A recently released video shows Planned Parenthood executives allegedly discussing the handling of body parts from fetuses aborted in the late second trimester, particularly fetal tissue, which is sparking concerns on social media.
In the clip, captured in 2015 by anti-abortion activist David Daleiden, Planned Parenthood executives can be heard allegedly describing measures to avoid “prosecution under the federal partial-birth abortion ban by dismembering the fetus while it is partially outside the womb.”
While allegations that Planned Parenthood’s overall goal
was to preserve internal organs for harvesting continue to swirl, the nonprofit maintains that it “does not profit commercially from fetal tissue.” Moreover, at the time that the initial videos were released, Planned Parenthood claimed that their staff members were discussing legal, not-for-profit donations of fetal tissue to research firms.A previous study conducted by the Committee on Oversight and Accountability Democrats also debunked the allegations. While the claim is that Planned Parenthood engages in “the illegal sale of aborted baby parts” and that the organization is “selling baby parts,” the site maintains that the released video does not include any “credible evidence” that the organization “profits from its fetal tissue donation program.”
“Despite Daleiden’s three-year effort to entrap Planned Parenthood, he ‘failed to succeed in convincing even a single affiliate to enter into a procurement contract with his fake company,’” read a letter from Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards, addressed to Speaker John A. Boehner, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Minority Leader Harry Reid on Aug. 27, 2015.
Moreover, the study presented by the Committee on Oversight and Accontabitly Democrats also maintains that only a small amount of Planned Parenthood affiliates actively participate in fetal tissue research and that donation is not available at 99% of Planned Parenthood health centers.
“Few women have the opportunity to donate fetal tissue to Planned Parenthood affiliates because ‘researchers have not requested tissue from the local affiliate or because the local affiliate has chosen not to participate,’” read the claims from the site.
Since its inception in New York in 1916 by Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood has become the largest provider of reproductive healthcare services in the United States, providing those in need with everything from birth control and contraceptives to pregnancy advice and abortion.
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