BATON ROUGE, La. (WGNO) – Governor Bobby Jindal asked the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) to investigate Planned Parenthood Tuesday after a video suggested some Planned Parenthood locations are selling fetal body parts from partial birth abortions.
A video shot in 2014 recently surfaced showing a Planned Parenthood Federation of America senior director describing how to conduct partial-birth abortions so that certain body parts could be extracted.
Planned Parenthood spokesman Eric Ferrero said that is true. “In health care, patients sometimes want to donate tissue to scientific research that can help lead to medical breakthroughs, such as treatments and cures for serious diseases. Women at Planned Parenthood who have abortions are no different.”
The statement posted on Plannedparenthood.org goes on to say, “At several of our health centers, we help patients who want to donate tissue for scientific research, and we do this just like every other high-quality health care provider does — with full, appropriate consent from patients and under the highest ethical and legal standards. There is no financial benefit for tissue donation for either the patient or for Planned Parenthood. In some instances, actual costs, such as the cost to transport tissue to leading research centers, are reimbursed, which is standard across the medical field.”
Ferrero also calls the video “heavily edited,” and that it “falsely portrays Planned Parenthood’s participation in tissue donation programs.”
Watch the video in question below:
In a release Tuesday Governor Jindal, referenced the video and stated that he order the DHH to investigate what was discussed.
“Today’s video of a Planned Parenthood official discussing the systematic harvesting and trafficking of human body parts is shocking and gruesome. This same organization is seeking to open an abortion clinic in New Orleans. I have instructed Louisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals to conduct an immediate investigation into this alleged evil and illegal activity and to not issue any licenses until this investigation is complete. I am also asking the FBI to assist DHH in investigating this alleged criminal activity by this organization,” Jindal said.