Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton called the undercover footage of Planned Parenthood employees talking about harvesting dead fetuses for research facilities “disturbing” Tuesday, in her first statement on the series of videos.
“I have seen pictures from them and obviously find them disturbing,” Clinton told the New Hampshire Union Leader in an interview. “Planned Parenthood is answering questions and will continue to answer questions.”
“I think there are two points to make,” Clinton continued. “One, Planned Parenthood for more than a century has done a lot of really good work for women: cancer screenings, family planning, all kinds of health services.” (RELATED: Nearly 1 In 3 Abortions Happen At Planned Parenthood ‘Health’ Centers)
“And this raises not questions about Planned Parenthood so much as it raises questions about the whole process, that is, not just involving Planned Parenthood, but many institutions in our country,” she said. “And if there’s going to be any kind of congressional inquiry, it should look at everything and not just one [organization].” (RELATED: Dem Candidates Silent On Alleged Planned Parenthood Felonies)
The Center for Medical Progress, a medical ethics group opposed to abortion, has released three videos over the past few weeks it says are damning, and which have led Republicans to introduce a bill to defund Planned Parenthood.
In the first video, a top doctor discusses with disturbing frankness the harvesting and distribution of fetuses at clinics for a fee, and in the second another doctor apparently entertains the idea of violating protocol by altering how an abortion is performed to get better fetal tissue.
In the third, a fetal organ harvester describes her traumatic experience preparing the fetuses for distribution in Planned Parenthood clinics — she passed out from shock on her first day.
Planned Parenthood has countered the allegations it’s selling the tissue illegally in a series of statements, arguing the videos show nothing illegal, and that they are contributing to scientific research by donating the organs. (RELATED: Planned Parenthood Blames Militant Wing Of Anti-Abortion Crowd For Undercover Videos)
Planned Parenthood received $528.4 million dollars in federal grants and reimbursements for the year ending June 30, 2014, according to its 2013-2014 annual report, and performed 327,653 abortions.
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