The House Select Investigative Panel has concluded its yearlong investigation the abortion industry and released its Final Report on Wednesday. The report details many of the practices the Panel uncovered including the selling of fetal tissue.
The Panel also included in its report, the listing of recommendations for improving access to appropriate scientific models, including human fetal tissue when warranted, in order to promote the advancement of science and the development of novel therapies.
The Select Investigative Panel held public hearings last year on the law and business of fetal tissue research and trafficking, at which former U.S. Attorneys and a senior federal litigator agreed that they would open a criminal case against tissue procurement businesses based on the information presented. As a result of the panel’s conclusions, it is making numerous criminal and regulatory referrals to federal and state agency and law enforcement officials.
The panel recommended that Congress defund Planned Parenthood and ensure that grants no longer available to it are awarded to healthcare providers that provide comprehensive preventive healthcare for their patients and that do not perform abortions. The panel also recommended that Congress take action to protect women and infants from unscrupulous tissue procurement practices, including the following:
● Ensuring that all donations of fetal tissue are made with informed consent.
● Clarifying the law to ensure that abortion businesses do not harm women in order to procure fetal tissue.
● Enacting a law to protect infants after 20 weeks’ gestation.
● Establishing criminal penalties to enforce the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act.
Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden stated, “As this report recommends, Congress should make Planned Parenthood ineligible to receive federal tax dollars and instead redirect those funds to support the thousands of better low-cost healthcare options for women and families. The report recognizes the many problems of a scandal-plagued organization with a long track record of abusive and potentially fraudulent billing practices, caught in authenticated undercover videos trafficking aborted babies’ body parts, and that has repeatedly failed to report the sexual abuse of girls. Congress should end taxpayer subsidies of an abortion business that has enjoyed nearly a billion dollars in profits over the last decade while taking more than $4 billion from American taxpayers. It’s time to end this immoral partnership that has been forced upon the American people.”
“It was an honor to Chair the Select Investigative Panel. I want to thank my colleagues who are strong pro-life leaders and have worked tirelessly over the past year. It is my hope that our recommendations will result in some necessary changes within both the abortion and fetal tissue procurement industries. Our hope is that these changes will both protect women and their unborn children, as well as the integrity of scientific research,” said Chairman Marsha Blackburn.
“Over the last year, the Select Panel’s relentless fact-finding investigation has laid bare the grisly reality of an abortion industry that is driven by profit, unconcerned by matters of basic ethics and, too often, noncompliant with the few laws we have to protect the safety of women and their unborn children. I have never shied away from my own pro-life views, but the findings of this panel should incense all people of conscience,” said Congressman Diane Black.
“It has been a privilege to serve on this Panel alongside such dedicated members in pursuit of the truth. I applaud the diligent work the Select Panel did in investigating the callous practices of abortion providers, the nefarious dealings of the tissue procurement industry, and the atrocious disregard for the privacy and wellbeing of patients. The American people deserve to know these facts so responsible decisions can be made about research that respects women and protects life. I truly wish this investigation hadn’t been necessary, but I am comforted and gratified knowing our work uncovered some truths I am hopeful will better inform Americans everywhere, lead to the preservation of life, and promote the safety and wellbeing of women,” said Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler.
“It has been an honor to serve on the Select Investigative Committee on Infant Lives. The committee’s work uncovered aspects of the fetal tissue industry few people knew about, and I look forward to tracking the progress of the criminal referrals. We must protect the unborn, and every citizen’s God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” said Congresswoman Mia Love.
The report reads in part:
I. Congress Establishes the Select Investigative Panel
David Daleiden, an investigative journalist, released undercover videos beginning in July 2015, recorded while posing as the head of a company interested in the fetal tissue procurement business. In numerous meetings with abortion providers and companies involved in the transfer of fetal tissue, Daleiden recorded doctors, executives, and staff level employees discussing various aspects of the fetal tissue procurement industry.
The videos and other materials that Daleiden acquired detailed the relationship between fetal tissue procurement companies, including Advanced Bioscience Resources, DaVinci Biologics, and StemExpress, and several abortion clinics.
The exposé followed an investigation Daleiden conducted through a not-for-profit group he founded, the Center for Medical Progress (CMP). CMP’s first project, the “Human Capital” investigation, took almost three years. Working under the guise of a tissue procurement business in order to gain access to the top levels of Planned Parenthood, Daleiden, Susan Merritt, and other activists recorded numerous videos documenting conversations in which Planned Parenthood executives discussed the procurement of fetal
tissue from aborted fetuses.
The investigation culminated with the release of eleven videos documenting the practices of local abortion clinics and groups affiliated with the fetal tissue procurement industry.
Daleiden and his colleagues filmed hundreds of hours of meetings and conversations.
According to the Washington Post, they filmed 500 hours of footage at two conferences alone.
Multiple clips show abortion providers and executives admitting that their fetal tissue procurement agreements are profitable for clinics and help keep their bottom line healthy.
Multiple clips also show them admitting that they sometimes changed the abortion procedure in order to obtain a more intact specimen, and some use the illegal partial birth abortion procedure.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) also revealed that they intentionally had not set a policy about “remuneration” for fetal tissue because “the headlines would be a disaster.” While the organization’s executives told affiliates to “think, ‘New York
Times headline’” if this went badly, at the end of the day, they thought “[selling fetal tissue] is a good idea.”
Congress responded to the videos by holding hearings and initiating investigations. The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations initiated an investigation of fetal tissue transfers. The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Judiciary Committee conducted hearings and also initiated investigations.
On October 7, 2015, Rep. Virginia Foxx (NC-5) managed the floor debate for H. Res. 461, a proposal for a centralized and comprehensive congressional investigation. During debate, Rep. Mimi Walters (CA-45) noted, “This resolution would create a select panel to investigate a number of claims related to Planned Parenthood’s activities involving abortion and fetal tissue procurement. Like many Americans, I was horrified by the recent videos which depicted Planned Parenthood employees callously discussing the
trafficking and sale of aborted babies’ tissues and organs.” Rep. Marsha Blackburn (TN-7) summarized:
I want to clearly state this is about getting answers of how we treat and protect life in this country. The select panel will act to centralize the investigations that are at the Energy and Commerce Committee, Judiciary and Oversight Committees, and bring it all under one umbrella. Over the past several weeks, we have had lots of serious questions. They are troubling questions that have been asked. I think that the investigations we have had have raised a lot of those questions. It is imperative that we centralize these operations and bring it together under one umbrella.
Congress passed H. Res. 461 by a recorded vote of 242 yeas and 184 nays. Rep. Blackburn was named Chairman of the Panel.
The Panel did not design its investigation to prove or disprove the credibility of tapes released by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP); however, the Panel viewed the videos as a series of serious claims made by a citizen advocacy group.
The Panel’s investigation identified four business models involving fetal tissue procurement:
The Middleman Model. This model comprises a middleman and tissue procurer who obtains tissue directly from a source such as an abortion clinic or hospital and then transfers the tissue to a customer, usually a university researcher.
The University/Clinic Model. This model comprises a particular university that has formed a close relationship with a nearby abortion clinic and regularly acquires tissue from that clinic for research purposes.
The Biotech Company/Clinic Model. This model comprises a close relationship between a particular biotech company and one or more nearby clinics.
The Late-Term Clinic Model. This model is of particular concern due to the intersection of late-term abortions, the potential for live births during the abortion procedure, and the transfer of tissues or whole cadavers from that clinic to research entities.