Declaring the fetal organ harvesting practices exposed by the Center for Medical Progress “more than an isolated incident,” Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee have sent letters to 58 Planned Parenthood affiliates, seeking to determine whether they engage in fetal organ harvesting and are breaking federal laws in the process, the Daily Caller reports.
Led by Representatives Bob Goodlatte and Trent Franks, the committee has demanded responses to 13 questions, including a complete breakdown of the number of abortions they perform by trimester, their procedures for infants born alive after attempted abortions, whether they engage in tissue donation, and whether they have ever altered an abortion procedure to obtain intact organs.
Below are the questions and requests in the letter:
- How many clinics are operated by your affiliate? Which of these clinics perform abortions? For each clinic that performs abortions, please indicate how many abortions by trimester were done for each of the past 10 years.
- What steps, if any, do your clinics take to ensure compliance with the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act?
- Which of your clinics use feticides such as Digoxin? In what percent of cases are feticides used? At what gestational age are feticides used?
- Do your doctors sign an intent statement regarding abortion procedures? If so, please provide your affiliate’s policy regarding intent statements, including a copy of any intent statement forms used at each of your clinics in the last 10 years.
- Please indicate by year for the past 10 years, the number of instances in which a child has been delivered intact in the second trimester during an abortion conducted by one of your clinics, including cases in which this happened outside the clinic. Please specify the protocols in place for infants born alive in the course of an abortion. How many times have these protocols been used? What equipment for the care of infants born alive is available at each clinic performing abortions in the second trimester?
- Have your doctors during the abortion procedure ever attempted to keep fetal tissue and organs intact? If so, what methods were used to do so?
- Has anyone at your clinics ever modified or changed their abortion technique in order to increase the odds of preserving intact fetal tissue and organs? If so, what changes or modifications were made? If not, does your affiliate have a policy that expressly prohibits changes or modifications in procedure in order to increase the odds of preserving intact fetal tissue and organs?
- What protocols do your clinics follow for the disposal of fetal remains?
- In the past 10 years have any of your clinics engaged in fetal tissue donation? If yes, which clinics have engaged in fetal tissue donation and for each clinic please provide the following:
- The name of the recipients (researchers, institutions, tissue procurement entities, etc.) to which the donation was made.
- The number of specimens provided to each recipient in each year and the total amount in income or reimbursement received from each recipient in each year.
- A copy of all contracts between your affiliate or clinic and any recipients of fetal tissue donation.
- A copy of the standard informed consent form used for fetal tissue donation. If the form was changed at any time over the past 10 years please provide a copy of each version and the date the change(s) were or are in effect.
Republicans are also seeking full details on abortion training materials, tissue donation consent forms, and contracts with all recipients of fetal organs.
The move follows a letter sent to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, requesting details on the Justice Department’s history of handling alleged violations of fetal organ trafficking laws.
As Live Action News covered yesterday, the latest CMP video features a former tissue procurement technician who discusses cutting open the face of a baby who may have still been alive to extract his or her brain.
