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WASHINGTON, D.C., August 18, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) — Two prominent Members of Congress are demanding the Department of Justice investigate three illegal acts they say Planned Parenthood officials admitted to on video.

In a letter, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-VA, and Constitution and Civil Justice Subcommittee Chairman Trent Franks, R-AZ, demanded that U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch inform their committee of what the Department of Justice has found in relation to lawbreaking allegations in light of the Center for Medical Progress' video series.

The letter came a month after the Members sent a letter to Lynch demanding greater investigations into Planned Parenthood, related to potential partial-birth abortions, which are illegal.

Last month, Lynch told reporters that she would consider a possible investigation of Planned Parenthood after videos started being released by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP). However, she has not followed up with a public course of action.

The new letter, pasted in full below, requests that Lynch “provide the Committee with a copy of the complaint in every case filed by the Department in which a violation of” three federal laws “and any related federal laws, is alleged.”

The three laws relate to illegal profiting of fetal harvesting, conducting partial-birth abortions, and illegally “affect[ing] interstate commerce” through fetal tissue sales. 

Two Hill aides told LifeSiteNews that any House investigations will be broader than the three potential violations of federal law addressed in the letter. A House Judiciary aide emailed that “the investigation into Planned Parenthood is a collaborative effort by several committees in the House, and we expect to examine all aspects of the alleged acts done by Planned Parenthood.”

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A GOP Hill aide likewise said that “this will be a group effort by many Congressmen and Committees, so the investigation isn't exclusively limited to the contents of this letter. All of the potential lawbreaking by Planned Parenthood will be called into question.”

LifeSiteNews had specifically asked about lawbreaking alleged by CMP senior investigator David Daleiden. Daleiden told LifeSiteNews that Planned Parenthood senior officials endorsed violations of a law that requires “no alteration of the timing, method, or procedures used to terminate the pregnancy [be]…made solely for the purposes of obtaining the tissue.” Those officials also indicated that such actions are conducted by Planned Parenthood employees.

The House Energy & Commerce Committee has also begun investigating Planned Parenthood, and sent at least one letter to Planned Parenthood and biomedical companies that engage in fetal tissue sales.

 

The letter:

August 17, 2015
The Honorable Loretta Lynch
Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
Washington, DC 20530

Dear Attorney General Lynch:

The House Judiciary Committee has launched an investigation into whether Planned Parenthood abortionists altered procedures in order to harvest the organs and body parts of aborted children. “I'd say a lot of people want liver,” an executive from Planned Parenthood stated in a video released on July 15, 2015. “And for that reason, most providers will do this case under ultrasound guidance, so they'll know where they're putting their forceps.” She further stated: “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.”  

New evidence suggests that this disturbing practice of altering the procedure is more than an isolated instance. In a recent video released on July 21, 2015, yet another Planned Parenthood abortionist executive stated:

Let me explain to you a little bit of a problem, which may not be a big problem, if our usual technique is suction at 10 to 12 weeks and we switch to using an IPAS [manual vacuum aspirator] or something with less suction or to increase the odds that it will come out as an intact specimen, then we're kind of violating the protocol that says to the patient, “We're not doing anything different in our care of you.” Now to me, that's kind of a specious little argument and I wouldn't object to asking Ian, who's our surgeon who does the cases, to use an IPAS at that gestational age in order to increase the odds that he's going to get an intact specimen.

Later in the video, when asked if she would be happy with the dollar amount per specimen suggested by the undercover investigative journalist, the Planned Parenthood abortionist executive stated: “Well, let me find out from other affiliates in California [what they] are getting and if they're getting more, then we can discuss it then.” She continued, “But, you know, the money is not the important thing, but it has to be big enough that it's worthwhile for me.”

At least three federal laws may be implicated by this video: 42 U.S.C. § 274e, which states that “It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human organ for valuable consideration for use in human transplantation if the transfer affects interstate commerce”; 42 U.S.C. § 289g, which states that “It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human fetal tissue for valuable consideration if the transfer affects interstate commerce”; and 18 U.S.C. § 1531, which prohibits partial-birth abortions.

We write regarding our interest in understanding the history of the enforcement of these laws at the Department of Justice. Please provide the Committee with a copy of the complaint in every case filed by the Department in which a violation of 42 U.S.C. § 274e, 42 U.S.C. § 289g, or 18 U.S.C. § 1531, and any related federal laws, is alleged.

Thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this request. Please have your staff respond to John Coleman at (202) 225-2825 no later than August 31, 2015.