Planned Parenthood will no longer accept compensation for fetal tissue for medical research, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Previously, fetal tissue from Planned Parenthood was given to establishments in Washington and California. In a letter written by Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, she said the Washington clinics have not accepted money for these fetal tissues. Oregon establishments were receiving compensation in return for tissue.
Planned Parenthood has been the subject of controversy for months following a series of videos showing a top executive for the organization discussing the sale of fetal tissue with a fake medical research organization. Center for Medical Progress (CMP), an anti-abortion group, is behind the videos, which have angered Republicans in Congress. The videos spurred a movement from right-leaning politicians to stop government funds from reaching Planned Parenthood.
Richards' letter was written to the National Institutes of Health, according to Fox News, and said: "In order to completely debunk the disingenuous argument that our opponents have been using — and to reveal the true political purpose of these attacks — our Federation has decided, going forward, that any Planned Parenthood health center that is involved in donating tissue after an abortion for medical research will... accept no reimbursement for its reasonable expenses."
"This proves what CMP has been saying all along — Planned Parenthood incurs no actual costs, and the payments for harvested fetal parts have always been an extra profit margin," said CMP project leader David Daleiden in a statement, reported Fox News.
"The participation by a handful of our affiliates in supporting women who choose to make fetal tissue donation has always been about nothing other than honoring the desire of those women and contributing to life-saving research and cures," said Richards in the letter, according to NPR. The letter goes on to say that "reimbursement is fully permitted under the 1993 law."
