This Thursday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and several other Democrats have called for a federal investigation into the Center for Medical Progress, the nonprofit group responsible for releasing a secretly recorded conversation with Planned Parenthood executives.
“Let’s have an investigation of those people who were trying to ensnare Planned Parenthood in a controversy that doesn’t exist,” Mrs. Pelosi said, according to The Hill.
“Planned Parenthood has said that they have done nothing illegal,” Pelosi added. “They do not ever charge, which would be illegal, for fetal tissue. They have only defrayed the cost of mailing that to someone, which is not breaking the law.”
From the Washington Times:
Mrs. Pelosi joins Democratic Reps. Jan Schakowsky, Zoe Lofgren, Jerry Nadler and Yvette Clarke, who sent a letter Tuesday to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and California Attorney General Kamala Harris asking them to investigate whether [the] Center for Medical Progress broke California’s two-party consent law by secretly recording a private conversation.
“I believe the Center for Medical Progress may have broken the law in developing and executing this unbelievably elaborate and troubling scheme, and all Americans should have concerns about that,” Ms. Schakowsky said in a statement.
The nine-minute video clip released last week by the anti-abortion group calls on viewers to “Hold Planned Parenthood accountable for their illegal sale of baby parts.” The video shows PP’s senior director of medical services Dr. Deborah Nucatola discussing the collection of fetal tissue in a lunch meeting with two people posing as potential tissue buyers. A second video was released this Tuesday showing another staff member of the women’s health clinic discussing the same subject.
After pressure from Planned Parenthood, the pro-life group released a full unedited version of the video, and it shows something very different.
The initial video was edited to exclude statements by Dr. Nucatola where she clearly states Planned Parenthood does not profit from tissue donation — which requires the consent of the patient. The only funds Planned Parenthood accepts is to cover costs associated with collecting and transporting the tissue.
Federal law allows PP facilities to be reimbursed for costs associated transportation and storage of fetal tissue.
According to The Hill, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said this Wednesday that she would review “all information” available before deciding to launch a full investigation.
Featured image via NYPost.com
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