Planned Parenthood referred to FBI, Dept. of Justice for criminal investigation

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley announced that he is referring Planned Parenthood and other institutions involved in alleged sales of fetal body parts for criminal investigation and possible prosecution.

Grassley sent a letter to the FBI and Department of Justice on Tuesday to refer Planned Parenthood Federation of America, four of the abortion provider's largest affiliates and three of its business partners, for potential prosecution, Washington Times reported.

"I don't take lightly making a criminal referral. But, the seeming disregard for the law by these entities has been fueled by decades of utter failure by the Justice Department to enforce it," said Grassley in a press release.

"And, unless there is a renewed commitment by everyone involved against criminalizing the trade in aborted fetal body parts for profit, then the outcome is likely to continue," he added.

The referral came after the Senate Judiciary Committee completed the analysis of over 20,000 pages of documents voluntarily provided by the organizations involved in the fetal tissue industry.

"While the impetus for the investigation was the release of a series of videos regarding transfers of fetal tissue by the Center for Medical Progress, the committee's analysis and findings are based strictly on the documents obtained independently from tissue procurement companies and Planned Parenthood," the press release continued.

The committee's report named Advanced Bioscience Resources, Inc.; StemExpress, LLC; and Novogenix Laboratories, LLC, as companies that were involved in buying and selling fetal body parts.

The report further noted that Planned Parenthood initially had a policy that would ensure that its affiliates are not breaking the law. However, the abortion organization canceled the policy after it found out that the affiliates had violated its regulation on fetal tissue reimbursement.

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives Select Panel on Infant Lives issued a list of nine criminal and regulatory referrals against Planned Parenthood and other businesses for allegedly trafficking aborted baby parts.

The panel was created in October 2015 to investigate the allegations made in the undercover videos released by Center for Medical Progress (CMP). The videos purportedly show Planned Parenthood officials negotiating the prices of aborted baby tissue and organs.

The House approved an additional funding of $800,000 for the panel, apart from the $790,000 it already spent in the investigation.