A conservative legal nonprofit says it has obtained records showing that Planned Parenthood’s Wisconsin affiliate provided researchers with aborted fetuses up to 18 weeks gestation.
While Planned Parenthood has said its facilities in Wisconsin don’t provide aborted fetal organs for medical research in that state, Alliance Defending Freedom says it has obtained records from the University of Wisconsin-Madison showing researchers there obtained the hearts and brains of fetuses from the women’s health and abortion provider.
The issue of providing aborted fetuses for medical research has been in the spotlight ever since a series of videos from anti-abortion investigator David Daleiden showed how some Planned Parenthood clinics participate in the practice. The group has since said it will no longer accept compensation for the organs, but the issue remains politically controversial.
On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Senate passed a bill restricting taxpayer dollars for Planned Parenthood, and the state’s House is discussing a bill that would ban research at the University of Wisconsin on recently aborted fetuses. Other states also have tried to restrict Planned Parenthood clinics from getting state and federal reimbursements.
The documents from University of Wisconsin don’t appear to indicate if Planned Parenthood was compensated for the tissue. Nor does it indicate that Planned Parenthood did anything illegal by providing the tissue, which is allowed under state law.
Planned Parenthood didn’t respond to an initial request for comment.
