San Diego Planned Parenthood addresses fetal organ controversy through updated board game

Kate Bradshaw, President of Planned Parenthood San Diego, is angry. "Everybody knows that if a woman wants to donate her kidney to someone who needs a kidney, she is free to do that. It's a praiseworthy thing to do. And if she wants to donate her fetus's kidney, she's free to do that, too. The fetus isn't exactly her, but it's definitely hers — her property, to dispose of as she wishes in accordance with the law. But try telling that to the nimrods who released that video of [Planned Parenthood senior director of medical services Deborah] Nucatola."

Bradshaw is referring to the video released by the Center for Medical Progress, which shows Nucatola discussing the harvesting of fetal organs, and also the money associated with those organs. The video has stirred considerable upset, and has even led to an investigation by Congressional Republicans. But Bradshaw isn't backing down. Instead, she and her Executive Board have responded by creating a new board game, Abortion, based on the popular Operation game owned by Hasbro.

"A lot of the problem with that video comes from the fact that we're not controlling the narrative. Nothing Nucatola said was false or problematic in and of itself. Yes, we harvest fetal organs, which is totally legal. Yes, we charge administrative and transport fees for those organs, which is totally legal. Yes, the successful harvesting of fetal organs requires our medical staff to take certain precautions while extracting fetal tissue during an abortion, which, again, is totally legal. But because the other side was telling the story — breaking the news, as it were — we came out looking like the bad guys. They can't get it through their heads that if it's legal, it's right, and that's the end of it. So, they make all these misleading appeals to sentiment, trying to stir the outrage pot. And I'll admit it: they played this one well. They made it clear that we need to step up our game in the ongoing battle to protect a woman's reproductive freedom, and also to further the invaluable medical research that's being made possible through fetal tissue donation. So that's what we're doing."

Bradshaw continued, "Not many people know this, but the original Operation game was developed in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health. It was part of an effort to acclimate children to the idea of surgery in particular, and hospitals in general. In the early part of the 20th Century, there was still a lot of suspicion surrounding hospitals. People saw them as places full of disease and danger, where you were just as likely to get worse as you were to get better. That kind of blinkered prejudice can be hard to eradicate in a grownup, but kids are a different story. Simply put, making surgery into a game removed much of the fear and negativity surrounding it. And making the children themselves the agents in the procedure was equally crucial. When the time came to go under the knife themselves, they were able to identify with the surgeons. This made them feel like active participants in their own health care. Really, it was brilliant.

"So we're doing the same thing here. Kids who play Abortion won't be horrified by the money attached to the exchange of fetal organs, because they will have been playing at it themselves for years. And they will be better equipped than their parents to understand the notion that a harvested leg-bone is valuable, not simply for the cash it provides through administration and transport fees, but also for its potential benefit to humanity. We're really proud of the game; we think it's going to help."

Abortion will be provided free to day-care facilities and libraries nationwide, but will also retail for $25, said Bradshaw, and should be available by Christmas.