Democrats on a special congressional committee investigating the supply chain of fetal tissue are demanding that Republicans let them view all the evidence they have collected.
Republicans on the panel say they have proof that a number of abortion clinics and human tissue companies may have illegally profited off aborted fetal tissue and have recommended that authorities prosecute the organizations.
But they have withheld the evidence from panel Democrats, who wrote Wednesday to House Speaker Paul Ryan asking for access to the documents.
“Panel Republicans have made serious allegations of criminal misconduct, including ‘criminal referrals’ to state or local law enforcement officials based on secret, unsourced, unverified documents and information,” ranking member Rep. Jan Schakowsky and five other Democrats wrote.
“We ask that you take immediate steps to ensure that panel Democrats have access to documents and source information obtained by panel Republicans as House rules require,” the letter said.
The special committee has been marked by unprecedented partisan rancor over the past year, as Republicans sought to prove that Planned Parenthood clinics and others profited off aborted fetal tissue and Democrats insisted they were misusing or ignoring evidence.
The panel, dubbed the “Select Panel on Infant Lives,” is supposed to disband at the end of the year, after Republicans issue a final report. Congress created the panel last year, after undercover videos showed how some Planned Parenthood clinics supply aborted fetuses for medical research.
