WASHINGTON -- The political conflict over abortion flared anew Wednesday as two Republican-led House committees said they will investigate whether Planned Parenthood is selling organs from aborted fetuses.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, criticized the network of reproductive health care providers and said President Barack Obama should condemn and end the practice.
Other GOP lawmakers and 2016 presidential hopefuls joined in, including some who said Congress should end federal aid to the organization.
The GOP offensive came a day after an anti-abortion group circulated a video it secretly made that shows a Planned Parenthood official discussing the disposal of body parts from aborted fetuses. Monetary amounts were discussed in the video, leading many viewers to believe the fetal parts were being sold.
"When an organization monetizes an unborn child -- and with the cavalier attitude portrayed in this horrific video -- we must all act," Boehner said in a brief written statement. He said Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell should "denounce, and stop, these gruesome practices."
Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions and other reproductive health services, said it legally helps women who want to make nonprofit donations of a fetus's organs for scientific research. It said it makes no money by donating the organs to science, and said the video was heavily edited to make it appear otherwise.
Commercial sale of human fetal tissue is illegal under federal law. Noncommercial tissue donation is allowed if the woman undergoing an abortion gives her consent.
A statement released by Planned Parenthood on Wednesday said, "In some instances, actual costs, such as the cost to transport tissue to leading research centers, are reimbursed, which is standard across the medical field."
In response to the accusations that the organization was selling fetal parts, Planned Parenthood spokesman Eric Ferrero said, "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."
He said women donating fetal tissue for research "should be honored, not attacked and demeaned."
Minutes after Boehner released his statement, the House Energy and Commerce Committee said it also would investigate and "get to the bottom of this appalling situation." The House Judiciary Committee plans a review, too.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, a top Democrat on the judiciary panel, called the investigations "another witch hunt" by Republicans.
The video's release also was a factor as GOP leaders postponed a House vote on a bill Tuesday creating a commemorative coin aimed at raising money for breast cancer research.
Conservative lawmakers were angered because one of the groups that would have received the research money is the Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation, which has affiliates that finance breast cancer services at some Planned Parenthood clinics.
On Wednesday, the House removed the Komen group as an aid recipient and approved the legislation 421-9. The four representatives from Arkansas, all Republicans, voted in favor of the amended bill.
The video, made covertly last year, was produced by the Irvine, Calif.-based Center for Medical Progress, which released it in collaboration with several national anti-abortion organizations.
It shows a lunchtime conversation between Dr. Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood's senior director of medical services, and anti-abortion activists posing as potential buyers for a human biologics company.
Nucatola is heard in the video referring to fetal hearts, lungs and livers and to efforts to retrieve these organs intact rather than crush them during an abortion procedure. She is heard giving a range of monetary estimates.
According to Planned Parenthood, Nucatola "was speculating on the range of reimbursement that affiliates can receive after patients state they wish to donate tissue after a procedure."
Among GOP presidential contenders lambasting the organization Wednesday was Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who said, "The idea that the American taxpayers are being forced against their will to fund the sale of the body parts of unborn children is horrifying."
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said on Twitter that the video shows "why we must end federal taxpayer funding" for groups like Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood receives millions annually in federal aid for family planning services. By law, that funding cannot be used for abortions.
A Section on 07/16/2015