Latest move of the organization followed the release of a number of videos by antiabortion activists, who claimed that Planned Parenthood sought to get money from a program to supply fetal tissue.
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However, several anti-abortion groups rallied against Planned Parenthood, accusing the organization of fanning the illegal trafficking of fetal tissue.
Deborah VanDerhei, national director of the Consortium of Abortion Providers at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said that “If they [affiliates] are going to do it, that’s fine, but we want them to think about, really, the New York Times headline”.
PETER DOOCY: But the producer of the videos sees things differently, telling Fox today that “For three months, Planned Parenthood has tried to pass off its baby-parts-for-money scheme as totally legitimate”.
He spent two and a half years undercover, posing as a fetal-tissue-procurement executive in order to do all the recordings at Planned Parenthood. The money they receive for baby body parts is miniscule as compared to the over $500 million they receive in taxpayer money.
Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, is one of the representatives who led the efforts of investigating the alleged anomaly in Planned Parenthood. Most of that funding is reimbursement for Medicaid patients receiving cancer screenings, contraception and other non-abortion services. In a statement, the head of the House Oversight Committee says, ending reimbursement fees is a good, tangible result of investigations by now five different committees. Democrats have repeatedly cited this quote as evidence that the “investigation” into Planned Parenthood is a politically motivated witch hunt.
“I don’t think it will have a huge impact on their budget”, Laguens said.
Clinton argued during Tuesday evening’s debate, held in Las Vegas, Nevada, that while the Republican party often calls for smaller government in financial circumstances, it calls for the government to intervene on issues regarding Planned Parenthood.
Under current federal law, it is legal to donate aborted fetal organs for research and have costs like storage and transportation reimbursed – unless the transfer is for profit. These specimens are used by research institutions to create treatments and therapies for conditions like Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s. “They are not”, Caplan wrote in an email.
“One – in Washington state – already takes no reimbursement, even though it is legal to do so”.
University of Notre Dame law professor O. Carter Snead, a bioethicist, had a contrasting view.
TONY PERKINS: I think they’re in crisis mode.
The U.S. reproductive health organisation made the change after an anti-abortion group accused Planned Parenthood of profiting from the practice.
Laguens tells Jennifer that the change to Planned Parenthood’s reimbursement policy will undercut further attacks from critics.
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The change comes after a series of videos were released revealing the organization’s role in the donation of fetal tissue from aborted babies for compensation.
