Republican Presidential Candidates Blast Planned Parenthood Over Recent 'Secret' Video

Pro-life politicians in the United States are sharing their concern over a recent video that purportedly shows a Planned Parenthood executive discussing to remove aborted fetal body parts from the womb so that they are fully intact. 

The video has raised questions as to whether Planned Parenthood donates the fetal tissue for medical research, as it shows the Planned Parenthood executive discussing the costs associated with providing fetal tissue to scientists. 

The undercover video, recorded by members of the activist group the Center for Medical Progress, shows Planned Parenthood's senior director of medical research Deborah Nucatola discussing the preservation of aborted fetal body parts.

Nucatola is shown eating a salad and drinking a glass of wine as she discusses the best way to extract an aborted fetus to keep precious organs such as the liver and lungs intact so they may then be used for medical research. 

"Every provider has patients who want to donate their tissue, and they want to accommodate them," Nucatola is heard saying in the video. "They just want to do it in a way that is not perceived as: This clinic is selling tissue. This clinic is making money off this. In the Planned Parenthood world, they're very, very sensitive to that."

GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina blasted the video as "tragic and outrageous" in a Facebook post, adding "This isn't about 'choice.' It's about profiting on the death of the unborn while telling women it's about empowerment."

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry also released a statement calling the video "a disturbing reminder of [Planned Parenthood's] penchant for profiting off the tragedy of a destroyed human life."

Planned Parenthood released a statement this week arguing that the video is "heavily edited" and was published for "the purpose of damaging Planned Parenthood's mission and services."

 The statement argues that the "videotape falsely portrays Planned Parenthood's participation in tissue donation programs that support lifesaving scientific research. Similar false accusations have been put forth by opponents of abortion services for decades. These groups have been widely discredited and their claims fall apart on closer examination, just as they do in this case."