Republican presidential candidates are weighing in on the video made public Tuesday of a top Planned Parenthood doctor admitting clinics routinely sell body parts after abortions.
“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,” said former Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
“Today’s video of a Planned Parenthood official discussing the systematic harvesting and trafficking of human body parts is shocking and gruesome,” said Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
Jindal, referencing how the organization wants to open a clinic in New Orleans, said he instructed his state’s Department of Health and Hospitals to investigate “this alleged evil and illegal activity and to not issue any licenses until this investigation is complete.”
“This latest news is tragic and outrageous,” said businesswoman Carly Fiorina. “This isn’t about ‘choice.’ It’s about profiting on the death of the unborn while telling women it’s about empowerment.”
Eric Ferrero, a Planned Parenthood spokesman, has defended the practice.
“In health care, patients sometimes want to donate tissue to scientific research that can help lead to medical breakthroughs, such as treatments and cures for serious diseases,” he said in a statement posted online. “Women at Planned Parenthood who have abortions are no different.”