Abortion foes brace for battle as Planned Parenthood hearings begin

(The Christian Science Monitor) Congressional hearings on Planned Parenthood began today, the first hearings since anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress released clandestine videos in July that the center says show Planned Parenthood engaging in illegal sales of fetal tissue. 

Planned Parenthood operates clinics around the country that offer contraception, tests for sexually transmitted diseases, and abortions. Law prohibits fetal tissue from being sold for profit, but some are accusing Planned Parenthood of violating this law by providing fetal tissue to medical researchers. Planned Parenthood maintains that facilities only collects fees to offset the cost of harvesting and delivering the tissue to researchers, as permitted by law.

In testimony prepared for today's House Judiciary Committee hearing, James Bopp Jr., general counsel for National Right to Life, said the videos show Planned Parenthood "violates various federal laws," and only banning research using fetal tissue from abortions or abortion itself "will prevent the inevitable abuse.”