Planned Parenthood is considering filing a lawsuit against the Center for Medical Progress, the anti-abortion group that has released a series of secretly recorded videos allegedly showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the harvesting and sale of fetal tissue for medical research.
Planned Parenthood Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens told The Hill that her organization is "considering everything" in terms of taking action against the Center for Medical Progress.
"I absolutely do believe that they have violated laws in terms of how they secured these videos," she said in an interview. "But the fraud is also in how they have presented them and in the editing."
The seventh and most recent video was released Wednesday. Some of the videos appear to be edited in such a way as to depict Planned Parenthood officials discussing profits made from the selling of fetal tissue, which would be illegal, whereas only recouping the cost of processing the fetal tissue is allowed. Planned Parenthood denies making any profits from the practice.
The videos have spurred state and federal investigations, and conservative lawmakers have vowed to do everything possible to eliminate the $528 million in federal funding Planned Parenthood receives each year for women's health services. Four states have already cut Medicaid funds for the group: Louisiana, Alabama, New Hampshire and Arkansas. The Obama administration warned that doing so could be a violation of federal law, and federal courts blocked Ariziona and Indiana from passing similar laws.
Most Republican presidential candidates have voiced support for defunding, with some even suggesting they would shut the government down or dispatch the National Guard to defund the group. Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have stood behind the group.
Laguens confidently told The Hill she believes Planned Parenthood will be able to defeat conservative efforts to defund the group. "The Republican presidential candidates are completely out of step with the American people," she said.
A Reuters poll released this week found that 54 percent of Americans, including Republicans, still support federal funding going to Planned Parenthood, while 73 percent said they would support federal funding going to an unnamed group to provide women's health exams, as HNGN reported.
"I certainly believe that [we'll be funded], because I believe the American people are speaking - and our patients, the one-in-five women who rely on Planned Parenthood over their lifetime - are [speaking to lawmakers]," Laguens added.
