Texas is the first of ten states to start investigating the sale of aborted baby body parts at Planned parenthood, but officials with the nation’s largest abortion business refused to attend the hearing.
The hearings at the Texas legislature follow three shocking videos that have caught Planned Parenthood doctors discussing and arranging the sale of body parts of aborted babies.
Earlier this month, Texas Governor Greg Abbott launched an investigation of the Planned Parenthood abortion business. Abbott said: “The video of a high-level Planned Parenthood executive discussing the details of internal abortion procedures – including harvesting of baby body parts – is unnerving and appalling. In light of the video, I have directed the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to conduct an immediate investigation of this alleged practice in addition to a separate investigation ordered by the Texas Office of the Attorney General.”
The Texas state legislature followed up with announcements that it would hold hearing on the aborted baby sales — hearings that began today. But, as the picture of the table where people testifying before the legislative committee sit, no one from Planned Parenthood was there.
Legislators on the Texas Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday scolded Planned Parenthood for their absence. Republican Chairman Charles Schwertner said the organization needs to answer for how it operates in Texas.
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Why did Planned Parenthood fail to appear? Possibly because top state officials may have been given access to yet another shocking undercover video exposing more sales of aborted babies beyond the three videos already released.
Texas: RT @Johnseago .@KenPaxtonTX confirms that the AGs office have received undercover videos of an abortion clinic in Texas. #txlege
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Schwertner said the committee would focus on determining whether Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas were selling fetal tissue and what steps could be “taken to put a swift and decisive stop to it.”
“I know many Texans are equally horrified by such a callous disregard for innocent human life,” Schwertner said.
Ed Morrissey of Hot Air discussed why Planned Parenthood failed to attend.
“The existence of the CMP video of a clinic in Texas and the AG’s interest in it would at least tend to imply that there are legal issues that arise from it. Why wouldn’t Planned Parenthood want a representative there to push back, if those allegations are unfounded? It looks like an attempt to keep from having responses committed to the record, and avoid potential charges if they get proven to be false,” he writes. “The vise is tightening, but the debate focuses too narrowly on the legality of tissue transfers for compensation. Planned Parenthood wants that debate, because they can then argue that this benefits humanity through research — even though that ignores the fact that they could just donate the organs, rather than maximize their revenue stream by charging on the “per-item thing,” as yesterday’s video showed a Planned Parenthood official explaining.”
“No, the real problem for Planned Parenthood is that this organ trade has exposed the core lie at the heart of the abortion industry. In my column today for The Week, I advise people to remain focused on that fundamental hypocrisy demonstrated in these videos,” he adds. ”
Meanwhile, the state of Texas is moving ahead with its own investigation. On Tuesday, attorney general spokeswoman Cynthia Meyer said the video was part of an active investigation and that the office would “respond to their request in due course.”
As LifeNews reported, the first video of undercover footage shows Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Senior Director of Medical Services, Dr. Deborah Nucatola, describing how Planned Parenthood sells the body parts of aborted unborn children and admitting she uses partial-birth abortions to supply intact body parts.
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In the second video, Planned Parenthood doctor Maru Gatter discusses the pricing of aborted baby body parts — telling the biotech company officials that the prices for such things as a baby’s liver, head or heart are negotiable. She also tells the officials that she could talk with the Planned Parenthood abortion practitioners to potentially alter the abortion procedure to kill the baby in a way that would best preserve those body parts after the unborn child is killed in the abortion.
A total of 10 states have already launched an investigation including Tennessee, Massachusetts, Kansas, Missouri, Arizona, Indiana, Ohio, Georgia, Texas and Louisiana and members of Congress have launched an investigation as well.
