House Republican leaders say there likely will be a hearing on the controversial Planned Parenthood videos once lawmakers return from August recess, but they didn’t mention any planned votes on defunding the organization in a letter to rank-and-file members sent late Monday.
Two congressional committees, the Energy and Commerce, and Judiciary panels, both said they will investigate the women’s health and abortion provider after an anti-abortion group last month began releasing a slew of videos highlighting how some Planned Parenthood clinics provide aborted fetal tissue to biomedical companies.
So far, the Energy and Commerce Committee said it has met with Reagan McDonald-Mosley, Planned Parenthood’s chief medical officer. The committee had originally asked to meet with Deborah Nucatola, the group’s director of medical services, but Planned Parenthood provided McDonald-Mosley instead.
The House Judiciary Committee said it plans on holding a hearing on the matter once members return to Washington next month, but didn’t say whether any Planned Parenthood officials will testify at it.
Both committees have sent letters to Planned Parenthood and biomedical companies involved in fetal tissue sales and federal agencies that would be able to investigate whether the group broke any laws by profiting from tissue or performing partial-birth abortions. Planned Parenthood has said it has done nothing illegal.
“The committees will use every investigative tool possible to get to the facts behind these abhorrent videos and the questions raised by the content,” the letter says. “That can include more letters and document requests, briefings, and potential hearings.”
But the letter didn’t say the House would vote on stripping federal funds from Planned Parenthood, something conservatives have called for. But leadership is conflicted, with House Speaker John Boehner at one time saying he wanted to get all the facts first.
