Planned Parenthood declines any reimbursement for foetal tissue donation

Planned Parenthood Federation of America announced a change in their foetal tissue donation policy, when it released a statement Tuesday noting that their clinics will no longer accept reimbursements for foetal tissue donations.

However, they also explained that "reimbursement for reasonable expenses related to tissue donation is fully legal, appropriate, and common among health care providers."

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, stated that the decision came in response to the widely disseminated allegations levelled by the pro-life group Center for Medical Progress that the women's health organization was illegally profiting from human tissue sales.

"This removes beyond the shadow of a doubt the ludicrous idea that Planned Parenthood has any financial interest in fetal tissue donation, and shows the real agenda behind these attacks", Richards affirmed.

"When the attacks in Washington and in states continue, as we unfortunately expect they will, let it be clear once and for all that that they have nothing to do with concern over foetal tissue donation and everything to do with banning abortion in the U.S", she warned.

“ADMISION OF GUILT”

The Republican-dominated legislative branch has held hearings and debated multiple pieces of legislation geared at removing the $500 million of federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

Center for Medical Progress (CMP) head David Daleiden released a statement Tuesday calling Planned Parenthood's policy change a "PR stunt" and "an admission of guilt."

"If the money Planned Parenthood has been receiving for baby body parts were truly legitimate 'reimbursement,' why cancel it?" argued Daleiden.

"This proves what CMP has been saying all along — Planned Parenthood incurs no actual costs, and the payments for harvested foetal parts have always been an extra profit margin", he added.

Daleiden also expressed skepticism at the intentions of Planned Parenthood, saying that the announcement "tells us nothing" about "the exact model" for how the new policy work operate.

Daleiden believed that "this only raises more serious questions about what Planned Parenthood leadership has been allowing its clinics to do with money and baby parts."

“It also intensifies the need for Congress to pursue full auditing and oversight of Planned Parenthood's unaccountable criminal enterprise of baby parts trafficking", he concluded.