Government probe renews calls to defund Planned Parenthood

WASHINGTON—Pro-life advocates hope a new U.S. Department of Justice investigation into Planned Parenthood marks a turning point for the nation’s largest abortion provider.

On Thursday, the Justice Department requested unredacted documents from the Senate Judiciary Committee, indicating it has launched a formal investigation into Planned Parenthood. In 2016, both the Judiciary Committee and The House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives did their own investigations into the abortion industry and fetal procurement businesses. Both panels referred Planned Parenthood to the FBI at the end of 2016 for illegally profiting from fetal tissue sales.

Now that the Justice Department agrees Planned Parenthood is worth investigating, pro-life groups want Congress to pull federal funding.

“The Justice Department’s investigation of Planned Parenthood is a major turning point in the battle to hold the nation’s largest abortion business accountable,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List. “We anticipate that this investigation will only underscore the urgent need to redirect half a billion dollars in annual taxpayer funding away from the abortion giant, and we hope to see Congress deliver on this core promise soon.”

Planned Parenthood receives about 40 percent of its annual budget from the government—nearly $500 million in taxpayer funding. Republican leaders promised to defund the organization after the GOP gained control of Congress and the White House but have not followed through.

Under a law passed in 1993, it is illegal to profit from the sale of body parts for medical research—including parts from unborn children. Congress began looking into Planned Parenthood, other abortion providers, and fetal procurement businesses after the 2015 release of undercover videos from the Center for Medical Progress. In the videos, abortion industry executives discussed the money they make from harvested parts of aborted babies.

The Select House Panel made 15 criminal referrals in total. Planned Parenthood denies it ever profited from fetal tissue sales.

But last year, the panel released documents showing that middleman businesses bought body parts from abortion providers and sold them to research facilities at a 400 percent profit.

The panel saved several screen grabs from websites that allowed customers to put organs such as brains, hearts, lungs, and livers into virtual shopping carts. Customers could select how many samples of each baby organ they wanted and from what gestational periods.

The panel’s final report indicated businesses made money that exceeded their operating costs for transferring fetal tissue to research facilities. The Justice Department’s document request adds credibility to those claims and shows investigators want to know what role Planned Parenthood played.

“The fact that DOJ is requesting unredacted information shows they are serious about this investigation,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council.

Pro-life lawmakers don’t have enough votes to break the 60-vote threshold in the Senate to defund Planned Parenthood, but lawmakers could do it through reconciliation, like they did in 2015. President Barack Obama vetoed that effort, but President Donald Trump pledged he would approve it, if given the chance.

“It is beyond comprehension that the forced partnership between taxpayers and Planned Parenthood continues,” Perkins said.

Fighting for Alfie

Another family in the United Kingdom has been told by a hospital they cannot take their sick child out of the country for treatment.

Alfie Evans, a 1-year-old boy from Liverpool, England, has a mysterious seizure disorder and has been in a coma for almost a year at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. His parents, Tom Evans and Kate James, say they have found a hospital in Europe willing to accept Alfie as a patient, but doctors at Alder Hey say nothing more can be done for him. They insist transferring him would not be in his best interest. The hospital applied in court to have the parents’ rights terminated and Alfie moved to hospice, the parents said.

The case recalls that of Charlie Gard, a terminally ill infant who died in a London hospital in July. His parents lost a long court battle for the right to take Charlie abroad for an experimental treatment. Alfie’s situation differs, though, because he has no clear diagnosis.

“Even though they stopped trying to obtain a diagnosis and therefore don’t know what is wrong with him, Alder Hey says Alfie’s existence is futile,” Tom Evans wrote on a Facebook page called “Alfie’s Army.” The hospital told The Daily Mail of London that it always tries to reach an agreement with parents in cases like Alfie’s, but “there will be some rare situations where agreement cannot be reached and the treating team believe that continued active treatment is not in a child’s best interests.”

An online petition started on Alfie’s behalf said doctors have put unrelenting pressure on his parents to stop treatment. —Lynde Langdon

Fetal tissue traders avoid trial

Two California companies charged with illegally selling the body parts of aborted babies reached a settlement Friday with Orange County, Calif., prosecutors, avoiding a trial.

Under the settlement, DV Biologics LLC and sister company DaVinci Biosciences LLC, along with principal operators Estefano Isaias Sr., Estefano Isaias Jr., and Andres Isaias, admitted to violating state and federal law prohibiting the sale of fetal tissue. The companies will close within four months.

The settlement totals $7.785 million, but the defendants will pay only a small portion of that in a cash fine. The bulk of the penalty comes from the estimated $7.5 million value of the company’s adult biological samples, tissues, and cells, which it will donate to a nonprofit academic and scientific teaching institution affiliated with a major U.S. medical school, according to the agreement. The company also will donate and transfer about $10,000 in laboratory storage containers and equipment.

The defendants will pay only $195,000 in civil penalties.

Prosecutors charged the companies in 2016 with illegal and fraudulent business practices after the pro-life Center for Medical Progress filed a complaint alleging DV Biologics LLC sold fetal tissue to pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions in Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Brain tissue went for as much as $1,100 per vial. —Leigh Jones

EU rebukes Poland over pro-life laws

The European Union has chastised Poland for its opposition to abortion, warning the predominantly Catholic nation it could be in violation of the union’s human rights laws. The resolution, adopted last month, claims “universal access to healthcare, including sexual and reproductive healthcare and the associated rights, is a fundamental human right.” It also urged the Polish government to provide free access to contraception and make emergency contraception, like the so-called “morning-after pill,” available without a prescription. Polish President Andrzej Duda recently signed a bill banning over-the-counter sales of such drugs. Last month’s resolution triggers an investigation that could result in revoking Poland’s EU voting rights. The resolution primarily focuses on other political issues in Poland, but according to the pro-life Population Research Institute, the inclusion of comments on abortion marks the first time the EU has ever condemned a member nation over pro-life legislation. —L.J.

Bolivia abandons protections for unborn babies

Bolivia became the latest South American country to drop protections for unborn babies when lawmakers last week voted to allow abortions up to eight weeks into pregnancy. Current law only allows abortion when the mother’s life is in danger, the baby is diagnosed with a disability, or in cases of rape or incest. The new law, which President Evo Morales pledged to sign, specifically mentions “students, adolescents, or girls,” suggesting teens could get abortions without their parents’ knowledge or approval. Church leaders, both evangelical and Catholic, opposed the measure, insisting women with unplanned pregnancies need support, not abortion. Pastor Luis Aruquipa, a Bolivian pro-life activist, criticized lawmakers who voted for the bill after saying they would not. He pledged to continue organizing rallies and hunger strikes to keep fighting for the unborn. —L.J.