Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson defended his past use of aborted fetuses for medical research.
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In addition to Arkansas, the state governments of Louisiana, Alabama and New Hampshire have also called for Planned Parenthood to be defunded in their states.
The Arkansas contracts involved services including nurse practitioners, pharmacy and family planning and were delivered through the Arkansas Medicaid program. However, Carson believes that there is an identifiable difference between his actions and that of Planned Parenthood.
Jeff Teague, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of East and Middle Tennessee, said the organization does not participate in tissue donation anywhere in Tennessee.
Governor Asa Hutchinson announced on Friday his plan to terminate all existing contracts with Planned Parenthood, in effect cutting the healthcare provider off from federal Medicaid dollars.
Federal law says Medicaid beneficiaries may obtain services from any qualified provider.
For almost 100 years, Planned Parenthood has been assisting in the health needs of women including abortions and has been providing medical services for reproductive issues.
“By restricting which provider a woman could choose to receive care from, women could lose access to critical preventive care, such as cancer screenings”, DHHS spokesman Ben Wakana said in a statement.
“I may not be completely objective about Planned Parenthood because I know how they started with Margaret Sanger who believed in eugenics”, the doctor explained.
In response, several state officials have launched investigations into their local Planned Parenthood affiliates, looking for proof that the group is breaking the law.
Carson told the Post fetal tissue research should not be banned, and it was not immoral.
By now many of your readers have seen or heard of the disgusting undercover videos that show Planned Parenthood executives haggling over the price of body parts of aborted babies.
Four states have moved to defund Planned Parenthood following the released videos.
Thursday afternoon, the Governor’s office told ABC 33/40 the state’s contract with Planned Parenthood allows either party to terminate on 15 days written notice.
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This is all why Cecile Richards, the head of Planned Parenthood, sent a letter to the National Institutes of Health asking for a blue ribbon panel to review the value of fetal tissue research.
