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Planned Parenthood Says It Will No Longer Accept Reimbursement for Fetal Tissue 'Donations'

  • Veronica Neffinger

    Veronica Neffinger wrote her first poem at age seven and went on to study English in college, focusing on 18th century literature. When she is not listening to baseball games, enjoying the…

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  • Updated Oct 14, 2015

Planned Parenthood released a statement Oct. 13 (Tuesday), saying it will no longer receive reimbursement from fetal tissue donations.

There has been an ongoing debate regarding the legality of Planned Parenthood’s practices after undercover videos were released by the Center for Medical Progress, reportedly showing that the organization profited from fetal tissues sales.

Fox News reports that because of the fierce debate surrounding Planned Parenthood’s practices, the organization has decided not to accept reimbursement for the expenses they incur by donating fetal tissue after an abortion.

In a letter to Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Planned Parenthood’s President, Cecile Richards, stated, “In order to completely debunk the disingenuous argument that our opponents have been using – and to reveal the true political purpose of these attacks – our Federation has decided, going forward, that any Planned Parenthood health center that is involved in donating tissue after an abortion for medical research will…accept no reimbursement for its reasonable expenses.”

Fox News reports that while it is legal for Planned Parenthood to be reimbursed for expenses incurred while preparing fetal tissue parts for donation to a medical research facility, the undercover videos purport to show that Planned Parenthood actually profits from the fetal tissue sales, and that they are not donations at all. 

Since Planned Parenthood is a nonprofit organization, their profiting from fetal tissue sales is illegal.

David Daleiden, the project leader behind the undercover videos, stated, "This proves what CMP has been saying all along -- Planned Parenthood incurs no actual costs, and the payments for harvested fetal parts have always been an extra profit margin.”

Many others agree. 

The issue of Planned Parenthood and fetal tissue sales has been a heated topic at the Republican primaries.

In the most recent debate, Republican Presidential candidate Carly Fiorina passionately stated, "I dare Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama to watch these tapes, watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking, while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain. This is about the character of our nation. And if we will not stand up and force president Obama to veto this bill, shame on us."

Planned Parenthood, however, continues to maintain that it did nothing wrong and that the decision not to accept reimbursement is not an admission of guilt.

“Our decision is first and foremost about preserving the ability of our patients to donate tissue, and to expose our opponents’ false charges about this limited but important work,” Richards wrote.

Photo courtesy: flickr.com

Publication date: October 14, 2015