Sen. Chuck Grassley refers Planned Parenthood for criminal investigation

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced Tuesday that he has referred several Planned Parenthood affiliates and fetal tissue procurement organizations to the FBI and the Department of Justice for a criminal investigation.

Grassley’s announcement followed a report by the Judiciary Committee’s majority staff that analyzed more than 20,000 pages of documents obtained from the tissue procurement companies and Planned Parenthood. The report alleges that since 2010 three companies — Advanced Bioscience Resources, Inc.; StemExpress, LLC; and Novogenix Laboratories, LLC — have paid Planned Parenthood for aborted fetal body parts, which they then sold to their respective customers “at substantially higher prices than their documented costs.”

The report also states that each of the companies sold some of the specimens for hundreds of dollars, and the companies could not provide “meaningful” justification for the prices when contacted by the committee.

“I don’t take lightly making a criminal referral,” Grassley said in a statement. “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. And, unless there is a renewed commitment by everyone involved against commercializing the trade in aborted fetal body parts for profit, then the problem is likely to continue.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee investigated allegations raised by undercover videos released by the Center for Medical Progress that Planned Parenthood was trafficking aborted fetal body parts. Profiting from the sale of human organs — including those of the unborn — is illegal in the United States. Spokespersons for Planned Parenthood have denied illegal conduct, and said that they were merely reimbursed for costs associated with a donation of tissue.

David Daleiden, the founder of the Center for Medical Progress, said in a statement that "The Senate Judiciary Committee’s report confirms that Planned Parenthood and companies like StemExpress partnered in a years-long criminal conspiracy to sell the body parts of aborted children for profit."

"When Planned Parenthood national became aware that their affiliates were operating their baby body part programs in violation of Planned Parenthood’s own guidelines, Planned Parenthood covered up for the affiliates and deleted the guidelines," he added. "The Committee’s report shows Planned Parenthood and their baby body parts business partners are totally unaccountable and must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and Planned Parenthood’s barbaric abortion empire must no longer be subsidized by taxpayer funds."

A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood did not immediately return TheBlaze’s request for comment.

This post has been updated to include a statement from David Daleiden.