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 The secretly recorded video shows Dr. Deborah Nucatola, senior
director of medical services at Planned Parenthood Federation of
America, discussing harvesting body parts from aborted fetuses with
actors posing as buyers from a biological company. The conversation
took place over lunch and wine in a restaurant.
The Center for Medical Progress, the California-based anti-abortion
group that released the video on Tuesday, said it was evidence that
Planned Parenthood was involved in the illegal sale of aborted
fetuses and conducting illegal partial-birth abortions.
The nonprofit organization has flatly denied the accusations, saying
neither it nor patients profited from the distribution of fetal
tissue for lifesaving scientific research.
In Washington, House Speaker John Boehner said he had asked the
appropriate congressional committees to look into "the grisly
practices embraced by Planned Parenthood."
"When an organization monetizes an unborn child – and with the
cavalier attitude portrayed in this horrific video – we must all
act," the Ohio Republican said in a statement.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee said it would investigate
whether fetal body parts were illegally sold for profit.
In Louisiana and Texas, the Republican governors of those states
also ordered investigations.
Planned Parenthood said in a statement that it has followed legal
and ethical guidelines that allow women to consent to donating fetal
tissue for scientific research with no financial gain to the
individual or organization.
"These outrageous claims are flat-out untrue, but that doesn't
matter to politicians with a longstanding political agenda to ban
abortion and defund Planned Parenthood," spokesman Eric Ferrero said
in the statement.
The organization characterized the video as the work of
anti-abortion activists out to harm its reputation.
The outcry from leaders in the Republican-dominated Congress, as
well as from several Republican presidential candidates, appeared to
have little impact on Planned Parenthood's standing with some key
supporters.
The "verbiage could have been different, but you don’t judge an
organization by the words of one employee," Texas attorney Steve
Mostyn said in a telephone interview. Mostyn estimated that he and
his wife gave more than $1 million to Planned Parenthood's efforts
last year.
LEGAL TO OBTAIN
The video has reignited the controversy about medical research using
human fetal tissue, which experts said was in high demand in the
1990s. Since then, that supply of research material has fallen
sharply, replaced largely by cells from embryos, adult stem cells
and other sources.
"It's legal to obtain fetal tissue. You are not supposed to sell it.
You can certainly make it available," said Arthur Caplan, director
of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center’s Department of
Population Health.
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He said a few companies now collect the tissue, and "they charge a
lot for it."
"I'm not sure people who donate it realize that," he added.
Under federal law, selling human fetal tissue across state lines is
punishable by fines of up to $500,000 and a prison sentence of up to
10 years. However, the law allows "reasonable payments" for costs
such as transportation and storage.
Planned Parenthood said it followed applicable laws and ethical
standards in helping women who wish to donate fetal tissue for
research purposes.
When the video was released on Tuesday, Planned Parenthood explained
that costs such as transportation to research centers are reimbursed
in some cases, calling it standard medical practice.
At the National Institutes of Health (NIH), research using human
fetal tissue is done "under its general legal authorities to conduct
biomedical research to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce
illness and disability," the agency said in a statement.
The NIH defines such tissue as coming from a dead embryo or fetus
following a stillbirth, or a spontaneous or induced abortion.
The NIH last year funded $76 million in medical research involving
the use of human fetal tissue that spanned a range of topics.
In one example, Massachusetts General Hospital, an affiliate of
Harvard University, and other institutions investigated antibodies
that can neutralize the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
At Stanford University in California, human fetal tissue was used in
efforts to make more effective chicken pox and shingles vaccines.
Researchers at the University of California at Davis sought to
understand the fetal development of the human visual system.
"The need for tissue is not great," said NYU's Caplan, saying
Planned Parenthood might not want to be involved in the field at
all.
"It's too controversial."
(Reporting by Letitia Stein in Tampa, Florida; Julie Steenhuysen in
Chicago, Jonathan Oatis in New York and Jon Herskovitz in Austin,
Texas; Editing by Frank McGurty and Jonathan Oatis)
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