Congressional Panel Refers Planned Parenthood for Criminal Prosecution
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14-member panel from U.S. House concludes its year-long investigation
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WASHINGTON (ChurchMilitant.com) - A congressional panel is recommending the Texas attorney general prosecute Planned Parenthood (PP) for trafficking in aborted baby parts.
The Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives — a 14-member panel of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce — concluded after over a year of investigating that Planned Parenthood of Gulf Coast (PPGC) and its various business partners illegally trafficked aborted baby parts.
The investigation began with the release of a series of undercover videos released by the Center for Medical Progress in 2015. The investigation, led by investigative journalist David Daleiden, exposed Planned Parenthood officials discussing the commission of various crimes in harvesting and selling baby parts.
Abortion activists claim the videos were "heavily edited" and "altered" to make Planned Parenthood look bad. Despite the fact that PP has never denied the shocking revelations made by PP officials in the videos, Daleiden was brought up on charges in California and Texas, even having his computers confiscated by the attorney general of California. In June he was cleared of all charges in a Texas court.
Not only is PPGC apt to face charges, but the panel is also recommending its business partners be investigated by local law enforcement because, it maintains, they too have committed criminal acts.
StemExpress, a human tissue procurement company, was held in contempt by the panel in September for refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas in handing over documents. Also facing criminal prosecution is DV Biologics, Advanced Bioscience Resources, the University of New Mexico, a university in Ohio, and abortion mills in Arkansas and Florida.
Daleiden notes, "Law enforcement and elected representatives at all levels must now act quickly to bring Planned Parenthood to justice under the law and prevent anymore taxpayer subsidies from flowing to Planned Parenthood's barbaric criminal enterprise."
The panel is chaired by Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn, who commented, "It is nothing short of an outrage that Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics supplement their budgets by selling human fetal tissue from aborted babies."
Abortion activists accuse the panel of conducting a politically motivated "witch hunt."
On December 1, the House voted to double the panel's funding, granting nearly $1.5 million in order to allow the panel to continue investigating through the end of the year.
In May, Democrats demanded the panel be dismantled, addressing a letter to Blackburn and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.
Blackburn defends the panel's work, however, saying, "The work of our Panel is specifically focused on protecting the integrity of research, scientific advancements and voluntary organ donation in America."
She notes that the funding is necessary because "some bad actors may be putting important research at risk."
"Considering all that our Panel has identified, despite having barely a year to conduct this investigation," she continues, "it is now up to us to build on this work, to hold our government accountable, and to stop these affronts to human dignity."
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