Planned Parenthood Under Fire for Human Baby Body Parts Harvesting and Sale Discussion

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton testified today in front of the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services regarding Planned Parenthood's "practices." This has been an ongoing investigation pending from a recent publication of several videos. In these videos, Planned Parenthood officials discussed the harvesting and sale of human baby body parts.

“As you all know, several weeks ago, videos began to surface of Planned Parenthood officials talking candidly, and bluntly, about the prospect of essentially selling body parts of aborted babies," Paxton said. "Shortly thereafter, my office, coordinating with Gov. Abbott and officials at the HHSC, launched an investigation into Planned Parenthood’s activities in Texas."

The Texas Attorney General’s Office (OAG) announced the investigation on July 15 in coordination with the Texas Governor’s Office and Health and Human Services Commission. Paxton, in his testimony, explained some of what OAG investigators saw at a clinic in Houston and denounced the institution of abortion.

“Our investigators are working across Texas to gather information and evidence relevant to the case." Paxton said. "Last week, after a meeting at a Houston Planned Parenthood clinic, officials there invited our team to take a look around, including a stop at what they call the ‘POC Room.’ POC stands for ‘Products of Conception.’"

Paxton said lab technicians there receive the remains of aborted children, also referred to as "the products." These "products" are "washed, examined, bagged, refrigerated, accumulated and every week taken away by a contractor that burns their bodies as medical waste," he said.

Additionally, Paxton said as his staffers watched, one technician took one of these products from a jar, rinsed it in a colander, and placed the parts in a tray. 

"According to the people at the facility, they average at least 260 pounds of 'medical waste' a week, every week," Paxton said.

He also said these videos have made all the headlines and raise a large number of troubling allegations that Paxton's office is aggressively investigating. 

“Even if their body parts are never sold, or never used for research, for the babies who are killed in abortion clinics – more than 54,000 last year in Texas and more than 57 million in the United States since 1973 – their fate is a plastic bag in a refrigerator, and anonymous disposal in an incinerator somewhere,” the Attorney General said.

Paxton mentioned his office has gained possession of videos with hours of recordings involving a Texas branch of Planned Parenthood over the past several days. He referred to the people involved as "cold, calculating, and indifferent to the lives they treat as a product they're attempting to sell."

The Texas Attorney General said these videos may represent a violation of state and federal laws, and his office will continue to investigate the issues. If necessary, he will seek to bring those individuals involved to justice.

“This [hearing] is a strong example of our state’s leadership working together to ensure the people of Texas are fully aware of what’s going on within our state’s borders,” Paxton said.