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In 2015, an
anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respo ...
organization named the
Center for Medical Progress The Center for Medical Progress (CMP) is an anti-abortion organization founded by David Daleiden in 2013. The CMP is best known for producing undercover recordings that prompted Planned Parenthood 2015 undercover videos controversy, a controve ...
(CMP) released several videos that had been secretly recorded. Members of the CMP posed as representatives of a
biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...
company in order to gain access to both meetings with abortion providers and abortion facilities. The videos showed how abortion providers made fetal tissue available to researchers, although no problems were found with the legality of the process. All of the videos were found to be altered, according to analysis by
Fusion GPS Fusion GPS is a commercial research and strategic intelligence firm based in Washington, D.C. The company conducts open-source investigations and provides research and strategic advice for businesses, law firms and investors, as well as for ...
and its co-founder
Glenn R. Simpson Glenn Richard Simpson (born 1964) is an American former journalist who worked for ''The Wall Street Journal'' until 2009, and then co-founded the Washington-based research business Fusion GPS. He was also a senior fellow at the International As ...
, a former investigative reporter for ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''. The CMP disputed this finding, attributing the alterations to the editing out of "bathroom breaks and waiting periods". CMP had represented a longer version of the tapes as being "complete", as well as a shorter, edited version. The analysis by Fusion GPS concluded that the longer version was also edited, with skips and missing footage. Nonetheless, the videos attracted widespread media coverage; after the release of the first video, conservative lawmakers in Congress singled out
Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...
and began to push bills that would strip the organization of federal
family planning Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marita ...
funding. No such attempts by Congress to cut federal family planning money from Planned Parenthood have become law. Conservative politicians in several states have also used this as an opportunity to cut or attempt to cut family planning funding at the state level. Officials in twelve states initiated investigations into claims made by the videos, but none found Planned Parenthood clinics to have sold tissue for profit as alleged by CMP and other anti-abortion groups. An investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives
Oversight and Government Reform Committee The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the main investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one of the most influential and powerful panels in the ...
found no evidence of wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood. A
select committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system) A select committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues originating in the Westminster system o ...
, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Select Investigative Panel on Planned Parenthood, was formed to further investigate Planned Parenthood. The Republican-controlled Select Investigative Panel released its final report on December 30, 2016, recommending that Planned Parenthood be defunded. The report was heavily criticized as partisan and inaccurate by Democratic members of the committee, Planned Parenthood, and some news media. In January 2016, a Texas grand jury chartered to investigate Planned Parenthood found no wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood but instead
indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of ...
CMP founder David Daleiden and member Sandra Merritt for creating and using false government IDs and attempting to purchase fetal tissue. The charges against Daleiden and Merritt in Texas were dismissed six months later on the grounds that the grand jury's indictment authority had extended only to Planned Parenthood. In March 2017, Daleiden and Merritt were charged with 15 felonies in the State of California – one for each of the people whom they had filmed without consent, and one for
criminal conspiracy In criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime at some time in the future. Criminal law in some countries or for some conspiracies may require that at least one overt act be undertaken in furtherance ...
to invade privacy. In June 2017, all the invasion of privacy charges (but not that of conspiracy) were dismissed with leave to amend, but in July 2017, the State of California re-filed amended charges.


CMP's videos

The CMP videos consisted of portions of secretly recorded, hours-long conversations between members of CMP and abortion providers. Members of CMP posed as representatives of a non-existent company called Biomax Procurement Services, presenting themselves as potential buyers of fetal tissue. CMP stated that it has "hundreds if not thousands of hours of recordings". The videos were made over a period of 30 months, and were released approximately once per week to increase exposure, including media coverage, and to allow the public more time to consume and react to each video.
Americans United for Life Americans United for Life (AUL) is an American anti-abortion law firm and advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1971, the group opposes abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, and certain contraceptiv ...
began working with CMP beginning in January 2015, providing them with advice. There were widespread protests at Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) affiliates. The debate over abortion was reinvigorated. One of the videos includes an image of a
stillborn Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. The ter ...
fetus, published in the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'' in January 2014, used without the permission of the woman in the photo, and in a way that falsely suggests that the stillborn was aborted.


Financial aspects

CMP alleged that the videos were evidence of
Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...
engaging in the illegal sale of fetal tissue. Their dummy corporation Biomax offered one clinic for tissue, but the affiliate declined the offer. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' has characterized the offer as an attempt to "trap the affiliate in the act of accepting a high payment for fetal tissue". In a less-edited version of the first video, PPFA staff repeatedly state that the organization makes no money from tissue donations, and that the $30100 charge only covers
procurement Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. When a government agency buys goods or s ...
costs. PPFA have said they may donate fetal tissue at the request of a patient, but such tissue is never sold. At one point in the video, a PPFA staffer states "nobody should be 'selling' tissue," and "that's just not the goal here." According to several experts in the field, the money Planned Parenthood received for fetal tissue was too little to make any profit for Planned Parenthood and constituted reasonable compensation for the costs of procurement, as allowed by federal law. These experts included Sherilyn J. Sawyer, the director of
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
's and
Brigham and Women's Hospital Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is the second largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts General Hospital, it is one of the two ...
's biorepository; Jim Vaught, president of the
International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories The International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) is a professional society of individuals and organizations involved in biospecimen banking. Its main activities include creating educational and training opportunities ...
and formerly the deputy director of the
National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. T ...
's (NCIs) Office of Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research; and Carolyn Compton, the chief medical and science officer of
Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
's National Biomarkers Development Alliance and a former director of biorepositories and biospecimen research at the NCI. On October 13, 2015, Planned Parenthood announced it would no longer accept reimbursement for the costs of collecting and shipping fetal tissue to research labs. Citing an "anti-abortion agenda" by some in Congress, Planned Parenthood stated the move was designed to remove a reason for politically motivated attacks.


Alleged variation in abortion procedures

The CMP alleges that the videos show Planned Parenthood officials offering to make adjustments in the techniques used in abortions in order to acquire more intact fetal tissues and organs. Federal law prohibits changing from one abortion procedure to another procedure in order to obtain human tissue for medical research, as well as for delivering intact fetuses. Planned Parenthood spokespeople have responded to CMP's allegations by stating that the organization follows "all lawsperiod", and that accusations made in CMP's videos "are false".


Alleged lack of consent from donors

In the sixth video, Holly O'Donnell, an anti-abortion former StemExpress technician, says that she was told by her superiors to encourage women seeking abortions to sign the consent forms, and that even when women refused to sign the fetal organs and tissues were sometimes taken anyway. In the unedited first video, representatives state the donations are only made with the patient's consent. StemExpress, a supplier of
biological specimen A biological specimen (also called a biospecimen) is a biological laboratory specimen held by a biorepository for research. Such a specimen would be taken by sampling so as to be representative of any other specimen taken from the source of ...
s mostly
stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of ...
s for research, has "unequivocally" denied O'Donnell's allegation, stating that the video is "deceptively edited and falsely worded to suggest impropriety or illegality where none exists". Eric Ferrero, vice president of communication for the PPFA, noted that O'Donnell "has never worked for Planned Parenthood", and called her allegations "false and outrageous".


Aftermath

The editorial board of ''The New York Times'' described CMP's actions as a "campaign of deception against Planned Parenthood", and wrote that the "video campaign is a dishonest attempt to make legal, voluntary and potentially lifesaving tissue donations appear nefarious and illegal". Supporters of Planned Parenthood have complained that the videos were "highly edited".
Cecile Richards Cecile Richards (born July 15, 1957) is an American activist who served as the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund from 2006 to 2018. In 2010, Richards was elected to the ...
, the president of Planned Parenthood, "personally pologizedfor the staff member's tone and statements", saying the videos were "unacceptable". Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of PPFA, stated: "The latest ifthtape has at least 20 substantial and unexplained edits. Previous tapes released by this extremist group were 'heavily edited' in order to distort what was actually said. These videos are intended to shock and deceive the public." In a letter to a Congressional committee, PPFA wrote: "A group of extremists who have intimidated women and doctors for yearsin their agenda to ban abortion completelyare not 'documenting' misdeeds; they are trying to create them, quite unsuccessfully." In response to Planned Parenthood, CMP stated that "we look forward to showing the public more clear evidence that Planned Parenthood routinely profits from the sale of baby parts and changes the abortion procedures it uses on pregnant women in order to do so".


Investigations

Responding to the videos and to CMP's allegations, three different Congressional committees, and officials in a number of states, launched investigations into Planned Parenthood's tissue collection activities. One Congressional committee asked to interview the filmed representatives to see whether the statements made in the videos are consistent with existing federal law. On July 30, 2015, former Indiana Governor
Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...
announced that the state's investigation did not find any evidence of wrongdoing in Planned Parenthood's handling of fetal tissue. In Massachusetts, where there is no fetal tissue and organ donation program, Attorney General
Maura Healey Maura Tracy Healey (born February 8, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the Massachusetts Attorney General since January 2015. She is the governor-elect of Massachusetts, having won the 2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial electi ...
found that aborted fetuses are disposed of properly in a report that "voiced strong support for" Planned Parenthood. In Florida, investigators from the Agency for Health Care Administration found on July 31, 2015 that three Planned Parenthood clinics were performing second-trimester abortions without the proper licenses, and that one clinic was failing to keep proper logs relating to fetal remains. Planned Parenthood rejected the findings. Texas Governor
Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 ...
announced an investigation into practices in Texas, and said that the state would "expand its investigation" after the release of the second video, and Missouri Attorney General
Chris Koster Christopher Andrew Koster (born August 31, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 41st Attorney General of Missouri from 2009 to 2017. Prior to serving as attorney general, Koster was elected three times as prosecuting atto ...
announced that his office would investigate Planned Parenthood for any potential wrongdoing at its clinics in that state. Investigations were also launched in Ohio, Kansas, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana, with calls for the
U.S. Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United States ...
to investigate. At the local level, the Harris County district attorney launched a criminal investigation in conjunction with the Texas Rangers and the
Houston Police Department The Houston Police Department (HPD) is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of Houston, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. With approximately 5,300 officers and 1,200 civilian support personnel it is the fifth-largest ...
after the fifth video was released showing a Planned Parenthood executive in that city. Altogether, the videos prompted investigations in fifteen states, including Texas where one undercover recording operation took place; eight other states refused to investigate their Planned Parenthood clinics, including California and Colorado where other CMP recordings also occurred. California Attorney General
Kamala D. Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...
announced an investigation into the CMP's practice of undercover recording. Officials in Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, South Dakota, and Kansas investigated and failed to find any evidence of Planned Parenthood clinics breaking any state laws concerning the collection of fetal tissues. The state of Pennsylvania cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing. In September, the Missouri Attorney General found no evidence that the state's only clinic that provides abortion services mishandled fetal tissues. The report stated, "As a result of our investigation, the Office of the Missouri Attorney General has found no evidence that (Planned Parenthood) has engaged in unlawful disposal of fetal organs and tissue." On October 8, 2015, Republican Representative
Jason Chaffetz Jason E. Chaffetz (; born March 26, 1967) is an American retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 until his resignation in 2017. He chaired the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from 2015 until 2017. Ch ...
(Utah), chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, stated that the GOP investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood. On January 25, 2016, a Houston grand jury chartered to investigate Planned Parenthood, instead indicted Daleiden and another videographer, Sandra Merritt, for creating fake driver's licenses used as identification (a felony) and offering to purchase fetal tissue (a misdemeanor). On June 14, 2016, the misdemeanor charges concerning fetal tissue were dropped due to a technicality, and on July 26, 2016, the felony charges (related to false identification) were dismissed by a judge who ruled that the grand jury exceeded its authority by indicting Daleiden and Merritt when it was chartered only to investigate Planned Parenthood. On March 28, 2017, however, Daleiden and Merritt were charged with 15
felonies A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...
in the State of California – one for each of the people whom they had filmed without consent, and one for criminal conspiracy to invade privacy. A
select committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system) A select committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues originating in the Westminster system o ...
, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Select Investigative Panel on Planned Parenthood, was formed to further investigate Planned Parenthood, with Congresswoman
Marsha Blackburn Mary Marsha Blackburn (née Wedgeworth; born June 6, 1952) is an American politician and businesswoman serving as the senior United States senator from Tennessee, a seat she has held since 2019. She is a member of the Republican Party. Blackbur ...
serving as the chairman. On September 21, the panel voted 8–0 to recommend holding StemExpress in
contempt of Congress Contempt of Congress is the act of obstructing the work of the United States Congress or one of its committees. Historically, the bribery of a U.S. senator or U.S. representative was considered contempt of Congress. In modern times, contempt of C ...
for failure to comply with a
subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
. The six Democratic members of the panel walked out of the meeting in protest before the vote. The committee's final report recommended that "the National Institutes of Health be required to stop funding fetal tissue research, and that the huge health provider Planned Parenthood be stripped of U.S. funding." According to ''
Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...
'', the report contained multiple inaccuracies. Democratic members of the panel – who had not been permitted to read, respond to, or vote on the final report – released an alternate report, in which they criticized the committee for relying on "McCarthy-era tactics" and of relying on "unsourced, unverified documents" in writing the report. A Planned Parenthood spokesperson described the report as "nothing more than a partisan attack on Planned Parenthood and women's access to safe and legal abortion" and noted that 13 state-level investigations and other congressional inquiries had found no wrongdoing. ''The Washington Post,'' ''
New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...
'' and ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' described the panel's inquiry as a "witch hunt" and criticized both its findings and tactics in editorials.


Court orders

On July 31, 2015, the
National Abortion Federation The National Abortion Federation (NAF) is the professional association of abortion providers. NAF members include private and non-profit clinics, Planned Parenthood affiliates, women's health centers, physicians' offices, and hospitals who together ...
sued CMP and Daleiden. A Los Angeles judge placed a temporary restraining order on the release of further videos of employees of StemExpress, one company which Planned Parenthood does business with, based on California's anti-wiretapping law. The order also prohibited the group from disclosing names or addresses of National Abortion Federation members, or dates and locations of future meetings. The
restraining order A restraining order or protective order, is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault. Restraining and personal protecti ...
was later lifted, allowing release of more videos. A hearing was held on August 27, 2015. CMP has said that it follows "all applicable laws". Daleiden has stated that, in the suppressed video, the "top leadership" of StemExpress "admitted that they sometimes get fully intact fetuses shipped to their laboratory from the abortion clinics that they work with and that could be ''
prima facie ''Prima facie'' (; ) is a Latin expression meaning ''at first sight'' or ''based on first impression''. The literal translation would be 'at first face' or 'at first appearance', from the feminine forms of ''primus'' ('first') and ''facies'' (' ...
'' evidence of born-alive infants". StemExpress has denied Daleiden's "intact fetuses" allegations: :CMP's accusations that this conversation somehow refers to "intact fetuses", which were never mentioned at any point during the entirety of the illegally recorded conversation, are false. StemExpress has never requested, received or provided to a researcher an "intact fetus". CMP and Daleiden's claims to the contrary are unequivocally false. StemExpress CEO Cate Dyer explained the discrepancy as a misuse of terms by CMP operatives: :As anyone can see and read, the entire discussion was, in fact, about "intact livers." ..My use of the term "intact cases" is a medical term of art that refers solely to "intact livers," as there was absolutely no mention of "intact fetuses" at any point in over two hours of illegally recorded video. StemExpress has severed ties with Planned Parenthood as a result of the controversy, stating that their business with Planned Parenthood was a small percentage of their activities. In September 2015, two courts ruled that Daleiden and CMP must turn over private documents and submit to depositions about how they orchestrated their video sting, and could require Daleiden to turn over paperwork and details of the operation, and provide the full raw footage he collected while posing as an executive of the fictitious tissue procurement firm Biomax. On December 4, 2015, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Anthony Kennedy Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirement in 2018. He was nominated to the court in 1987 by Presid ...
ruled on an emergency appeal from the CMP. The CMP's appeal had asked the Justice to block the lower courts' order that would require CMP to release the names of its donors. Justice Kennedy denied the appeal. In September 2019, a hearing was held in San Francisco to determine whether David Daleiden and his associate Sandra Merritt should go to trial for fifteen criminal counts of felony invasion of privacy. In this hearing, Daleiden's attorneys disputed the warrant by which agents with the California Department of Justice entered Daleiden's home and seized computers and digital storage devices, along with some phony identification documents in April 2016. The court, however, denied their claim that Daleiden was protected by California's Shield Law for acting as a citizen journalist, because the Department of Justice had sufficient probable cause of criminal activity to make the seizures. Following this hearing, Planned Parenthood and others affected by Daleiden's videos initiated a civil jury trial against Daleiden, Merritt, Troy Newman, Albin Rhomberg and Gerardo Adrian Lopez in state court. They are being accused of fraud, breach of contract, unlawful recording of conversations, civil conspiracy and also violation of federal anti-racketeering law.


Scientific impact

In August 2015, StemExpress cut all ties with Planned Parenthood for the procurement of human fetal tissue, which has had a severe impact on medical researchers. StemExpress was one of the main providers of human fetal tissue along with Advanced Biosciences Resources. According to a congressional
report A report is a document that presents information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are almost always in the form of written documents. Usage In ...
, research into the Zika
virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsk ...
has been stalled along with investigations into
Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...
,
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most commo ...
,
diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...
, and childhood leukemia. Science Friday aired a segment about Dr. Eugene Gu, one of the fetal tissue researchers subpoenaed by
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
. Gu studies
congenital A birth defect, also known as a congenital disorder, is an abnormal condition that is present at birth regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can ...
heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as ca ...
and
kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blo ...
diseases in infants but has since placed his research on hold after
United States Marshals The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...
delivered the subpoena to his
Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...
apartment, which is in proximity to
Marsha Blackburn Mary Marsha Blackburn (née Wedgeworth; born June 6, 1952) is an American politician and businesswoman serving as the senior United States senator from Tennessee, a seat she has held since 2019. She is a member of the Republican Party. Blackbur ...
and Diane Black. This is in spite of broad support for fetal tissue research by the scientific community. ''
The New England Journal of Medicine ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals as well as the oldest continuously published one. H ...
'' (''NEJM'') published an editorial in support of Planned Parenthood's "efforts to channel fetal tissue into important medical research". The editorial argued that many medical advances would not have been made without fetal tissue research and that "Planned Parenthood, its physicians, and the researchers who do this work should be praised, not damned." The ''NEJM'' described CMP's actions as a "campaign of misinformation" and said that it is shameful that CMP "continues to twist the facts to achieve its ends". In addition, the NEJM praised Planned Parenthood's contributions to women's health care and stated that the "contraception services that Planned Parenthood delivers may be the single greatest effort to prevent the unwanted pregnancies that result in abortions".


Political impact

The videos were shown to several anti-abortion congresspeople, including Diane Black, Trent Franks, and
Tim Murphy Timothy Murphy may refer to: Politics * Tim Murphy (American politician) (born 1952), American Republican Party politician from Pennsylvania * Tim Murphy (Canadian politician) (born 1959), Canadian politician * Timothy J. Murphy (1893–1949), I ...
, weeks before being made publicly available. Black said that she was given advance screening of the videos, which "literally made ersick to erstomach" as well as "emotional and tearful", so that she would be prepared to comment on them after their release. The timing of the first video led commentators to speculate it may have been released to coincide with a bill to raise money for
Susan G. Komen for the Cure Susan G. Komen (formerly known as Susan G. Komen for the Cure; originally as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation; often simply as Komen) is a breast cancer organization in the United States. Komen focuses on patient navigation and advo ...
, which gives funding to Planned Parenthood. After the first video was released,
Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American physician and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, U.S. senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party (Un ...
and Diane Black introduced pre-prepared legislation to discontinue federal funding of Planned Parenthood. On July 14, 2015, House Speaker
John Boehner John Andrew Boehner ( ; born , 1949) is an American retired politician who served as the 53rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served 13 terms as the U.S. represe ...
ordered congressional hearings into the practice procuring fetal tissues and organs by Planned Parenthood, and at least one committee committed to scheduling a hearing. Senate Minority Leader
Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...
has said that Planned Parenthood's practices "should be looked into". On August 3, 2015, the legislation failed to pass in the Senate with 53 supporting discontinuing funding and 46 opposed. This was seven votes short of the 60 needed to pass the bill. On September 18, 2015, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 241187 to defund Planned Parenthood for one year, allowing time to investigate alleged wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood. The vote was largely symbolic and was not expected to pass in the Senate; additionally, President Obama stated that he would veto legislation to defund Planned Parenthood. Some raised the issue that this kind of congressional vote could violate the United States Constitution, which prohibits
bills of attainder A bill of attainder (also known as an act of attainder or writ of attainder or bill of penalties) is an act of a legislature declaring a person, or a group of people, guilty of some crime, and punishing them, often without a trial. As with attai ...
, which refers to lawmakers punishing an individual or organization based on alleged infractions without a finding of guilt by a court.


Presidential campaigns

Several Republican presidential candidates repeated CMP's allegations that PPFA used tissue donation as a way to profit from abortion.
Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republic ...
said "The video showing a Planned Parenthood employee selling the body parts of aborted children is a disturbing reminder of the organization's penchant for profiting off the tragedy of a destroyed human life", and cited the videos as the reason why Planned Parenthood should lose federal funding. Republican presidential candidate
Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American physician and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, U.S. senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party (Un ...
posted on Twitter "...a video showing Planned Parenthood's top doctor describing how she performs late-term abortions to sell body parts for profit", vowed to campaign to defund Planned Parenthood, and called for Hillary Clinton to return Planned Parenthood's donations to her campaign.
Carly Fiorina Cara Carleton "Carly" Fiorina (''née'' Sneed; born September 6, 1954) is an American businesswoman and politician, known primarily for her tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP). As chief executive officer of HP from 1999 to 2005, Fiorina was ...
said "This latest news is tragic and outrageous. This isn't about 'choice'. It's about profiting on the death of the unborn while telling women it's about empowerment". During the September 16, 2015, GOP presidential candidates' debate on '' CNN'', she harshly criticized Planned Parenthood and their involvement in fetal tissue donation, stating "I dare Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama to watch these tapes. Watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking, while someone says, 'We have to keep it alive to harvest its brain'". The website ''
PolitiFact.com PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times' ...
'', however, said the video footage Fiorina referred to was not obtained from a Planned Parenthood clinic, but was stock footage of an unrelated live fetus, obtained from the Grantham Collection, "an organization that hopes to stem abortion by promoting graphic images of the procedure". It was then added by CMP to dramatize the description by StemExpress procurement technician Holly O'Donnell. In the edited video, O'Donnell alleged that while she was working in a pathology lab at a Planned Parenthood clinic, her supervisor told her that they would procure a brain from a well preserved fetus. O'Donnell said: "I'm sitting here looking at this fetus, and its heart is beating, and I don't know what to think." ''The New York Times'' reported that "while the authenticity of the videos remains a subject of debate, Mrs. Fiorina appears to have exaggerated their contents", and ''PolitiFact.com'' rated Fiorina's statement "mostly false". Democratic presidential candidate
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
, who "staunchly defended" the organization, said that the videos were "disturbing" and called for a national investigation into the sale of aborted fetal tissue. The
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
said it would oppose any congressional attempts to defund Planned Parenthood.


Other reactions

Louisiana Governor
Bobby Jindal Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (born June 10, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of Louisiana from 2008 to 2016. The only living former Louisiana governor, Jindal also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives ...
announced, on August 3, 2015, that the
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) (French: Département de La Santé de Louisiane) , formerly known as the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (French: Département de La Santé et des Hôpitaux) , is a state agency of Louisiana, h ...
was terminating its contract with
Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...
, which provides the organization with state Medicaid funds. In court filings, the Justice Department argued that Louisiana's action violates federal law by denying Medicaid patients the choice of their healthcare providers. Also noted, neither of the two Louisiana clinics provide abortion services. The states of
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
,
New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
, and
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
also cut their respective funding to Planned Parenthood in the wake of the videos, while
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
and
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
were considering similar measures. The Obama administration has warned state legislators it may be illegal to cut funding to Planned Parenthood. After consulting with the university's Bioethics Advisory Committee,
Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado S ...
president Tony Frank suspended the further purchase of fetal tissue for research purposes.


Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting

On November 27, 2015, a gunman shot and killed two civilians and a police officer during a five-hour gun battle at the Colorado Springs clinic. The 57-year-old gunman surrendered to police and was taken into custody. During his arrest, he gave a rambling interview in which, at one point, he said "no more baby parts", an apparent reference to protests against the clinic, echoing language used in the news media about the clinic. However, authorities could not clearly identify a specific motivation. U.S. Attorney General
Loretta Lynch Loretta Elizabeth Lynch (born May 21, 1959) is an American lawyer who served as the 83rd attorney general of the United States from 2015 to 2017. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to succeed Eric Holder and previously served as the Un ...
called the shooting a "crime against women receiving health care services". Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said that the shooting and standoff "certainly appears" to be an act of domestic terrorism. Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation drew particular attention to the videos, two of which were filmed at a clinic in Denver, north of Colorado Springs; these videos resulted in a number of threats against one doctor featured in the videos, who had to move out of her home and hire 24-hour security as a result according to Saporta. The CMP issued a statement condemning the shooting as a "barbaric killing spree" by a "violent madman".


2017 developments

In March 2017,
California Attorney General The attorney general of California is the state attorney general of the Government of California. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (Constitution of California, Article V, Section ...
Xavier Becerra Xavier Becerra ( ; ; born January 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 25th United States secretary of health and human services since March 2021. Becerra previously served as the attorney general of California from Ja ...
charged Daleiden and Merritt with 15 felonies related to the videos, including one count of conspiracy to invade privacy and 14 counts of filming people without permission in Los Angeles. In response, Daleiden issued a statement calling the charges "bogus" and pledged to release more videos. The editorial board of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' published an editorial stating that while they disagreed with the CMP's cause and methods, the filing of criminal charges by Becerra was a "disturbingly aggressive" action against people "trying to influence a contested issue of public policy." On June 21, 2017, all the invasion of privacy charges (but not that of conspiracy) were dismissed with leave to amend. Soon after, the State of California re-filed the charges, amended. In December 2016, Senator
Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate, and the senior United States senator from Iowa, having held the seat since 1981. In 2022, h ...
referred Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice ...
(FBI) for investigation. In the fall of 2017, the FBI made a request to the
Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...
for access to un-redacted comments obtained from abortion providers.


See also

* ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy


References

{{Reflist, 30em, refs= {{cite news , url = http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/12/politics/planned-parenthood-stem-express-video/index.html , title = 6th Planned Parenthood video released , first = Eugene , last = Scott , date = August 12, 2015 , access-date = August 12, 2015 , publisher = CNN {{cite web, title=Planned Parenthood Standoff Appears to Be Domestic Terrorism, Colorado Springs Mayor Says, url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/planned-parenthood-standoff-appears-domestic-terrorism-colorado-springs/story?id=35471366, publisher=ABC News, access-date=November 29, 2015 {{cite magazine , url = https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/08/07/robert-j-bentley-governor-of-alabama-says-he-is-cutting-off-medicaid-payment-to-planned-parenthood , title = Alabama Gov. Defunds Planned Parenthood , date = August 7, 2015 , access-date = August 10, 2015 , agency = Associated Press , magazine = U.S. News & World Report {{cite news , url = http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/08/04/planned-parenthood-official-docs-alter-abortion-procedures-price-structure/ , title = Planned Parenthood official: Abortion procedures, prices altered to meet demand , publisher = Fox News Channel , date = August 4, 2015 , access-date = August 11, 2015 {{cite news , url = http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/250785-assault-on-planned-parenthood-was-years-in-the-making , title = Assault on Planned Parenthood was years in the making , first = Peter , last = Sullivan , date = August 11, 2015 , access-date = August 11, 2015 , newspaper = The Hill {{cite news , url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/planned-parenthood-sting-video_55ad3b63e4b0caf721b3633d , title=Planned Parenthood: More Sting Videos Are Coming , date=July 20, 2015 , last=Bassett , first=Laura , work=The Huffington Post {{cite news, url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34954474, title=Planned Parenthood shooting: Suspect said 'no more baby parts', work=BBC News {{Citation , author = Jennifer Bendery , date=October 8, 2015 , title=GOP Probe Into Planned Parenthood Funding Comes Up Empty. Jason Chaffetz says he's found no evidence of wrongdoing by the family planning provider. , work=
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
, url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jason-chaffetz-planned-parenthood-funding_5616ed01e4b0dbb8000de134 , access-date=October 8, 2015
{{cite news, url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-plannedparenthood-idUSKCN0Q80DL20150803, title=Senate blocks Planned Parenthood defunding measure, work=Reuters, date=August 3, 2015 {{cite news, last1=Fram, first1=Alan, title=John Boehner calls for investigation into whether Planned Parenthood is selling organs, url=http://uk.businessinsider.com/john-boehner-calls-for-planned-parenthood-investigation-2015-7?r=US&IR=T, website=Business Insider UK, agency=Associated Press, access-date=July 24, 2015 {{Citation , last=Carroll , first=Lauren , date=September 17, 2015 , title=At CNN debate, Carly Fiorina urges others to watch Planned Parenthood videos , publisher=
PolitiFact.com PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times' ...
, url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/sep/17/carly-fiorina/cnn-debate-carly-fiorina-urges-others-watch-planne/ , access-date=September 18, 2015
{{cite news, last1=Chappel, first1=Bill, title=House Approves Bill To Cease Funding Planned Parenthood, url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/18/441497807/house-approves-bill-to-cease-funding-planned-parenthood, access-date=September 18, 2015, publisher=NPR, date=September 18, 2015 {{cite news, title=Attorney general: Planned Parenthood shooting a 'crime against women', url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/28/us/colorado-planned-parenthood-shooting/, publisher=CNN, access-date=November 29, 2015 {{cite news, url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/27/us/colorado-shooting-probe/, title=Colorado Planned Parenthood shooting: 3 dead, suspect captured (updated), last1=Shoichet, first1=Catherine E., last2=Stapleton, first2=AnneClaire, last3=Botelho, first3=Greg, date=November 27, 2015, publisher=CNN, access-date=November 27, 2015 {{Citation , date=September 16, 2015 , title=CNN transcript of GOP Presidential Debate. Aired September 16, 2015 - 20:10 ET , publisher=CNN , url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1509/16/se.02.html , access-date=September 18, 2015 {{Citation , date=September 16, 2015 , title=Carly Fiorina rips Planned Parenthood , publisher= CNN YouTube Channel , url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p_CyDI87Rc , access-date=September 18, 2015 {{cite news, last1=Cohen, first1=David S., title=Congress violates Constitution with Planned Parenthood vote, url=http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20150928_Congress_violates_Constitution_with_Planned_Parenthood_vote.html, access-date=October 7, 2015, work=Philadelphia Daily News, date=September 28, 2015 {{cite web, url=http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2015/07/29/stemexpress-wins-court-order-in-video-flap-with.html, title=StemExpress wins court order in video flap with anti-abortion group, date=July 30, 2015, work=Sacramento Business Journal , access-date=July 29, 2015 {{Citation , last1 =Crary , first1 =David , last2 =Fram , first2 =Alan , date=October 13, 2015 , title=Planned Parenthood changes fetal-tissue reimbursement policy , agency=
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
, url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/63b645f843614e0da49d9c8184359e92/planned-parenthood-forgo-payment-fetal-tissue-programs , quote=Planned Parenthood says its fetal tissue programs currently take place in only two states — California and Washington — at about a half-dozen of the 700 health centers run by the organization nationwide.
{{cite news , url = http://denver.cbslocal.com/2015/07/30/csu-caught-up-in-sale-of-fetal-tissue-controversy/ , title = CSU Caught Up In Sale Of Fetal Tissue Controversy , date = July 30, 2015 , access-date = August 11, 2015 , publisher = CBS 4 Denver {{Citation , last=Culp-Ressler , first=Tara , date=August 15, 2015 , publisher=
ThinkProgress ''ThinkProgress'' was an American progressive news website that was active from 2005 to 2019. It was a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAP Action), a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. Founded ...
, url=http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/08/15/3691997/planned-parenthood-investigations-fall-flat/, title=Investigations Into Planned Parenthood Are Falling Totally Flat , access-date=September 19, 2015
The Harris County, Texas grand jury charged Daleiden with making, presenting and using a California driver's license "with the intent to defraud and harm another
. . . The ellipsis (, also known informally as dot dot dot) is a series of dots that indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning. The plural is ellipses. The term origin ...
. The photocopy attached to the indictment appears to show a California driver's license in the name of "Robert David Sarkis." Indictment, January 25, 2016, ''The State of Texas v. David Robert Daleiden'', case no. 1496318, 338th District Court, Harris County, Texas.
{{cite web, url=http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/rand-paul-gop-tax-code-planned-parenthood-funding-120469.html, title=Republicans offer legislation defunding Planned Parenthood, author=Brianna Ehley, date=July 22, 2015, work=POLITICO {{cite web , url = http://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-congress-inquiry-into-planned-parenthood-widens-2015-8 , title = Federal lawmakers are digging deeper into the Planned Parenthood controversy , agency = Reuters , website = Business Insider , date = August 7, 2015 , access-date = August 10, 2015 {{cite news, url=http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29172660/colorado-springs-firefighters-respond-active-shooter-at-planned, title=Planned Parenthood shooting: 3 killed, including 1 police officer in Colorado Springs, last1=Paul, first1=Jesse, last2=Steffen, first2=Jordan, last3=Ingold, first3=John, date=November 27, 2015, newspaper=
The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...
, access-date=November 28, 2015
{{cite news , url = http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/250158-judge-extends-block-on-new-planned-parenthood-videos , title = Judge Extends Block on New Planned Parenthood Videos , first = Jesse , last = Byrnes , date = August 4, 2015 , access-date = August 12, 2015 , newspaper = The Hill {{cite web, url=http://www.factcheck.org/2015/07/unspinning-the-planned-parenthood-video/, title=Unspinning the Planned Parenthood Video, date=July 21, 2015 , publisher= FactCheck.org , access-date=July 24, 2015 {{cite news, last1=Calmes, first1=Jackie, last2=St. Fleur, first2=Nicholas, title=House Republicans to Investigate Planned Parenthood Over Fetal Tissue, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/16/us/house-republicans-to-investigate-planned-parenthood-over-fetal-tissue.html, work=The New York Times, date=July 15, 2015 {{cite news, last1=Ferris, first1=Sarah, title=House votes to freeze federal funding for Planned Parenthood, url=http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/254181-house-votes-to-freeze-funding-for-planned-parenthood, access-date=September 18, 2015, work=The HIll, date=September 18, 2015 {{cite news , url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/07/30/activists-release-a-fourth-undercover-video-as-the-battle-over-planned-parenthood-intensifies/ , title = Activists release a fourth undercover video as the battle over Planned Parenthood intensifies , first = Abby , last = Ohlheiser , date = July 30, 2015 , access-date = August 7, 2015 , newspaper = The Washington Post {{cite news, last1=Fox, first1=Maggie, title=Senate Votes Down Plan to Strip Planned Parenthood Funds, url=https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/senate-votes-against-defunding-planned-parenthood-n403441, access-date= August 13, 2015, publisher=NBC News, date=August 3, 2015 {{cite news, last1=Fram, first1=Alan, title=House OKs Republican bill blocking Planned Parenthood funds, url=https://news.yahoo.com/house-bills-hit-planned-parenthood-abortion-doctors-071656307--politics.html, access-date=September 18, 2015, work=Yahoo News, date=September 18, 2015 {{Citation , last=Frandsen , first=Tiffany , date=September 16, 2015 , title=Karrie Galloway of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah. President/CEO confident new funding will be found , work=
Salt Lake City Weekly ''Salt Lake City Weekly'' (usually shortened to ''City Weekly'') is a free alternative weekly tabloid-paged newspaper published in Salt Lake City, Utah. It began as ''Private Eye''. ''City Weekly'' is published and dated for every Thursday by ...
, url=http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/karrie-galloway-of-planned-parenthood-association-of-utah/Content?oid=2986343 , access-date=September 19, 2015
{{cite web, title=Death of UCCS police officer in Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting confirmed, work= Colorado Springs Gazette, url=http://gazette.com/death-of-uccs-police-officer-in-colorado-springs-planned-parenthood-shooting-confirmed/article/1564442, date=November 28, 2015, access-date=November 28, 2015 {{cite news, last1=Hauser, first1=Christine, title=Missouri Finds Planned Parenthood Didn't Mishandle Fetal Tissue, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/30/us/planned-parenthood-fetal-tissue-missouri.html, access-date=September 29, 2015, work=The New York Times, date=September 29, 2015 {{cite news , url = https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/07/29/healey-mass-planned-parenthood-fully-compliant-with-law/Fc6pYYrY1ONGQvRTEqkWHK/story.html , title = Planned Parenthood 'fully compliant' with law, Healey says , first = David , last = Scharfenberg , date = July 29, 2015 , access-date = July 30, 2015 {{cite web, url=http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/local-planned-parenthood-denounces-new-video-allegedly-showing-talk-of-selling-fetal-tissue, title=Local Planned Parenthood denounces new video allegedly showing talk of selling fetal tissue, author1=Lance Hernandez, author2=Marc Stewart, work=7NEWS, access-date=November 29, 2015, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151129223524/http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/local-planned-parenthood-denounces-new-video-allegedly-showing-talk-of-selling-fetal-tissue, archive-date=November 29, 2015, url-status=dead {{cite news , url = https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hillary-clinton-calls-planned-parenthood-videos-disturbing/story?id=32757475 , title = Hillary Clinton Calls Planned Parenthood Videos 'Disturbing' , first = Liz , last = Kreutz , date = July 29, 2015 , access-date = August 11, 2015 , publisher = ABC News {{cite news, last=Holley, first=Peter, title=Thousands protest outside Planned Parenthood clinics around the country, url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/08/22/thousands-protest-outside-planned-parenthood-clinics-around-the-country/, access-date=September 19, 2015, newspaper=The Washington Post, date=August 22, 2015 {{cite news , url = http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Harris-DA-to-investigate-Planned-Parenthood-after-6427662.php , title = Harris DA to investigate Planned Parenthood after release of video , first = Tina , last = Nazerian , date = August 5, 2015 , access-date = August 11, 2015 , work = Houston Chronicle {{cite web, url=http://www.krdo.com/news/hundreds-protest-outside-colorado-springs-planned-parenthood-clinic/34864064, title=Hundreds protest outside Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic, publisher=KRDO, access-date=November 29, 2015, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151129223553/http://www.krdo.com/news/hundreds-protest-outside-colorado-springs-planned-parenthood-clinic/34864064, archive-date=November 29, 2015, url-status=dead {{Citation , date=July 30, 2015 , title=Indiana clears Planned Parenthood of wrongdoing after videos , publisher=
Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...
, agency=
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
, url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/14e6280c406a4d21920c5594107dfdc4/indiana-clears-planned-parenthood-wrongdoing-after-videos , access-date=January 8, 2017
{{cite web , url = http://gov.louisiana.gov/index.cfm?md=newsroom&tmp=detail&articleID=5061 , title = Governor Jindal Announces the Termination of Medicaid Contract with Planned Parenthood , date = August 3, 2015 , access-date = August 13, 2015 , publisher = Office of the Governor {{Citation , last=Kane , first=Paul , date=October 23, 2015 , title=Boehner's next select committee, focusing on Planned Parenthood, to be led by Marsha Blackburn , newspaper=
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
, url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2015/10/23/boehners-next-select-committee-focusing-on-planned-parenthood-to-be-led-by-marsha-blackburn/ , access-date=November 11, 2015
{{cite web, last1=Kaufman, first1=Scott Eric, title=Bobby Jindal terminates Planned Parenthood funding over impossible concerns raised by hoax videos, url=http://www.salon.com/2015/08/04/bobby_jindal_terminates_planned_parenthood_funding_over_impossible_concerns_raised_by_hoax_videos/, website=Salon, date=August 4, 2015 , access-date=October 7, 2015 {{cite web, url=http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/interview-didnt-happen/, title=Lawmakers Knew About Planned Parenthood Video Weeks Ago (Video), publisher=Rollcall.com, date=July 16, 2015 {{cite news, archive-date=July 30, 2015, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150730131120/http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PLANNED_PARENTHOOD_CALIFORNIA, title=Court bars anti-abortion group from releasing new videos, url=http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PLANNED_PARENTHOOD_CALIFORNIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT, author=Armario, Christine, date=July 29, 2015, agency=Associated Press New Orleans and Baton Rouge clinics
Accessdate August 12, 2015
{{cite web, title=U.S. judge halts release of secretly recorded videos of abortion providers, url=https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-0802-court-order-20150802-story.html#page=1, work=
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
, date=August 2, 2015 , access-date=October 25, 2015
{{cite news, title=Justice Department sides with Planned Parenthood against Bobby Jindal, url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-planned-parenthood-jindal-20150901-story.html, access-date=October 7, 2015, agency=Associated Press, work=Los Angeles Times, date=September 1, 2015 {{Citation , last=Lewin , first =Tamar , date=October 13, 2015 , title=Planned Parenthood Won't Accept Money for Fetal Tissue , work=
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/14/us/planned-parenthood-to-forgo-payment-for-fetal-tissue-programs.html , access-date=October 13, 2015 , quote="Of Planned Parenthood's nearly 700 health centers nationwide, only two — one in California and one in Washington State — supply fetal tissue to researchers, and only the one in California has been getting reimbursed, the organization said."
{{cite news, url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/no-more-baby-parts-suspect-in-attack-at-colo-planned-parenthood-clinic-told-official/2015/11/28/e842b2cc-961e-11e5-8aa0-5d0946560a97_story.html, title=No more baby parts, suspect in attack at Colo. Planned Parenthood clinic told official, author=Wesley Lowery, date=November 28, 2015, newspaper=The Washington Post {{cite news , url = http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/23/politics/hillary-clinton-planned-parenthood-video-attack/ , title = Hillary Clinton: Planned Parenthood video part of 'concerted attack' , first = Dan , last = Merica , publisher = CNN , date = July 23, 2015 , access-date = July 28, 2015 {{cite news , url = https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republicans-planned-parenthood-womens-health_55b8f97fe4b0a13f9d1b1438 , title = Mitch McConnell Says 'Women's Health' Five Times In Attempt To Defund Planned Parenthood , first = Laura , last = Bassett , work = The Huffington Post , date = July 29, 2015 , access-date = July 30, 2015 {{cite news, title=Planned Parenthood Tells Congress More Videos of Clinics Might Surface, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/21/us/planned-parenthood-tells-congress-more-videos-of-clinics-might-surface.html, work=The New York Times, access-date=August 2, 2015 {{cite web, last=Martinez , first=Jack , url=http://www.newsweek.com/supreme-court-planned-parenthood-videos-401597 , title=Supreme Court Weighing In on Planned Parenthood Videos , website=Newsweek.com , date=December 5, 2015 , access-date=January 11, 2017 {{cite news , url = http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/planned-parenthood-video-patient-permission-fetal-tissue-121292.html , title = New video claims firm illegally obtained tissue at Planned Parenthood clinic , first = Jennifer , last = Haberkorn , date = August 12, 2015 , access-date = August 12, 2015 , publisher = Politico {{cite news , url = http://www.governing.com/topics/health-human-services/tns-new-hampshire-planned-parenthood.html , title = New Hampshire Cuts Planned Parenthood Funding , publisher = Governing , date = August 6, 2015 , access-date = August 7, 2015 , first = Dave , last = Solomon "Covert Video Targets Planned Parenthood Fetal-Parts Policy"
''New York Post'', July 15, 2015.
{{cite news, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/opinion/the-campaign-of-deception-against-planned-parenthood.html, title=The Campaign of Deception Against Planned Parenthood, work=New York Times editorial, date=July 22, 2015
''The New York Times'', July 15, 2015.
{{cite news, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/28/us/colorado-planned-parenthood-shooting.html, title=3 Are Dead in Colorado Springs Shootout at Planned Parenthood Center, last1=Turkewitz, first1=Julie, last2=Healy, first2=Jack, date=November 27, 2015, work=
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
, access-date=November 27, 2015
{{cite news, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/us/robert-dear-suspect-in-colorado-killings-preferred-to-be-left-alone.html, title=Robert Dear, Suspect in Colorado Killings, 'Preferred to Be Left Alone', date=November 29, 2015, work=The New York Times, access-date=February 14, 2016 {{cite news , url = https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/07/20/us/politics/ap-us-congress-planned-parenthood.html , title = Planned Parenthood Says Video Part of Decadelong Harassment , work = The New York Times , date = July 20, 2015 , access-date = August 7, 2015 , agency = Associated Press Alan Rappeport
Carly Fiorina Said to Exaggerate Content of Planned Parenthood Videos
''The New York Times'' (September 17, 2015).
{{cite web, url=http://www.theet.com/web_exclusive/us/restraining-order-issued-against-anti-abortion-group-s-video/article_966e3ba5-9d72-5701-8864-464a8064811e.html, title=Restraining order issued against anti-abortion group's video, work=The Exponent Telegram{{dead link, date=March 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes {{cite news, last=Pager, first=Tyler, title=Nationwide Planned Parenthood protests set for Saturday, url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/08/21/nationwide-planned-parenthood-protests-set-saturday/32124049/, access-date=September 19, 2015, work=USA Today, date=August 21, 2015 {{cite web, title=Courts rule Daleiden must turn over documents, video footage, url=http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/david-daleiden-center-for-medical-progress-planned-parenthood-video-213992, publisher=Politico, access-date=September 23, 2015 {{cite web, last1=Hardison, first1=Lizzy, title=DOH: Planned Parenthood Cleared of Any Wrongdoing, url=http://www.politicspa.com/doh-planned-parenthood-cleared-of-any-wrongdoing/68618/, website=Politics PA, access-date=September 29, 2015, date=August 21, 2015 {{cite news, title=State Probes Find Zero Planned Parenthood Violations As Antiabortion Group Is Sued Over Undercover Videos, url=https://www.yahoo.com/health/state-probes-find-zero-planned-parenthood-125533982837.html, work=Yahoo News, access-date=August 4, 2015 {{cite web, url=http://denver.cbslocal.com/2015/08/01/still-a-red-hot-topic-abortion-debate-spotlight-shines-on-colorado/, title=Still A Red-Hot Topic, Abortion Debate Spotlight Shines On Colorado, date=August 2015, publisher=cbslocal.com {{cite news, url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-colorado-shooter-idUSKBN0TH05O20151129, title=Colorado shooting suspect said 'no more baby parts': reports, work=Reuters {{Citation , last=Roberts , first=Dan , date=August 3, 2015 , title=Republicans' Planned Parenthood defunding push fails in the Senate , work=
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
, url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/03/planned-parenthood-defunding-fails-senate , access-date=August 3, 2015
{{Citation , last=Scott , first=Eugene , date=August 25, 2015 , title=Anti-Planned Parenthood group releases latest video after judge lifts restraining order , publisher=CNN , url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/25/politics/planned-parenthood-eighth-full-video-stemexpress/index.html , access-date=August 26, 2015 {{cite news , url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/07/21/antiabortion-group-releases-second-planned-parenthood-video/ , title = Antiabortion group releases second Planned Parenthood video , first1 = Sandhya , last1 = Somashekhar , first2 = Abby , last2= Ohlheiser , date = July 21, 2015 , access-date = July 27, 2015 , newspaper = The Washington Post {{cite news, url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-plannedparenthood-randpaul-idUSKCN0Q00IJ20150726, title=Rand Paul plans to keep pushing to defund U.S. Planned Parenthood, work=Reuters, date=July 26, 2015, author=Selyukh, Alina {{cite news , url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/hhs-warns-states-of-possible-violation-in-ending-medicaid-funds-for-planned-parenthood-1439392786 , title = States Warned Over Ending Medicaid Funds for Planned Parenthood , first = Stephanie , last = Armour , date = August 12, 2015 , access-date = August 12, 2015 , work = The Wall Street Journal {{cite web, url=https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/obama-admin-warns-states-planned-parenthood-defunding, title=Obama admin warns states on Planned Parenthood defunding, author=Steve Benen , author-link=Steve Benen, publisher=MSNBC, access-date=October 25, 2015 {{cite AV media , url = https://archive.org/details/CNNW_20150804_200000_The_Lead_With_Jake_Tapper?q=planned+parenthood+%22full+damage+control+mode%22#start/1620/end/1680 , title = The Lead With Jake Tapper , host = Jake Tapper , date = August 4, 2015 , access-date = August 10, 2015 , publisher = CNN The Harris County, Texas grand jury charged Sandra Susan Merritt with making, presenting and using a California driver's license "with the intent to defraud and harm another
. . . The ellipsis (, also known informally as dot dot dot) is a series of dots that indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning. The plural is ellipses. The term origin ...
. The photocopy attached to the indictment appears to show a California driver's license in the name of "Susan Sarah Tennenbaum." Indictment, January 25, 2016, ''The State of Texas v. Sandra Susan Merritt'', case no. 1496319, 338th District Court, Harris County, Texas.
{{cite AV media , url = https://archive.org/details/MSNBCW_20150721_170000_MSNBC_Live_With_Thomas_Roberts#start/2220/end/2280 , title = MSNBC Live With Thomas Roberts , publisher = MSNBC , host = Thomas Roberts , date = July 21, 2015 , access-date = August 10, 2015 {{cite journal, author-first1=George P. , author-last1=Topulos , author-first2=Michael F. , author-last2=Greene , author-first3=Jeffrey M. , author-last3=Drazen , title=Planned Parenthood at Risk, journal=
The New England Journal of Medicine ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals as well as the oldest continuously published one. H ...
, date=August 12, 2015, doi=10.1056/NEJMe1510281 , pmid=26267451 , volume=373 , issue=10 , page=963
{{cite news , title=Update: Grand Jury Takes No Action Against Planned Parenthood In Houston, Two Videographers Indicted , website=Houston Public Media , date=January 25, 2016 , url=http://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2016/01/25/135347/grand-jury-takes-no-action-against-planned-parenthood-two-others-indicted/ , access-date=January 25, 2016 {{cite news, title=Abortion rights groups: Political rhetoric contributed to shooting, url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/abortion-rights-groups-political-rhetoric-contributed-to-shooting/2015/11/29/d2fad2c4-96c7-11e5-8917-653b65c809eb_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_abortion-300pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory, newspaper=The Washington Post, access-date=November 29, 2015 {{Citation , last=Walsh , first=Deirdre , date=August 3, 2015 , title=Senate vote to defund Planned Parenthood fails , publisher=CNN , url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/03/politics/senate-planned-parenthood-defunding-legislation/index.html , access-date=August 3, 2015 "Antiabortion group posts another video attacking Planned Parenthood"
''The Washington Post'', August 4, 2015.
{{cite news , url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/07/28/how-the-planned-parenthood-videos-set-off-a-renewed-wave-of-activism-on-abortion/ , title = How the Planned Parenthood videos set off a renewed wave of activism on abortion , first = Sarah , last = Pulliam Bailey , date = July 28, 2015 , access-date = July 30, 2015 , newspaper = The Washington Post {{cite news, url=https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-plannedparenthood-whitehouse-idUSL1N10A39I20150730, title=White House says would oppose Congress defunding Planned Parenthood, work=Reuters, date=July 30, 2015 {{Citation , last=Wilson , first=Teddy , date=August 25, 2015 , title=Anti-Choice Group's Latest Video Misleads on 'Intact' Fetuses , publisher=RH Reality Check , url=http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/08/25/anti-choice-groups-latest-video-misleads-intact-fetuses/ , access-date=August 26, 2015 {{cite news, last1=Armour, first1=Stephanie, title=Florida Investigation of Planned Parenthood Clinics Finds Deficiencies, url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/florida-investigation-of-planned-parenthood-clinics-finds-deficiencies-1438817376 , access-date=August 6, 2015 , work=
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
, date=August 6, 2015
{{cite web, url=https://www.yahoo.com/health/coincidence-or-is-it-planned-parenthood-sting-124262369437.html, title=Coincidence ... or Is It? Planned Parenthood 'Sting' Video Isn't First to Derail Legislation, work=Yahoo Health, date=July 17, 2015 {{cite web, url=https://news.yahoo.com/undercover-anti-abortion-video-showed-images-of-127289829487.html, title=Undercover Antiabortion Video Showed Images of Stillborn — Not Aborted — Fetus, work=Yahoo Health, date=September 18, 2015 2015 controversies in the United States Mass media-related controversies in the United States Planned Parenthood Political controversies in the United States Medical controversies in the United States Surveillance scandals 2015 in Texas 2010s controversies in the United States Abortion in the United States