Planned Parenthood is pressuring anti-abortion investigators to release all undercover footage showing its top officials discussing the collection of aborted fetal tissue, as part of a ramped-up offense this week by the women’s health and abortion provider.
The group is asking abortion opponent David Daleiden to turn over to the California attorney general all the video recordings he obtained over the course of his three-year investigation, which has drawn attention to how some Planned Parenthood clinics provide aborted fetal body parts for medical research and has prompted an effort in Congress to strip federal funds from the group.
“This group should immediately provide every minute of video footage they have of Planned Parenthood staff to the California attorney general,” said Planned Parenthood Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens. “No unedited source footage has ever been provided publicly for any of these videos.”
California Attorney General Kamala Harris indicated last month she would review the videos for any wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood, but her office will not confirm or deny that an investigation is ongoing.
The eight videos Daleiden has released are each about 10-12 minutes long. But he also has released more than 12 hours of footage he says is unedited, showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the compensation for fetal tissue and how some doctors may modify the abortion procedure to keep certain organs intact.
Planned Parenthood contested that on Thursday, releasing a self-commissioned report that says the videos contain at least 42 splices, thereby changing the meaning of what people said. Daleiden pushed back, saying the edits don’t change the underlying conversations about how clinics collect and supply fetal tissue.
Planned Parenthood also wrote to Congress Thursday, defending its involvement in fetal tissue donations. It said that if a woman decides she wants to donate fetal tissue or organs, she and her doctor discuss which type of abortion procedure would best fit her needs.
Republicans investigating the group say Planned Parenthood may have broken the law by profiting from donations or violated medical ethics by changing the abortion procedure.
