Conservative members of a special House subcommittee investigating abortion providers on Wednesday will present a report detailing recent findings, Politico reports (Haberkorn, Politico, 4/19).
Background
The subcommittee is the fourth House committee to investigate Planned Parenthood following the release of a series of misleading videos targeting the organization (Women's Health Policy Report, 3/31). A report submitted to Congress last August found that the videos, created by the antiabortion-rights group Center for Medical Progress (CMP), were manipulated, making them unreliable for official inquiries into the organization (Women's Health Policy Report, 8/27/15).
The subcommittee is allowed to probe, among other topics, federal funding for health care providers who also provide abortion services and providers' practices for abortions later in pregnancy. The resolution (H Res 461) that created the subcommittee gave it the ability to investigate "medical procedures and business practices used by entities involved in fetal tissue procurement" and "any other relevant matters with respect to fetal tissue procurement."
According to subcommittee Chair Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the panel has subpoena powers that it will use in consultation with the House speaker, who also oversees the panel's budget and schedule. The panel will be dissolved 30 days after it submits a report based on the investigation's findings. The subcommittee could recommend changes to laws and regulations based on its findings.
The subcommittee has issued several subpoenas requesting the names of fetal tissue researchers, spurring criticism from medical groups and liberal lawmakers who are concerned that the subpoenas could put researchers, students and medical professionals at risk of antiabortion-rights violence (Women's Health Policy Report, 3/31).
Report findings
Conservative lawmakers plan to present the report at a subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that will also feature testimony from former U.S. prosecutors in support of its alleged findings. The report includes accounting, marketing and business documents regarding fetal tissue procurement, according to Politico.
Based on the information presented in the report, conservative lawmakers allege that an unidentified abortion provider and an unidentified tissue procurement company have violated federal bans on the sale of fetal tissue.
The lawmakers contend that it was improper for the abortion clinic to seek reimbursement for fetal tissue donation because the process of collecting the tissue and obtaining the woman's consent is done by a technician for the tissue procurement company. In addition, conservative lawmakers claim the tissue procurement company prices tissue at a rate that yielded a profit.
Although authors of the report redacted the procurement company's name, the report contains information that identifies the company as StemExpress, according to Politico. StemExpress was also targeted in CMP's videos.
StemExpress responds
In a letter on Tuesday, attorneys for StemExpress challenged the authenticity of the documents included in the report.
The attorneys said at least one of the screenshots in the report that captures an internal page on the company's website appears to have been obtained illegally. The company also noted that some of the materials in the report likely were obtained by CMP founder David Daleiden.
Liberals deride 'inaccurate and misleading' conclusions
In a memo, liberal lawmakers on the subcommittee also criticized the report. They stated that some of the documents do not include sourcing information and lead to "inaccurate and misleading" conclusions, Politico reports.
Liberal lawmakers noted that they expect conservative lawmakers "will claim -- and invite their witnesses to agree -- that these documents indicate possible criminal misconduct that warrants this Panel's and the Justice Department's investigation." The memo continued, "In reality, the documents themselves are not evidence of unlawful conduct as any dollar amounts that they contain or discussion of pricing and costs may represent lawful, reimbursable costs associated with fetal tissue research" (Politico, 4/19).
