FBI Begins Possible Investigation of Planned Parenthood Selling Aborted Baby Parts

By Steven Ertelt, Nov 14, 2017, Washington, DC

The FBI is seeking documents from Congress after it held hearings on the Planned Parenthood abortion business selling the body parts of aborted babies for profit — potentially breaking both federal and state laws in so doing. A first sign of a criminal probe, the FBI recently requested un-redacted documents from the Senate regarding Planned Parenthood in response to a 2015 undercover investigation by the Center for Medical Progress that exposed the abortion industry for harvesting, trafficking and selling the body parts of babies victimized by abortions.

The Hill has more:

The request was made in recent days, the sources said, to the Senate Judiciary Committee, whose chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), last December referred Planned Parenthood and several other abortion providers to the FBI for investigation after a lengthy probe into the transfers of fetal tissue.

Grassley said at the time that his committee had uncovered enough evidence in its final investigative report to show abortion providers had transferred tissue and body parts from aborted fetuses to firms for use in research by charging dollar amounts above their actual costs.

The Justice Department declined comment, saying it does not confirm nor deny whether an investigation is taking place.

A spokesman for the FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Planned Parenthood said that while it is aware of Grassley’s prior request for a criminal probe, none of its affiliates has had any contact with the FBI. It noted it provided more than 30,000 pages of documents and several witnesses to the congressional probes and believes it has complied with the law.

“Planned Parenthood strongly disagrees with the recommendations of the Senate Republican staff to refer this matter to the Justice Department, especially in light of the fact that investigations by three other Congressional committees, and investigations in 13 states including a Grand Jury in Texas, have all shown that Planned Parenthood did nothing wrong,” said Dana Singiser, Vice President of Government Affairs for Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

“These accusations are baseless, and a part of a widely discredited attempt to end access to reproductive health care at Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood has never, and would never, profit while facilitating its patients’ choice to donate fetal tissue for use in important medical research,” she added.

But David Daleiden of the Center for Medical Progress tells LifeNews that this potential FBI investigation is long overdue.

“After Planned Parenthood’s top doctors were caught on camera casually negotiating the sale of aborted baby hearts, lungs, livers, and brains, two Congressional investigations confirmed there were “systematic” violations of federal law in Planned Parenthood’s aborted baby parts business and issued criminal referrals to the FBI and US DOJ,” Daleiden said.

He added: “The FBI’s investigation of Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer-funded, criminal abortion enterprise is long overdue. Planned Parenthood’s sale of aborted baby body parts is the greatest human atrocity of our times and must finally be brought to justice under the law.”

Jeanne Mancini, President of March for Life, said pro-life advocates should be encouraged that there may possibly be accountability for Planned Parenthood down the road.

“In the summer of 2015 our nation was shocked and appalled to learn that Planned Parenthood has been harvesting the little heart, lungs and livers of babies who lost their lives through abortion after the Center for Medical Progress released their undercover videos. In the months following, Planned Parenthood, our nation’s largest abortion provider, continued to repeat false talking points about these videos despite forensic analysis showing the contrary,” she told LifeNews.

“Today’s move by the FBI gives us hope that justice will be served for the millions of Americans who have fallen victim to the deceptive and exploitive practices of the abortion industry,” Mancini said.

Grassley first made the request in December 2016 after several disturbing reports captured Planned Parenthood employees discussing and bragging about the sale of aborted baby parts.

“I don’t take lightly making a criminal referral,” Grassley said at the time. “But, the seeming disregard for the law by these entities has been fueled by decades of utter failure by the Justice Department to enforce it,” Grassley said.  “And, unless there is a renewed commitment by everyone involved against commercializing the trade in aborted fetal body parts for profit, then the problem is likely to continue.”

After reviewing more than 20,000 pages of documents related to Planned Parenthood’s fetal tissue transfers, the Judiciary Committee concluded that the organization was turning a blind eye to any affiliates that were engaging in unlawful activity. Moreover, the committee discovered that the DOJ had not enforced the law that bans the buying and selling of tissue. As such, they are re-referring Planned Parenthood for criminal investigation.

Just a few weeks earlier, the House Select Panel on Infant Lives also released a list of nine criminal and regulatory referrals against abortion providers and/or fetal tissue procurement companies as a result of its investigation into the illegal practice of selling aborted baby remains for profit. The committee also found potential HIPAA violations and other possible criminal activity.

 

Full story at:

http://www.lifenews.com/2017/11/14/fbi-begins-possible-investigation-of-planned-parenthood-selling-aborted-baby-parts