By Cheryl Sullenger
Washington, DC – The House Select Panel on Infant Lives has released a list of nine criminal and regulatory referrals against abortion providers and/or fetal tissue procurement companies made as a result of their investigation into the illegal practice of selling aborted baby remains for profit.
The Select Panel was created in October 2015, in response to undercover videos released by the Center for Medical Progress that showed Planned Parenthood officials haggling to achieve the highest price for aborted baby tissue and organs that were to be provided to a middle-man organ procurement business.
“Rep. Marsha Blackburn has done an outstanding job chairing the Select Investigative Panel in the midst of vicious opposition from those involved with the Abortion Cartel,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, who also served as a Founding Board Member for the Center for Medical Progress during its undercover journalistic study of the trafficking of aborted baby remains.
In addition to the nine criminal and regulatory referrals, the Select Investigative Panel has issued 41 subpoenas – not all of which have been met with full compliance. At least two providers, LeRoy Carhart and Warren Hern, who conduct abortions through all nine months of pregnancy received subpoenas but have not yet fully complied.
According to a fact sheet released by the Select Panel, the nine criminal and regulatory referrals include:
1. The University of New Mexico was found to have violated their state’s Anatomical Gift Act by receiving tissue from a late-term abortion facility, Southwestern Women’s Options in Albuquerque, NM. The matter was referred to the New Mexico Attorney General for further investigation and prosecution.
2. After conducting a forensic analysis of the limited financial data submitted by StemExpress, the Select Panel found that it was violating federal law by profiting from the sale of aborted baby remains. Referrals were sent to the El Dorado, CA District Attorney and the U.S. Department of Justice.
3. The Panel’s investigation revealed that StemExpress and “certain abortion clinics” were violating patient privacy rights under HIPAA for financial gain. A referral was made to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
4. It was discovered that an abortion facility in Arkansas violated the law by selling aborted baby remains to StemExpress for profit. A referral was made to the Arkansas District Attorney.
5. The Panel uncovered evidence that a university in Ohio was violating state law by trafficking in aborted baby remains. An oral referral was made to the Ohio Attorney General.
6. DV Biologics, a tissue procurement company, was found to have been illegally trafficking aborted baby remains for profit and had failed to collect California sales taxes. The Orange County District Attorney has sued and the Select Panel made a supplemental referral. (Operation Rescue uncovered a quid pro quo relationship between the owners of DV Biologics and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who granted special favors to them.)
7. It was discovered that Planned Parenthood of Gulf Coast broke the law when it sold aborted baby remains for profit to the University of Texas. Operation Rescue’s Texas attorney, Briscoe Cain, received evidence of this illegal conduct through a FOIA request and referred the evidence on to investigators. The Select Panel referred the case to the Texas Attorney General.
8. Advanced Bioscience Resources was found to have profited from the sale of aborted baby remains to “various universities.” A referral was made to the Riverside, CA District Attorney.
9. The Panel’s investigation discovered that Presidential Women’s Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, violated the federal and state law though their relationship with StemExpress, which allowed it to illegally profit from the sale of aborted baby remains. The matter was referred to the Florida Attorney General.
“The Select Panel’s investigation has been worth every dime of money it has spent pursuing the truth. It has caused the break-up of several illegal aborted baby tissue trafficking schemes and launched investigations around the country,” said Newman. “We very much appreciate their work and continue to look forward to the final results of this investigation that is sure to provide even more criminal referrals for prosecution before its work concludes at the end of the year.”
Note: This article has been updated to omit information about a floor debate that has concluded favorably.
