Democrats on a top panel investigating Planned Parenthood say their Republican colleagues haven’t found any evidence that the women’s health and abortion provider sold aborted fetal tissue for profit.
The minority staff for the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s oversight subcommittee released a memo Wednesday seeking to discredit claims by Republicans that Planned Parenthood illegally sold fetal body parts as alleged in a series of undercover videos from the anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress.
Democrats have found the claims to be unsubstantiated, said Energy and Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone and oversight ranking member Diana DeGette.
“Despite the incendiary rhetoric, we have looked strictly at the facts,” the two said in a statement. “We are continuing to do our due diligence, but we have found these claims to be unsubstantiated. Instead, these attacks appear to be part of a coordinated campaign on the part of the Center for Medical Progress and others to simply discredit Planned Parenthood and undermine a woman’s legal right to safe reproductive healthcare.”
Three Republican-led committees are investigating the group in the hopes of proving it broke the law by selling fetal body parts or performing partial-birth abortions. The House Judiciary Committee will hold the first hearing on the matter Wednesday morning.
Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee said their conclusions are based on a full review of the material obtained by Republicans, including briefings, documents and written responses from Planned Parenthood and three human tissue companies that have worked with its affiliates: StemExpress, Novogenix Laboratories and Advanced Bioscience Resources.
