Planned Parenthood fetal tissue scandal: California Attorney General to Review Videos

On Friday, California Attorney General Kamala Harris mentioned in a letter to four Democratic members of Congress that she is planning to properly go through two videos provided by anti-abortion activists raising questions on Planned Parenthood's procedures for providing fetal tissues to researchers.

Harris said she will properly go through the matter to see if any rules were broken. The four Democratic members had requested for an investigation. In the letter, Harris has affirmed that she will use her official authority to know the details of the matter.

She mentioned in the letter that they will properly review the allegations mentioned in the letter and will check if there were any violations of California law. Her office will look into “allegations that individuals impersonated corporate officials from a fake biologics company, resulting in the release of secretly filmed videos of Planned Parenthood physicians without their consent”.

The videos show Dr. Mary Gatter, a Planned Parenthood medical director in Southern California and his meetings with people who intend to be potential buyer of intact fetal specimens. Majorly, the conversation is focused on money that buyers are supposed to pay.

Three Republican-led congressional committees and three states have also raised question about Planned Parenthood's policies on aborted fetuses. As per federal law, commercial sale of fetal tissue is not allowed.

On the other hand, Planned Parenthood said that the payment mentioned in the videos was with regard to reimbursement for the costs of procuring the tissue and that is legal.