Trying to quell the controversy over its use of fetal tissue, Planned Parenthood announced Tuesday that it would no longer accept reimbursement for the costs of providing the tissue for medical research.
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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. Once released, the videos brought mass outrage from conservatives and anti-abortionists, leading to Republicans in Congress launching several investigations of Planned Parenthood and even attempts to cut their federal funding, which is mostly reimbursement for Medicaid patients receiving cancer screenings, contraception, and other non-abortion services, says The New York Times.
The organization had also a few strong words in a written statement today, saying that this removes beyond the shadow of a doubt, the ludicrous idea that Planned Parenthood has any financial interest in fetal tissue donation and shows the real agenda behind these attacks. Planned Parenthood said the videos were deceptively edited and denied seeking any payments beyond legally permitted reimbursement of costs. The Center for Medical Progress, which had made and released the videos, called it “an admission of guilt” that Planned Parenthood had been profiting from the tissue, which would be illegal under federal law.
WASHINGTON (BP) – Planned Parenthood’s decision to forego federal reimbursements for fetal tissue donation serves as an admission of its guilt and should not halt the congressional effort to defund the organization, its critics say. Tennessee Republican Diane Black says if the group really wants to confront its scandal, it should stop performing abortions. “For Planned Parenthood, this was always about one thing – honoring the desire of women to contribute to lifesaving research”.
The procedural modification will only affect one Planned Parenthood clinic, since Richards explained that there are “two affiliates now facilitating donations for foetal tissue research”, and one of them already doesn’t accept reimbursement.
“I don’t think it will have a huge impact on their budget”, Laguens said. They said that they will not stop harvesting fetal tissue for medical research but will no longer take payments for its related expenses. Anyone can see that Planned Parenthood staff were eager to negotiate the best price possible for these baby parts.
As she had in congressional testimony September 29, Richards told Collins in her letter less than 1 percent of PPFA’s centers facilitate federally approved fetal tissue donation.
“Planned Parenthood is more concerned about its bottom line than about the health and safety of women”, Thayer stated before the House Judiciary Committee on October. 8.
Despite numerous invitations to appear before the committee, representatives from Planned Parenthood declined to answer questions on the matter, choosing instead to host a political rally at the State Capitol.
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Interestingly, 42% of pro-choice Americans have very favorable views of Planned Parenthood, nearly identical to the 41% of pro-life Americans who have a very unfavorable view – showing how polarized Americans with differing views of abortion are about the organization.
