Re-printed with the permission from the Alberta Report
August 22, 1999
The Wholesalers
by Celeste McGovern
A full-colour, glossy brochure invites abortionists to “find out how you can turn your
patient’s decision into something wonderful.” It’s printed by Opening Lines, A Division of
Consultative and Diagnostic Pathology, Inc., a wholesale trafficker in aborted baby parts
from American clinics. Out of an office in West Frankfort, IL, the company’s director, Dr.
Miles Jones, profits from an evidently tremendously lucrative trade – his current “Fee for
Services Schedule” offers eyes and ears for $75 to $999 for a brain.
Opening Lines was founded in 1989 to “maximize the utilization of fresh fetal tissue we
process.” It offer researchers “the highest quality, most affordable, and freshest tissue
prepared to your specifications and delivered in the quantities you need when you need it.”
Sale of human tissue, including fetal tissue, is against federal law, but Opening Lines
advises patients how “simple” it is to get around that. It offers to “lease space from your
facility to perform the harvesting to offset your clinic’s overhead.” It also offers to
train clinic staff in harvesting and then “based on volume, reimburse part or all of your
employee’s salary, thereby reducing your overhead.”
Dr. Jones is obviously adept at getting around inconvenient regulations. “We DO NOT require
a copy of your IRB approval or summary of your research,” he advises prospective clientele,“and you ARE NOT required to site Opening Lines as the source of tissue when you publish
your work (we believe in word of mouth advertising; if you like our service you will tell
your colleagues.”)
Opening Lines is one of two wholesale traffickers, uncovered by Mark Crutcher at Life
Dynamics Inc. a pro-life in Denton Texas. The other is the Anatomic Gift Foundation (AGF).
Founded in 1994 by Jim and Brenda Bardsley, it originally operated out of a double-wide
trailer at the end of a dirt road on the Satilla River in Georgia where the couple also ran
a catfish farm. It has since moved its headquarters to Laurel, MD and now has operations in
Phoenix, AZ and Aurora, CO.
Life Dynamics’ sources inside abortion clinics acquired “fee schedules” for both
organizations. Opening Lines’ is the more detailed of the two, listing prices for organs from
fetuses under eight weeks gestation and over. An “intact trunk (with/without limbs)” costs
$500, for example, a liver, $150, (“30% discount if significantly fragmented”).
The prices “in effect until December 31, 1999” may seem low, observes Mr. Crutcher, but add
up all the parts and single aborted baby is worth thousands. “Our daily average case volume
exceeds 1500 and we serve clinics across the United States,” says Opening Lines’ brochure.
Mr. Crutcher says that Dr. Jones is an aggressive salesman, eager to offer him reduced rates
for bulk orders. He also said in a recent taped interview that he is actively pursuing fetal
tissue sources in Mexico and in Canada.
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