Thousands of anti-abortion activists came out in droves to denounce Planned Parenthood practices in rallies held in various parts of the United States on Saturday.
They all prayed and chanted slogans outside of more than 300 Planned Parenthood clinics, calling on the federal government to end funding to the women's health care and abortion service provider.
The nationwide demonstrations were held even as the anti-abortion group the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) released an eighth sting video showing Planned Parenthood officials negotiating prices for parts of aborted babies.
The video showed five Planned Parenthood officials in various locations speaking about procedures in dismembering foetal parts and their potential sales. Their statements were interspersed with those of Holly O'Donnell, a former procurement technician for StemExpress, a biomedical research company.
"We were asked to procure certain tissues, like brain, liver, thymus, pancreas, heart, lungs and pretty much anything on the fetus," O'Donnell says in the video.
At Saturday's rally held in St. Paul, Minnesota, one sign reads: "Planned Parenthood sells baby parts," according to photos posted on social media.
"Today's nationwide demonstrations ... underscore the grassroots opposition to Planned Parenthood. It is time that Planned Parenthood closed its doors forever," said Jim Sedlak, a vice president at American Life League, an anti-abortion organisation, in a statement.
Many of the protesters were led by their pastors and faith leaders who organised the protests, including the Family Research Council, the Susan B. Anthony List, and Americans United for Life.
One organiser told the Washington Examiner that this was the largest protest he had seen in his 20 years working in the pro-life movement.
Planned Parenthood has crossed the line since it is now cutting up and selling "the body parts of babies they abort, even going as far as cutting out the brains of children with hearts still beating," said Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life of America, at a rally in St. Paul. "This is the turning point in the history of abortion in our nation and our time to speak out, to have our pro-life message of hope and love for both woman and child heard by the media."
"Women have been betrayed and Planned Parenthood has sold them and their preborn babies out, all for profit," said Hawkins. "What's worse, we the taxpayers are footing the bill, giving over half a billion dollars a year to the abortion giant. It's time to defund Planned Parenthood."
People noticed that despite the heavy turnout of protesters, the events drew little media attention.
Earlier on Tuesday, Planned Parenthood paid tribute to 16 journalists, bestowing on them the "Maggie Awards for Media Excellence," named after the organisation's founder and eugenicist Margaret Sanger.
