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 A U.S. House of Representatives committee made public a letter
requesting interviews with personnel from the organization who
appeared in surreptitiously recorded videos in discussions about
providing fetal tissue for research.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans also said they had
written to three companies identified as human fetal tissue
suppliers to request information and briefings.
Lawmakers on the committee said last month they would investigate
after the videos were released by an anti-abortion activist group
called the Center for Medical Progress.
The videos purport to show Planned Parenthood officials negotiating
prices for aborted fetal tissue. Under federal law, donated human
fetal tissue may be used for research, but profiting from its sale
is prohibited. Compensation for the tissue can cover only the costs
of handling it.
 Planned Parenthood, which provides healthcare services to millions
of women at hundreds of centers nationwide, has denied any
wrongdoing. The organization also says abortions make up just 3
percent of its work.
Energy and Commerce's letter to Planned Parenthood President Cecile
Richards requested "informal interviews" with Dr. Mary Gatter, Dr.
Savita Ginde, and Melissa Farrell. It identified Gatter as president
of the organization's Medical Director's Council; Ginde as vice
president and medical director of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky
Mountains; and Farrell as director of research for Planned
Parenthood Gulf Coast.
"As you know, in several recent videotapes made public, these
individuals have made statements concerning the manner in which
fetal tissue is procured," the committee letter said.
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"We are examining whether these statements ... are consistent with
existing laws," said the letter, signed by the panel's chairman,
Representative Fred Upton, and others.
A Planned Parenthood official said the organization had the letter,
and would continue to cooperate fully with the committee.
Letters also went to three companies that provide fetal tissue to
medical researchers, seeking information on the tissue collection
and sale or donation, including pricing.
The companies were Advanced Bioscience Resources, Inc.; Novogenix
Laboratories, and StemExpress. All three are based in California;
none responded to requests for comment from Reuters.
Energy and Commerce is one of at least three congressional
committees investigating Planned Parenthood in the wake of the
videos. Some conservative Republicans also want to cut off Planned
Parenthood's federal funds.
(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Lisa
Shumaker)
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