A controversial footage released on Tuesday, showing Planned Parenthood Senior Director, Deborah Nucatola, admitting to selling fetal body parts, left the U.S. Congress alarmed and immediately took action. An investigation on the reproductive health group is already being probed, BBC News reports.
The video [watch it below] captured while Nucatola tells the firm, "We've been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that, so I'm not gonna crush that part, I'm gonna basically crush below, I'm gonna crush above, and I'm gonna see if I can get it all intact."
In a report from Reuters, House Speaker John Boehner ordered scrutiny of Planned Parenthood's "grisly practices" and consents the suitable congressional committee to look into it. He said, "When an organization monetizes an unborn child - and with the cavalier attitude portrayed in this horrific video - we must all act."
Planned Parenthood Federation of America was established to help women in performing and educating couples about late-term abortions, birth control methods, sexually transmitted diseases and women's health. Moreover, they also claim to be a source of fetal tissues to be used for scientific researches and studies.
In a statement released by the group on their website, the organization's spokesperson said, "At several of our health centres, we help patients who want to donate tissue for scientific research, and we do this just like every other high-quality healthcare provider does."
The non-profit group also made a response video to, what they refer to as, "the latest smear campaign."
Reuters reports that the controversial video was released by an anti-abortion group, Center for Medical Progress in California, to prove that the said organization had been performing illegal activities with respect to fetal body parts and tissues ranging from the abortion side to selling.
Ferrero, on the statement, speaks that these claims are out to damage the organization's reputation especially after it had already catered to a lot of couples and individuals with pregnancy problems.
In defense for the Planned Parenthood, Texas Attorney Steve Mostyn, who admitted that he and his wife gave the organization more than $1 million dollars last year, told Reuters that the organization should not be judged "by the words of one employee."
In addition to their statement and response to the US congressional investigation towards Planned Parenthood, Eric Ferroro believes that this issue is anchored in a political agenda. "These outrageous claims are flat-out untrue, but that doesn't matter to politicians with a longstanding political agenda to ban abortion and defund Planned Parenthood," he said.
While there is a free and legal way of acquiring fetal tissue, punishments for illegal selling of human fetal body parts include a prison sentence of up to 10 years and payment of $500,000.
