Planned Parenthood may have to testify in Congress soon over the belief they are profiting from the sale of fetus tissues derived from abortions.
The U.S. Congress, led primarily by the Republican representatives, is set to conduct an investigation over the allegation, which stemmed from a covert video recording featuring one of the heads of the organization.
The video was shot by Center for Medical Progress, which is anti-abortion and definitely against some of the practices of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, a non-profit organization that offers child and maternal health services including abortions. It's estimated that its abortion clinics perform as many as 300,000 procedures in a year.
Present in the video is Dr. Deborah Nucatola, who is presently the medical services director of Planned Parenthood. She could be seen talking to two people who turned out to be journalists and investigators from Center for Medical Progress posing as buyers.
The video tends to imply that the organization harvests tissues and body parts from the fetus and then offering them for a profit. It is also alleged that Planned Parenthood is involved in partial birth abortions.
Although abortion of generally legal (though states can establish limits), harvesting tissues for profit is not. So is partial birth abortion, which is banned since 2003.
Ever since the video was released, Planned Parenthood has categorically denied the interpretation of the content. Though they admit that they collect fetal tissues, they have done so in the confines of the law. They ask permission from the mothers prior to the abortion and then give them or make the tissues available to organizations involved in different researches without any form of compensation. Further, they criticized the motives of both Center for Medical Progress and politicians who are spearheading the investigation, alleging they are trying to discredit Planned Parenthood.
Aside from the Congress, Republican governors from the states of Texas and Louisiana are also going to conduct their own investigation regarding the same matter.
