DENVER- The medical director of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains (PPRM) appears to discuss organ harvesting in the latest undercover video released by anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress (CMP). This is the group's third undercover video in a month but the first in which the complete raw video has not been released.
In the edited video, Medical Director Dr. Savita Ginde responds to what CMP calls an undercover actor posing as a buyer. The "actor" explains how much Ginde could charge per specimen as opposed to charging a flat rate.
"I think a per-item thing works a little better, just because we can see how much we can get out of it," responds Ginde.
Commercial sale of human fetal tissue is illegal under federal law. Non-commercial tissue donation is allowed if the pregnant woman consents to the donation.
PPRM told 9NEWS last week that it does not do organ donations, only tissue donations for which there is "no financial benefit" for the patient or the organization.
PPRM said Tuesday it no longer participates in fetal tissue donations but may in the future. PPRM would not respond to Dr. Ginde's comments because the full unedited video of the interaction has not been released. In an email to 9NEWS, the activist group behind the videos said the full footage from Denver will be released in "a few days" along with a "summary" video from its Denver sting operation.
"We cannot verify the conversation that appears in that video, as we do not know how it has been edited. The anti-abortion activists that published this have repeatedly claimed they also provide 'full footage', but that has not happened a full eight hours after publicizing the edited video. We encourage you not to treat the conversation that is seen on tape as if it has been validated," said PPRM senior vice president of communications Marie Logsden.
The latest video includes an interview with a phlebotomist who used to work for StemExpress, the alleged buyer of fetal body parts from Planned Parenthood. She says she fainted on her first day when asked to dissect a "freshly aborted" baby. The video claims that StemExpress is partnering with PPFA and profiting off aborted body parts.
CPM released documents several weeks ago showing that StemExpress has done business with Colorado State University. Earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado) wrote a letter to university President Tony Frank saying he was "shocked by the allegation" that CSU purchased aborted babies' body parts for experimentation.
CSU shared the receipts from that transaction with 9NEWS, and pointed out that the payment was for small amounts of liver and thymus tissue, not whole fetal organs. Still, President Frank reacted by suspending any acquisition of fetal tissue pending the outcome of a congressional inquiry.
Three congressional committees say they will investigate whether Planned Parenthood is selling organs from aborted fetuses.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) has had a troubling week. It started with a security breach causing the organization to contact the FBI and the Department of Justice. In a statement, PPFA said "(extremists) who oppose Planned Parenthood's mission and services have launched an attack on our information systems, and have called on the world's most sophisticated hackers to assist them in breaching our systems and threatening the privacy and safety of our staff members."
PPFA has reportedly hired a high-profile crisis communications firm, SKDKnickerbocker. After inquiring about practices at the Colorado chapter of Planned Parenthood, 9NEWS was contacted by Los Angeles and DC-based representatives of The Raben Group, a public relations firm representing PPFA.
On Tuesday, Republican presidential candidates Sen. Rand Paul, Sen. Ted Cruz, and Dr. Ben Carson stood in front of the U.S. Capitol to denounce PPFA and call for a criminal investigation by the Department of Justice.
Sen. Paul introduced an amendment to a multi-year highway bill last week that seeks to eliminate $500 million that PPFA receives from the government annually. He's confident congress will vote on the issue before the August congressional recess.
A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) said Bennet does not support the Paul amendment but also added "Anyone found to have done anything illegal should be punished to the full extent under the law."
U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colorado) will be voting for the Paul amendment.
"I'm disgusted and deeply saddened by the recent videos released documenting highly unethical and inhumane practices committed by Planned Parenthood officials and affiliates," Gardner said.
Gardner added that he was part of a bipartisan letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell demanding she cooperate in investigations about the legality of Planned Parenthood's organ harvesting.
Locally, Colorado Citizens for Life, an anti-abortion group, is calling for Coloradoans to urge Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman and Gov. John Hickenlooper to open their own investigation into the practices of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountain. The governor's office says they have not had any calls about the issue. The attorney general has not responded to 9NEWS' request for comment.
(© 2015 KUSA)
