In the face of increasingly furious calls to cut their federal funding, Planned Parenthood is backing down. The controversial organization, the nation’s largest abortion provider, said it will no longer sell baby parts to the highest bidder.
However, the victory is a small one for Pro-Life groups. Planned Parenthood says it will still maintain the programs that make the tissue of unborn babies available for research, but will cover the costs itself rather than accepting any payouts.
Anti-abortion activists who recently released a series of covertly filmed videos have contended that Planned Parenthood officials sought profits from their programs providing post-abortion fetal tissue to researchers.
The new policy — forgoing even permissible reimbursement — was outlined in a letter sent Tuesday by Planned Parenthood’s president, Cecile Richards, to Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health.
The videos were released, starting in mid-July, by a group of anti-abortion activists called the Center for Medical Progress. Activists posed as representatives of a biomedical firm and sought to negotiate the purchase of fetal organs from some Planned Parenthood personnel.
David Deleiden, who led the undercover video effort, depicted Planned Parenthood’s shift as “an admission of guilt.”
“If the money Planned Parenthood has been receiving for baby body parts were truly legitimate ‘reimbursement,’ why cancel it?” he asked.
Republicans in control of Congress have responded to the undercover videos by launching several investigations of Planned Parenthood, along with efforts to cut off the organization’s federal funding.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, described Planned Parenthood’s policy change as “a good, tangible result” of the various House investigations. He said his own panel would continue its inquiry into Planned Parenthood’s use of federal funding.
University of Notre Dame law professor O. Carter Snead, a bioethicist, had a negative view of Planned Parenthood’s move.
“Planned Parenthood’s decision is clearly an effort at damage control — to preserve its carefully cultivated (and ferociously defended) image as merely a women’s health care organization,” said by email. “Nothing Planned Parenthood has done today will change its role as the world’s leading abortion provider.”
Rep. Diane Black, a Tennessee Republican, said she remained intent on seeking to defund Planned Parenthood.
“It is curious that, while Planned Parenthood officials maintain there has been no wrongdoing, they still find it necessary to change their policy,” Black said. “Clearly, this was a decision motivated by optics rather than the organization’s conscience.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story
by it’s calloused video conversations, PP showed conclusively they are as corrupt an organization as Hilary is. they are NOT to be trusted and should be under strict supervision of some agency or group of private citizens. By their attitude you should know exactly what they are. They are making promises because they got caught. that’s the ONLY reason. I vote for a 50% reduction in funding bar minimum. And those people caught on video? jailed for criminal whatever we can find.
by it’s calloused video conversations, PP showed conclusively they are as corrupt an organization as Hilary is. they are NOT to be trusted and should be under strict supervision of some agency or group of private citizens. By their attitude you should know exactly what they are. They are making promises because they got caught. that’s the ONLY reason. I vote for a 50% reduction in funding bar minimum. And those people caught on video? jailed for criminal whatever we can find.
While Planned Parenthood may stop quoting prices for body parts. I will bet the ranch that they will be offering those same body parts to the firm who makes the largest contributions to them each year. Just a differnet way of obtaining the funds and just as despicable.
Jim Brady
Sorry for jumping as an “Johnny come lately. But isn’t PP ones of those entities that advocated for late term abortions? If so, is sounds like it solicitation for paid murder on top of body part sales.
Of course, Planned Parenthood’s action doesn’t prevent the recipient of the dead baby from making a contribution to the organization. The bookkeeping terms will change but the money will still keep flowing. This isn’t a case of Planned Parenthood seeing the error of their ways. This is a case of PP doing what it needs to do to keep a large amount of federal money pouring into its coffers. This announcement should be enough to allow the congressmen to claim victory and without harming PP’s federal money stream.
Planned Parenthood makes its money slaughtering baby humans. The organization is evil and those participating in it are evil.
Why is pp receiving federal funding at all. They’re using taxpayer money to kill the innocent, making all taxpayers guilty of genocide. This has to stop, and its up to us to stop it! Write to your Senator, and congressman, demanding, that our government stop funding this evil entity!
There are two major flaws in Planned Parenthood management, the first is that it is managed and directed by the Democrat Party which starts it off on the wrong foot to begin with. The second and nother really major fault is that it is run, directed and believes all thing handled by PP are problems strictly pertaining to women and no one else putting their opinions forward are ever listened too. PP or Planned Parenthood is a stooge set up, run by women who believe that murdering the unborn/ unwanted babies they carry is an appropriate way to handle that problem. The argument for this is of course, “it is my body and I wil ldo with it what I want. For the sake of time I will leave that completely stupid and by the way not valid, argument for others. Look at the history of this group of hens, finally after years and years of lying they might, just might be sneaking up on the truth, American women think it is their right to kill/ murder their unborn. Think of the millions upon millions these people have killed off to make their lives a little easier. Again, I guess you could say, “well no body is perfect. Seems like they feel, they will cease and desist on the sale of body parts, gee what a great hearted group of women. It is the first step toward sanity, sooner rather than later hopefully they will destroy this evil organization. There has to be a better way, than American women being part of that evil organization.