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The release of the documents sparked greater interest among prolife members of Congress in hearings. Senator Bob Smith (R-N.H.), an original author of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Bill in 1995, brought forward evidence last October that there is a successful trade in fetal body parts from abortions.

During a 1999 debate on partial-birth abortions, Smith read to his colleagues from a brochure that advertised the prices for body parts by type. Smith attempted but failed to enact a measure that would require reporting and disclosure of the trade in fetal body parts.

But in November, the House approved a "Sense of Congress" resolution sponsored by Reps. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), Chris Smith (R-N.J.), and Joe Pitts (R-Pa.). That resolution asks the House to conduct hearings this year on "private companies that are involved in the trafficking of baby body parts," and to recommend legislative changes that would prevent such trafficking.

Diana DeGette, a Democrat from Denver, was among the few House members to speak out against the resolution. "We need to be mindful of the benefits that legal fetal tissue research has brought," she told fellow representatives. But she did note that if any illegal activity is occurring, the House Commerce Committee should investigate.

Rich Cizik, vice president of Govern mental Affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals, says the Clinton administration has given its blessing to this use of fetal remains from abortions.

"The administration position at the NIH [National Institutes of Health] advisory committee level is that there ought to be [federal] funding of fetal-tissue research," Cizik says. "They lifted the ban. Abuse is something they should have anticipated. If they see nothing wrong in carving up human beings and selling their parts for profit, then nothing would embarrass them."

Kelly is not the only valuable information source to be unavailable for questioning about trafficking in fetal body parts. Miles Jones, a pathologist and reportedly head of Opening Lines, a fetal-tissue procurement organization, has closed his operation in West Frankfort, Illinois, not far from St. Louis. Jones founded Opening Lines after breaking with AGF. He apparently pulled up stakes last September, after a local Illinois newspaper published an article about Opening Lines trafficking in fetal body parts.

Kelly and Miles Jones would have a good reason to avoid public scrutiny. What Kelly claims to have witnessed would, in some cases, be murder or manslaughter, says Sam Casey, executive director of the Christian Legal Society. "In the United States, even if an abortion is intended, if the child is alive and not dead, you've got to do everything you can to try to save that child," he says.

In addition, Life Dynamics itself has found a new spotlight on its controversial operations because of its reports about trafficking in fetal body parts. Crutcher seems to revel in his organization's outsider status.

"We don't make any bones about the fact that we are a very aggressive prolife organization," Crutcher says. "We do things that some prolife groups would find distasteful."

So far as Christianity Today can determine, Life Dynamics' strategies do not include violence, but the group does infiltrate abortion clinics. Crutcher defends the practice: "Some prolife groups are going to find this distasteful, that we are working with people who are inside the industry. But then how are you ever going to know this stuff?"

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March 6 2000, Vol. 44, No. 3