Planned Parenthood alleges ‘smear’ in letter to Congress

Planned Parenthood Federation of America defended its practices Thursday in a lengthy letter to congressional leaders and included a report by experts it hired who found undercover videos of officials discussing fetal tissue for research were heavily altered by anti-abortion activists.
The report supports the organization’s claims that the secretly recorded videos were distorted to misrepresent conversations employees had with anti-abortion activists posing as biomedical company employees interested in buying fetal tissue, Planned Parenthood said.
The letter and report were the most detailed defense to date by Planned Parenthood, which has come under fire from conservatives since the California-based Center for Medical Progress began releasing a series of undercover videos last month.
“It’s increasingly clear that this attack on Planned Parenthood is a fraud based on a web of lies and deception,” Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens told reporters.
Four congressional committees are investigating Planned Parenthood’s practices, and lawmakers unsuccessfully tried to strip the organization of federal funding.
Some conservatives are vowing to vote down must-pass legislation to fund the federal government this fall unless it strips money for the organization, raising the specter of a government shutdown over the issue.
A spokeswoman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said a letter from Planned Parenthood isn’t going to satisfy Congress.
“House committees have been investigating all of the participants involved in these horrific practices and building a strong case,” spokeswoman Emily Schillinger said. “The American people deserve the facts — not PR releases.”
The videos that include graphic images of tissue, organs and even a tiny arm, showed Planned Parenthood officials discussing in a businesslike way how they provide aborted fetal organs for research and what they charge for tissue.

 

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