In her opening statement on behalf of defendant Albin Rhomberg in the trial of Planned Parenthood vs. Center for Medical Progress, attorney Catherine Short brought up a little-known horror in California’s history. The statement is contained in the transcript made on October 2 in the San Francisco court (see below for entire transcript).
CATHERINE SHORT: You saw in plaintiffs’ opening graphic there, there was an image of Mr. Daleiden’s 2013 project proposal for investigating fetal tissue trafficking. And I really hope when you get a better chance, you will really study that exhibit. It is really very important.
On Page 12 of that exhibit, it says: ”Albin is a veteran of the pro-life movement in California and is an expert at acquiring hidden and hard-to-access documentation about the abortion industry.” That is 100 percent true. I’m just going to give you one example of Mr. Rhomberg’s expertise in legally gathering information. An example you’ll hear some more about.
In the early 1980s, Mr. Rhomberg learned of the discovery of around 16,000 aborted fetuses, some of very advanced gestation, in a repossessed shipping container in southern California. The container company called the Los Angeles County sheriffs, who brought in the District Attorney and the health department. And soon, many other folks and groups were involved.
As you might imagine, the event made the news. Abortion advocates wanted the bodies to be incinerated as medical waste. And they actually sued, brought a lawsuit to make sure that that happened.
Meanwhile, Mr. Rhomberg and a few associates worked to ensure that this particular body of evidence about the practice of abortion was not hidden or destroyed before it could be documented and made available to the public. As you will hear, he met with public officials, including officials from the District Attorney’s Office, and from the County Board of Supervisors. He gathered information from many sources. He lobbied for an official resolution from the Board of Supervisors, calling for an autopsy.
He listened here, he talked there. He finally ended up in the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, documenting this discovery with his own camera. The photos he took that day have been published and republished in books and pamphlets and newspapers, distributed in the U.S. and Europe, Central and South America.
Obtaining and publishing those photos was a milestone in Mr. Rhomberg’s lifelong work of investigating, documenting and exposing the practices surrounding abortion.
As with that first investigation, Mr. Rhomberg’s primary mode of investigating is simply talking to people who know things. It’s simple, but effective. Visit someone in the District Attorney’s Office. Interview a business professional at a conference. Attend a public lecture at a university. Chat with the speaker afterwards. Ask questions; remember the answers. Better yet, take notes. Better still, record and take photos. Be there. Because it’s hard to get at the truth from a distance. Because those who are closest to the action have the most accurate and up-to-date information. And they make the most credible witnesses, whether they realize it at the time or not….
At least this horrific story continues to shock, even decades later. Perhaps there is still hope.
At that time, the singer Pat Boone recorded a haunting pro-life song about this incident, called “I6,000 Faces.” I saw him sing it, on TV! I checked– and yes, the song and video are on Youtube!
The only hope to this God-forsaken story is the end to Roe vs Wade. May these 16,000 plus the 250 million babies, that have not been born, be blessed, and given holy names, watched over in the heavenly courts by Jesus, Mary & all of the Saints and Angels.
I think a lot of the crimes of the world are going to be exposed from now on, as I am convinced we are witnessing the apocalypse talked of in the bible.
No, the only hope is to educate and change hearts.