Two top Republicans have asked the Department of Justice to notify them of any complaints that Planned Parenthood illegally profited from providing fetal body parts or performed the outlawed procedure of partial-birth abortions.
House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, with Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., wrote to the Justice Department Monday asking for any filed complaints that the large women’s health and abortion provider, or any other individual or group, broke any of three federal laws. The judiciary committee, with the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has been investigating Planned Parenthood after a series of undercover videos highlighting its involvement in aborted fetal tissue donations.
“The House Judiciary Committee has launched an investigation into whether Planned Parenthood abortionists altered procedures in order to harvest the organs and body parts of aborted children … new evidence suggests that this disturbing practice of altering the procedure is more than an isolated instance,” Goodlatte and Franks wrote to Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
Several other Republicans also have asked federal agencies for information on whether those involved in collecting, selling or using aborted fetal tissue have broken any laws.
The Department of Health and Human Services wrote in a letter late last week to Sens. Joni Ernst and Roy Blunt, first reported by Politico, that it knows of no violation of the law in connection with fetal tissue research done by government researchers or the companies that supply the tissue.
“Currently, we know of no violation of these laws in connection with the research done at our agencies,” wrote Jim Esquea, assistant secretary for legislation at HHS. “Furthermore … we have confirmed that HHS researchers working with fetal tissue obtained the tissue from nonprofit organizations that provided assurances to us that they are in compliance with all applicable legal requirements.”
