Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of the very red state of West Virginia is one of those political chameleons, who, in order to survive politically, will defend into the political environment of the moment and, like another famous "moderate" Democrat before him, one William Jefferson Clinton, will say whatever the group he is speaking to wants to hear, even if they might be differing groups in adjoining rooms.

He will vote to confirm a Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court but, despite trying to placate the deplorable Trump-voters of West Virginia with moderate words, will vote to keep Obamacare; oppose tax cuts; and, yes, oppose defunding of Planned Parenthood after pledging to support defunding of the abortion mill:

In August 2015, Manchin said he would vote to defund Planned Parenthood following the release of undercover videos alleging the sale of aborted baby parts for profit by the abortion giant's top medical personnel.

"Like many West Virginians, I am very troubled by the callous behavior of Planned Parenthood staff in recently released videos," Manchin said in a statement, according to the Hill.  "Until these allegations have been answered and resolved, I do not believe that taxpayer money should be used to fund this organization."

However, in April 2017, Manchin posed with Planned Parenthood supporters and their sign that states, "I stand with Planned Parenthood."

He also has posed with Planned Parenthood opponents and signs that support its defunding:

But why would a senator who is supposedly pro-life stand with a sign supporting the nation's biggest abortion Corporation?  National Right to Life is wondering the same thing, as it told LifeNews:

In pro-life areas of the country, Democratic candidates must have pro-life votes in order to win, however they also must appease the pro-abortion masters of the Democratic Party.  The most ridiculous evidence of this recently took place when West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin appeared in a picture holding a Planned Parenthood sign that read, "I stand with Planned Parenthood."  Manchin later appeared in a picture with a pro-life group holding a sign that read, "We don't need Planned Parenthood."

Because Joe Manchin will say anything to anybody to get re-elected.

The allegations surrounding the harvesting and sale of fetal body parts after a Planned Parenthood abortion have not been answered or resolved and remain very much an issue.  Manchin seems to have embraced the fiction that Planned Parenthood is a women's health organization and that its abortion business is a separate and compartmentalized operation.  Manchin, who professes to be pro-life, claims that funding for Planned Parenthood does not go to abortions, ignoring the fact that money is fungible and that federal tax dollars allegedly given to fund, say, cancer screenings inevitably frees up money to fund abortions.

At issue now is his vote opposing Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul's amendment to defund Planned Parenthood:

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) struggled during a radio interview Monday to defend his vote last week to keep Planned Parenthood funded despite labeling himself a "pro-life Democrat."

He was asked three times by Hoppy Kercheval on MetroNew's Talkline to explain his vote against Sen. Rand Paul's (R-KY) amendment to defund Planned Parenthood.  Manchin continually insisted that his vote was about funding healthcare for women in his state and that he didn't believe the money went directly to abortions.

"How can you continue to argue that you are pro-life when you voted against that amendment that would've stopped funding for Planned Parenthood which performs abortions," Kercheval initially asked.  "I know that the money does not go specifically for abortion but it does go to support Planned Parenthood which is the largest abortion provider in the country."

"First of all there's not a penny of public dollars that go to support abortions from Planned Parenthood," Manchin insisted.  "I've checked it inside and out, with the Hyde Amendment it can't happen it's against the law."

Yet it is happening, as Planned Parenthood skirts the law with smoke and mirrors, pretending to be a purveyor of women's health programs while abortion remains its prime business:

[C]oming after a Friday vote in which he forced taxpayer to fund Planned Parenthood once again, Senator Manchin completely glosses over the fungibility issue.  That is the understanding that, even though the funds may not directly pay for abortions, the taxpayer funding helps the nation's leading abortion company by helping it fund everything associated with performing and promoting abortion such as salary, expenses, advertising etc.

(Manchin) also claims that none of the funding from federal dollars going to Planned Parenthood supports abortion because the lone Planned Parenthood clinic in his state does not do abortions.  However the senator ignores how funding goes to Planned Parenthood abortion clinics across the country and not just centers that do not specifically do abortions.  Manchin also ignores how every single Planned Parenthood clinic at least refers for abortions and helps women make arrangements to terminate the lives of their unborn babies – done so with the help of federal funding.

Although Senator Manchin argues that Planned Parenthood is a women's health clinic, Planned Parenthood does not offer mammograms nor does it offer prenatal care for women at many of its abortion centers. 

In a series of undercover videos, the true motives and practices of Planned Parenthood were revealed.  Dr. Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood's senior director of medical services, in one of the undercover videos, appears to be calmly brokering the sale of body parts as if she were negotiating over lawn furniture at a garage sale.

In one disturbing video and its appalling transcript, made by the non-profit group the Center for Medical Progress, which describes itself as "dedicated to monitoring and reporting on medical ethics and advances," it is made clear that the alleged noble crusade against unwanted children is a fraud and that Planned Parenthood's interest in abortion is a financial one and that human life is just a commodity to be bought and sold on the open market.

The video shows Nucatola negotiating with two actors posing as agents of a fetal tissue procurement company and discussing the body parts of aborted babies as if she were a butcher at the local meat market, as Breitbart.com reports:

"We've been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that, so I'm not gonna crush that part," Nucatola coldly explains.  "I'm gonna basically crush [the unborn child] below, I'm gonna crush above, and I'm gonna see if I can get it all intact[.] ... And for that reason, most providers will do this case under ultrasound guidance, so they'll know where they're putting their forceps."

Nucatola also goes into great detail to explain how Planned Parenthood is able to use its loose affiliates as a way to protect the parent company from potential legal fallout.

The video goes a long way to explain Planned Parenthood's eternal devotion to legalizing late-term and partial-birth abortion.

Nucatola explains to the undercover reporters that the butchered body parts (hearts, livers, "lower extremities – probably for the muscle") sell for $30 to $100 apiece.

Moreover, the more fully-formed the baby body parts, the more valuable those parts are.

Indeed, immature or improperly dismembered baby parts could dramatically impact Planned Parenthood's and the abortion industry's bottom line.  The use of aborted fetuses and their tissues is justified by abortionists as the key to medical research, as using embryos for stem cell research was and is.  Planned Parenthood's operation strays perilously close to the territory of Dr. Joseph Mengele, the Nazi "doctor" who justified his ghastly practices in the name of research.

Abortion-supporters claim they want to make it "safe, legal, and rare," but when you are selling dismembered baby parts, like any other business, volume is important in improving the profit margin.  Presumably, young mothers entering a Planned Parenthood clinic aren't told about this part of the operation.

You can't, er, split the baby, Sen. Manchin.  Either you are truly pro-life or you are not.  Either you want to defund Planned Parenthood and its ghastly practices or you do not.  Certainly, you cannot defend your vote to defeat Rand Paul's amendment to defund the group.

Daniel John Sobieski is a freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investor's Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine, and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications.