Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has demanded a federal probe into Planned Parenthood’s reported unauthorized fetal tissue exchange program. The #1 abortion provider in the nation is accused of “illegally providing human fetal tissue to a university for research,” according to One America News.
On Tuesday, Rubio formally requested the U.S. Department of Justice investigate the grave matter. Rubio directed the letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Christi Grimm.
Marco Rubio calls for the DOJ to conduct a federal investigation into Planned Parenthood's handling of aborted fetal tissue following new allegations. https://t.co/3JxdqepDgi
— Connee Holcomb (@ConneeHolcomb) March 28, 2024
In his letter, Rubio alleged that Planned Parenthood has an ongoing business relationship with the University of California, San Diego. An excerpt from the letter reads:
“Not only was Planned Parenthood providing the aborted fetal tissue in exchange for ‘valuable consideration,’ emails between the groups show that Planned Parenthood and [the University of California San Diego] actively collaborated and met at regular intervals to discuss the progress of the research.”
Rubio added that participating in a transfer in exchange for money is illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
In his press release, Rubio wrote: “I write with regard to the stunning report that Planned Parenthood is providing aborted fetal body parts to the University of California San Diego while maintaining intellectual property rights over the fetal tissue and in exchange for ‘valuable consideration.’ If confirmed, this relationship represents a flagrant violation of federal law.”
David Daleiden with the Center for Medical Progress has spoken out against the practice. The pro-life advocate alleges that Planned Parenthood maintained a large fetal tissue transfer bank to supply the University of San Diego and other medical research facilities in the United States.
The Daily Signal reported that Daleiden, through a public records (FOIA) request, discovered that Planned Parenthood entered into a contract with the University of San Diego in 2009.
The contract stipulated that Planned Parenthood Pacific Southwest would provide “fetal and placental tissue” to the university “for the purpose of deriving cell lines from and determining gene expression, genomic, and epigenetic profiles of the materials.”
Such allegations are not new. In July 2015, The Seattle Times reported that a pro-life group secretly videotaped Planned Parenthood staff engaging in selling tissue from aborted babies.
The Washington Examiner reported on a similar case in 2019. According to that report, a Planned Parenthood staff member “admitted to harvesting aborted fetal parts for the purpose of selling them to human tissue procurement companies.”
In both cases, the undercover videographers were prosecuted; the New York Times reported that Planned Parent won a $2 million judgment in the Seattle case.
