3rd Planned Parenthood video released by anti-abortion group
WASHINGTON — The anti-abortion group targeting Planned Parenthood released another video Tuesday, this one featuring an interview with a woman who says she worked in a clinic procuring tissue from aborted fetuses.
Meanwhile, Senate Republican leaders are considering a vote on a bill authored by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, that would prohibit federal funds to the women’s health organization.
The video, which is heavily edited, was made and released by The Center for Medical Progress, which made national headlines earlier this month when it began releasing undercover videos of Planned Parenthood officials talking about the selling of fetal tissue.
The latest undercover video — the third the group has released — shows a Planned Parenthood official in Denver discussing per-organ pricing.
“I think a per-item thing works a little better, just because we can see how much we can get out of it,” the official says.
The video also includes an interview with a phlebotomist, a person who draws blood for clinical testing, who worked for a company that procured fetal tissues from Planned Parenthood.
“For whatever we could procure, (Planned Parenthood) would get a certain percentage. The main nurse was always trying to make sure we got our specimens,” said Holly O’Donnell, the phlebotomist. “No one else really cared, but the main nurse did because she knew that Planned Parenthood was getting compensated.”
Planned Parenthood has said they did not break any laws and have argued that the videos’ heavy editing take the conversations out of context. They have not yet commented on this latest video.
Earlier Tuesday, Dawn Laguens, the executive vice president of Planned Parenthood, told Alisyn Camerota on CNN’s “New Day” that the organization does not profit from the same of fetal tissue.
“I say that unequivocally,” Laguens said. “We do not make a profit on fetal tissue.”
Senate efforts underway to end federal funding
But Republicans on the presidential campaign trail and Congress have vowed to strip Planned Parenthood of its federal funding. The federal funds that Planned Parenthood receives are spent on a wide range of women’s health needs, but not abortion.
The bill sponsored by Paul on Tuesday gets right to the point: “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no federal funds may be made available to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, or any of its affiliates.”
While a final decision has not been made on when to move the bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has taken the procedural steps needed to put the bill on the floor so he can call it up quickly, two GOP leadership aides said. He is expected to discuss next steps on the bill when he meets with the Republican caucus later Tuesday, and possibly announce a schedule for the bill when he holds a news conference after that meeting.
“He’s been working with his members to address this horrific issue before we leave,” his spokesman, Don Stewart, told CNN.
Paul claimed credit for getting action on the bill.
“Sen. Paul has been a leader in the movement to protect life and has acted swiftly and decisively to end the taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood,” his campaign said in a statement.
If the Senate was to go ahead with a vote, it likely would come before the Senate recess, which begins after the first week in August. Democrats, however, say they expect to block it from passing. It’s also unlikely the House would take any action before it leaves for a month-long recess, which is scheduled to begin Wednesday.
The No. 2 Republican in the House, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, has also said no federal funds should go to Planned Parenthood while Congress investigates the videos.
Paul, through a campaign statement that cited a Washington Free Beacon report, also said Tuesday that Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton needs to return all donations she has received from Planned Parenthood employees.
“Hillary Clinton’s hands are stained by accepting this money, and she needs to immediately return every red cent she has received from Planned Parenthood employees,” he said.
GOP 2016 hopefuls attend anti-abortion rally
Early Tuesday afternoon, three GOP presidential hopefuls — Paul, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson — attended an anti-abortion rally in Washington.
The event, #WomenBetrayed, is one of several being held across the country this summer that are sponsored by the “Students for Life of America.”
“The fact of the matter is it’s much more sophisticated than these little creatures that the Environmental Protection Agency is trying to save,” said Carson, accusing the government of saving snails but not human lives. “Why don’t they spend their time and effort trying to save a human life?”
He added that abortion “is blatant evil going on in our society.”
Cruz also gave an impassioned speech, calling on local and state law officials to investigate local Planned Parenthood affiliates to ensure they are not violating criminal law.
“I call upon the United States Congress right now, today, to stand up and lead to defund Planned Parenthood,” Cruz said.
