you need-- a heart or a liver.
- Woman: You can extract them intact?
- Abortionist: Yes. We know where not to grab. Then we don't squash the part of the specimen you need.
- Woman: And you can change its position?
- Abortionist: If we need to. Again, ultrasound helps. With the added dilation, we can change it to a breach.
- Diane: So?
- Ethan: So?
- Diane: So you have to tell me what you're thinking. I can't guess.
- Ethan: I think you can.
- Diane: Well, you're against abortion, so my guess is you're repul...
- Ethan: I'm a human being. And yes, I am appalled by a doctor calmly eating yogurt while talking about selling...
- Diane: No, not selling.
- Ethan: $100 a specimen.
- Diane: To preserve, package and deliver. That is legal.
- Ethan: Oh, God, do you hear yourself? Parts of babies. Preserving, packaging and delivering parts of babies.
- Diane: Parts of fetuses.
- Ethan: So you think there's anything wrong with that video?
- Diane: I think it's shop talk. I think if you listen to any two doctors...
- Ethan: Or abortionists.
- Diane:...Talking over drinks or yogurt about an appendix removal, it would sound just as bad.
- Ethan: So you know it's bad?
- Diane: No, I know it's an effective piece of propaganda. That's all.
- Ethan: And why is it so effective? Because the majority of Americans only support abortion if they don't have to face the fact of it, if they don't have to hear the talk about where to squash...
- Diane: The majority of Americans only support anything if they don't have to face the fact of it. How the hamburger ended up on their plate.
- Ethan: Except this has a face. It's not an appendix. It's a human being.
- Diane: Well, that's the difference between us. I don't believe it. How did you even get it?
- Ethan: The video? Citizens for Ethical Medicine.
- Diane: Oh, God. That radical anti-abortion group?
- Ethan: It's not radical. Why is something radical merely because you disagree with it?
- Diane: What, they pretended to be a bioengineering firm needing human tissue?
- Ethan: Aborted fetal organs.
- Diane: And, what-- you're-you're planning to do what with that?
- Ethan: Sue.
- Diane: Who?
- Ethan: Her. Her organization.
- Diane: For what?
- Ethan: Well, that's where you come in.
- Diane: No.
- Ethan: It's not about you being a lawyer.
- Diane: Oh, really? Thank you.
- Ethan: It's about you telling me how Mr. Dipple can sue.
- Diane: Well, he can grow a uterus. You don't have standing. What are you gonna sue for?
-Ethan: Selling of fetuses.
- Diane: No. What, $100? That's nothing.
The Hillary Clinton-supporting, pro-abortion Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) tries to dismiss the videos to pro-life Ethan Carver (Peter Gallagher) as “shop talk” and “propaganda” by a “radical anti-abortion group.” But when a judge grants an emergency hearing to allow the videos to be banned - reminiscent of the National Abortion Federation lawsuit against CMP - Ethan reminds her of a speech she gave to the pro-abortion PAC Emily’s List when she said, “Anyone can defend a sympathetic client with popular beliefs. The real test of the First Amendment is whether we are willing to stand up for people and ideas we hate.”
Diane takes the case, but she starts to lose clients over it. Ever the idealist, Diane says, “The pro-choice position isn't so weak that it can't stand up to the marketplace of ideas,” but she finds out that’s not true. The intolerance of the pro-abortion side is exposed when a group is appalled by the “insane” idea of defending their beliefs.
-Diane: Bea. I didn't know we had an appointment.
-Bea: We don't, but we need to talk.
-Ethan: Ms. Wilson, Ethan Carver. I recognize you from your appearances for National Council on Women's Rights.
-Bea: And I recognize you from the congressional hearings on defunding Planned Parenthood.
-Diane: Uh, why don't you two wait in the office?
-I think that's a good idea.
-Bea: How can you do this?
-Diane: Bea, if you're talking about this case, it's not about choice. It's about the First Amendment.
-Bea: That's a nice, neat justification.
-Diane: The pro-choice position isn't so weak that it can't stand up to the marketplace of ideas.
-Bea: This isn't about censorship. This is about an orchestrated, right-wing war on women.
-Diane: Bea, I will join you in arguing against the substance of these tapes, but only after they're made public.
-Bea: But that's insane. We wouldn't have to argue against them if they weren't made public.
The judge, a long-time professional acquaintance of Diane’s, is also shocked that she is defending a pro-life client. In conduct unbecoming of a judge, he pulls her aside and demands to know why she is on this case, as he knows her personal politics, which are the same as his. He says the undercover tapes are “disgusting” – not because of their vile content, but because they’re an attack from “right-wing Republicans” who “don’t play fair.” He also references James O’Keefe and the ACORN tapes as if those were bogus, too.
In an appalling display of judicial activism, he finishes by saying, “Let’s make sure those videos never see the light of day.”
-Judge: This is not ex parte, but we need to talk.
-Diane: Whenever you want, Your Honor.
-Judge: Now. Diane, what are you doing here?
-Diane: Your Honor?
-Judge: Please, stop with the "Your Honor." This is just "Ben." You really think your client is a whistle-blower?
-Diane: She was reporting a public fraud.
-Judge: To whom? She didn't serve notice to this court. Did she notify the SA's office? The Attorney General? The FBI?
-Diane: No, but...
-Judge: Then under the statute she has not provided proper notice.
-Diane: Then she posted the video online. Are you telling me that this doesn't satisfy the spirit of the notice requirement?
-Judge: I'm telling you it's too much of a reach. And even more so, I don't understand why you're trying so damn hard to make it. Diane, I've known you for a long time and this... This is not your case.
-Diane: Are you saying that I shouldn't pursue this case because of my politics?
-Judge: I'm saying you shouldn't be pursuing this because it's not you.
-Diane: This is about free speech, and you know it.
-Judge: No, I don't know it. This undercover tape is disgusting. It's like James O’Keefe with ACORN. It's like all right-wing Republicans. They don't play fair. This is...
-Diane: You can't be telling me this.
-Judge: And yet I am. I want you to stop trying to make this work. So let's go back out there, put this to bed, and make sure those videos never see the light of day.
It is very rare in television that you see a fair, even sympathetic, treatment of the pro-life side as represented by Ethan. Even more rare when the pro-abortion side is shown to be as rigid, intolerant, unreasonable, craven, and heartless as they really are. And it is downright shocking when attention is drawn to the damning Planned Parenthood videos instead of the love letters to the abortion giant we have come to expect from Hollywood.
The Good Wife recently began waking up to the fact that it had been shunning half its potential audience by being so liberal in past years. Great to see it's continuing the inclusion of realistic, intelligent conservative characters. Keep it coming!
