[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 21, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H5319-H5325]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ALL LIVES MATTER
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Allen). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 6, 2015, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Duffy) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
General Leave
Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous materials on the topic of this Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Wisconsin?
There was no objection.
Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, for 30 years, Planned Parenthood has worked
to dehumanize the babies that they have aborted, claiming that these
little babies were just clumps of cells, just clumps of tissue; but
through the recent videos that have come out, they have, in essence,
admitted what we have known all along--that these are actually little
humans. These are little babies, and their organs are being harvested
for profit: little baby heads and little baby livers, little baby
hearts and little baby lungs--little baby lungs that will never have an
opportunity to cry, little baby lungs that will never be used to learn
how to speak, and little baby lungs that will never learn to sing
because they have been killed in the womb.
These are little babies that are so well developed that they can
survive outside the womb. These little babies feel pain in the
abortion. These are little ones who, again, don't have lobbyists in
this town that work for them. They are voiceless, they are defenseless,
and so often they are powerless.
But this House is coming together tonight in extraordinary form to
make sure that these little ones are not forgotten, because we are
standing up for them to make sure that their lives matter because in
America we believe that all lives matter, whether you are born or
unborn. So I am proud to be part of this Special Order tonight. I am
proud that we have so many Members who want to come down and speak on
this important topic.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith),
who has been such a leader in the pro-life movement.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Thank you, Mr. Duffy. Thank you for yielding
to me and for your leadership on this extremely important human rights
issue.
Mr. Speaker, in 2011, an undercover videotape sting operation by Live
Action exposed several Planned Parenthood affiliates who are eager,
ready, and willing to facilitate secret abortions for child sex
trafficking victims--some as young or younger than 14--to get them on
the streets again.
As the prime author of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of
2000, the landmark law that seeks to protect victims, mostly women and
children, I found the on-the-record willingness of Planned Parenthood
personnel to exploit young girls and partner with sex traffickers to be
absolutely appalling. Watch the video yourself on liveaction.org.
In 2012, Live Action released another sting operation video, part of
a series called ``Gendercide: Sex Selection in America,'' showing
Planned Parenthood staff advising undercover female investigators how
to procure sex selection abortions. Caught on tape, Planned Parenthood
tells the investigator to wait until the baby is 5 months along to get
an ultrasound that will reveal the sex of the child, then, if it is a
girl, kill it.
Planned Parenthood is okay with terminating the girl child in its
huge network of clinics simply because she is a girl. What a dangerous
place for little girls.
Now we have learned that Planned Parenthood is trafficking in baby
body parts and intact organs like livers and hearts, charging up to
$100 or more per body part. Not only has Planned Parenthood killed over
7 million innocent babies in their chain of abortion mills, about
330,000 children per year, but now shocking new undercover videos by
the Center for Medical Progress show high-ranking Planned Parenthood
officials explaining how they market and profit from the sale of the
organs of their victims and how doctors maneuver deadly abortion tools
to ensure--they call them graspers--intact organs.
In one clip, Dr. Deborah Nucatola, senior director of Planned
Parenthood Federation of America's medical services and a late-term
abortionist herself, explained:
We have been very good at getting heart, lung, liver,
because we know that, so I am not going to crush that part. I
am going to basically crush below, I am going to crush above,
and I am going to see if I can get it all intact.
Dr. Nucatola says on camera:
I would say a lot of people want liver; and for that
reason, most providers will do this case under ultrasound
guidance, so they will know where they are putting their
forceps.
In other words, crush the baby to death, but do it in a way that
preserves certain organs and body parts for sale.
Dr. Nucatola even suggests and is caught on tape talking about
creating a menu.
Today, another new devastating video by the same organization shows a
Planned Parenthood Federation top doctor, Dr. Mary Gatter, offering to
use a ``less crunchy technique'' to get more intact organs and baby
body parts.
Less crunchy? Like Dr. Nucatola, Dr. Gatter is nonchalantly talking
about crunching--that is, crushing--babies to death in ways that are
more likely to preserve body parts and intact organs. This is
unconscionable, it is inhumane, and it must stop. I am glad that the
House Republican leadership has called for full investigations into
this dehumanizing practice.
Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Hensarling), the chairman of the Financial Services Committee.
Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his leadership
tonight especially, of all times.
Mr. Speaker, it is our highest ideal as Americans that every human
life is endowed with dignity and has value. As Americans, we have a
shared responsibility to protect the innocent and defend the rights of
those who are unable to defend themselves. But rather than protecting
and defending this dignity, Planned Parenthood is seemingly attempting
to cash in on it.
Recently, shocking and appalling videos have come to light exposing
senior employees at Planned Parenthood casually discussing both the
harvesting and selling of organs of aborted children. These videos
portray a chilling transactional approach to ending human life.
Mr. Speaker, as a matter of morality, history, science, reason, and,
most importantly, my personal faith, I can come to no other conclusion
but that every human life begins at conception and every human life is
worthy of protection.
[[Page H5320]]
Psalm 139:13 says:
For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my
mother's womb.
What God has knit together, apparently Planned Parenthood wishes to
crush. But that is not my word, Mr. Speaker; that is their word. You
have heard it spoken on this House floor as Senior Director of Medical
Services at Planned Parenthood said:
We have been very good at getting heart, lung, liver,
because we know that, so I am not going to crush that part.
I am not sure I have ever repeated such vile and cruel words on this
House floor before, Mr. Speaker; and whether one considers themselves
pro-life or pro-choice, I would hope that every American believes that
harvesting and trafficking baby organs violates the sanctity to which
every child created in the very image of God is entitled to.
So, Mr. Speaker, I add my voice thanking our leadership of this
Congress for calling on investigations of these horrific acts, and I
call on the Obama administration to denounce them and find a way to
stop these gruesome practices.
Almost every day, Mr. Speaker, we hear somebody utter words on the
House floor, ``We must do something for the least of these.'' Truly
unborn life is the least of these. So let's start tonight and hold life
precious.
Mr. DUFFY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson).
Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, many of us have seen it, a recently
surfaced, horrifying video that provides evidence that Planned
Parenthood employees participate in the harvesting of fetal body parts.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in absolute disgust. Not only is Planned
Parenthood profiting from abortions, but this video shows a top Planned
Parenthood executive discussing how best to procure and sell specific
organs from these defenseless, aborted babies' bodies.
As a father and a grandfather, I find these acts unconscionable and
barbaric. We have a moral responsibility to ensure that these acts are
fully investigated and that Planned Parenthood is held accountable for
their actions.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Fred Upton of the Energy and
Commerce Committee and Chairman Bob Goodlatte of the Judiciary
Committee for taking immediate action and announcing their respective
investigations into this horrific practice.
Mr. Speaker, I cannot fathom why taxpayers' hard-earned dollars are
provided to organizations that actively allow such gruesome practices
to occur.
In 2013, abortions made up 94 percent of Planned Parenthood's so-
called pregnancy services--94 percent. Prenatal care and adoptive
referrals accounted for only 5 percent and half, or 0.5 percent,
respectively. Yet taxpayer funding accounts for 41 percent of Planned
Parenthood's overall revenue.
We must act now to prevent even a single dime from going to
organizations such as Planned Parenthood that flaunt such blatant
disregard for human life, and we need colleagues on both sides of the
aisle to step up and join us in this effort.
Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to one of the leaders on this
issue, the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner).
{time} 1945
Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, my friend,
Congressman Duffy, for leading this effort and leading this Special
Order today.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my continued outrage at, now,
two abhorrent videos that have been released in the last week in which
two Planned Parenthood senior doctors describe the process by which
they and their coworkers kill unborn children and harvest their organs
for sale.
Like many Americans, I was shocked not only by what I learned about
Planned Parenthood's standard practices, but by the cold, callous
indifference in which its medical leadership detailed the barbaric
murder of society's most vulnerable children.
In the United States, we provide protections for the least among us
in numerous ways from medical research, to welfare programs, to
healthcare assistance; yet here, we stand on the floor of the United
States House of Representatives to discuss whether the sale of human
body parts harvested from aborted children violates basic human dignity
and perhaps even the law.
Mr. Speaker, the question that strikes me today is not whether this
practice is immoral or illegal--for surely no Member of Congress or of
humanity can, in good conscience, claim that we support these heinous
activities--instead, I am left considering what could we have done or
perhaps what should we have done to protect women and innocent children
from this outrageous practice. I am left to think what kind of Nation
allows these heinous acts to continue.
We are the United States of America, a country founded on the belief
that each individual holds dignity and worth in the eyes of our
creator. If Planned Parenthood is discovered to have been altering
abortion procedures so as to sell human baby hearts, livers, lungs,
brains, and other organs, then they have violated their own guidelines
as well as Federal laws from partial-birth abortion to the sale of
human organs. It will be up to Congress to intervene on behalf of the
thousands of unborn children.
Mr. Speaker, it is clear to me that there is a prevailing attitude
inside Planned Parenthood that is so disgusting, so horrifying, and so
disturbing that it warrants a congressional investigation and action.
I thank House leadership and our chairman for opening up this
investigation and for following our request into this unconscionable
activity now.
I want to thank the Members of the Missouri State legislature, my own
home State of Missouri, who have committed to investigating Planned
Parenthood in the State of Missouri, assuring Missourians that our laws
prohibit these unthinkable acts, and hold Planned Parenthood
accountable for any wrongdoing.
Mr. Speaker, we have a duty as elected Representatives to the United
States to stand up for the most vulnerable among us, to lend a voice to
the voiceless, and stand up for injustice. I will continue to fight for
the day when abortions and the atrocities associated with it are not
only illegal, but unthinkable.
Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentlewoman's powerful
comments. She is right, we do need an investigation: Federal, State,
FBI, and DOJ.
Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs.
Black).
Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, Planned Parenthood has blood on its hands. Over the last
week, we have seen multiple videos showing its employees brazenly
discussing the harvesting of aborted babies' tissues and organs, but
the truth is Planned Parenthood's culture of depravity runs much deeper
than these couple of videos.
In my home State of Tennessee, Planned Parenthood, the supposed
champion of safe abortions, sued to overturn our State's informed
consent and mandatory licensing laws, measures that were put in place
to protect women's health and safety.
When I authored an amendment to our State constitution allowing
legislators to reinstate these protections, Planned Parenthood ran an
ill-fated smear campaign attempting to confuse the facts and turn
Tennesseans against the measure.
You see, Planned Parenthood doesn't empower women; it deceives them
at their most difficult and vulnerable moments. It values convenience
over truth and profit over life. As a nurse, I have seen the big
abortion industry's shameful tactics with my own eyes. That is why, for
2 years now, I have sponsored the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition
Act to address one of Planned Parenthood's largest government revenue
streams. I continue to urge passage of this legislation, but in light
of these videos, we must take the fight a step further.
For these reasons, I have just introduced the Defund Planned
Parenthood Act of 2015, legislation that would enact an immediate
moratorium on all Federal funding for Planned Parenthood while Congress
carries out a full investigation.
I eagerly await the findings of this forthcoming investigation, but
do you know what, Mr. Speaker, no matter what it reveals, here is the
truth: Planned Parenthood has made a business out of destroying that
which God
[[Page H5321]]
has created. It performs over 327,000 abortions a year, all while
receiving roughly $500 million in annual funding from the taxpayer
dollar.
The one-sided relationship between Planned Parenthood's ever-growing
bank account and American taxpayers must be severed.
Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentlewoman's comments and
leadership.
Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms.
Foxx), one of our House leadership team Members.
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Wisconsin for
yielding time and leading this Special Order.
I rise today to join my colleagues in bringing attention to
allegations of serious misconduct by the country's largest abortion
provider, Planned Parenthood.
There are no words to properly convey my grief and deep disgust at
the cavalier way in which Dr. Deborah Nucatola details how she
strategically crushes the tiny bodies of innocent, unborn children in
order to harvest and sell their organs.
Perhaps most disturbing is what Dr. Nucatola doesn't say. While she
arbitrarily assigns monetary values to the hearts, lungs, and livers of
these children, she recognizes no value in the lives of those being
aborted.
Mr. Speaker, I recently received a letter from a nurse who has
assisted with abortions and witnessed firsthand the horrific nature of
what that procedure entails. She told me that most women have no idea
that they are subjecting their unborn children to such ghastly methods.
Many of our colleagues in this House find it uncomfortable to talk
about the issue of abortion, and I agree that it is difficult to
consider and discuss these horrific practices, but the heinous nature
of the methods used by Planned Parenthood is precisely why we, as a
Nation and as a Congress, must confront it.
These revelations merit a serious look at the practices of Planned
Parenthood, and I support fully the robust oversight and investigations
being pursued by the House Judiciary and Energy and Commerce
Committees. It is my hope that their investigations will shed much-
needed light on the organization's gruesome methods and will lead to
important reforms that end these practices and stop the flow of
taxpayer resources that support them.
Few things demean the sanctity of human life more than elective
abortion. One day, I hope that a culture of life will take hold in the
United States and that all children will be protected under the law.
However, until that day comes, it remains my solemn duty to stand up
for life. Regardless of the length of this journey, I will continue to
speak for those who cannot.
Mr. DUFFY. We appreciate your voice being lent to the unborn.
Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms.
Herrera Beutler).
Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman.
It is with a very heavy heart that I take to the floor today to speak
out against what really I think anybody who saw it or witnessed the
video or read the transcripts felt, which is outrage. For those of you
who were able to stomach watching these videos, you were left with many
shocking questions about an organization that appears to callously
commodify human baby body parts.
The first video showed a senior Planned Parenthood official
describing how to place medical forceps on a baby during an abortion in
order to best harvest specific organs. She bartered over prices for
these little human parts. She did it over a casual lunch.
Sadly, there are voices that defend Planned Parenthood and its
practices. They minimize this as an isolated innocent by one individual
and sought to move on as quickly as possible; but then came, today, a
second video, and we can only guess that there are more to come.
The likelihood that these are two isolated incidents with two
individuals that don't represent Planned Parenthood's values, but
approach the business of selling body parts seemingly without feeling
in the exact same way, I am not buying it.
I believe this body has a duty to investigate, regardless of where
you stand on pro-life or pro-choice. Given the history of Federal
funding to Planned Parenthood, we have to ask these questions: Is
Planned Parenthood profiting from the sale of human baby body parts?
Are the clinics' patients being asked if they are willing to donate? Do
they know that the doctor who is performing their abortion could be
profiting? Do they know whether or not this increases pain for their
unborn baby during an abortion? Are these facilities abiding by State
laws with regard to late-term and partial-birth abortions?
Gosh, I ask this because it sure seems like they want babies in the
later second and third trimesters because anybody who has been a mom or
has followed this journey knows that that is when organ development
really strengthens and grows.
If you are just trying to profit, you want the organ that is best
going to function, whether it is for research or whatever. I think we
need to find out what they are even using this for. I want to know who
is buying these baby parts. That is the other piece that this body
needs to investigate and find out.
Planned Parenthood has always purported to provide a necessary
service for women's health; but I ask: Is this even safe? How long does
this prolong a procedure? Is it really the motivation for their
practices? Not if you follow the money--one of the doctors who was
describing this, basically a harvesting doctor, joked she wants a
Lamborghini.
Like a lot of things, following the money does lead to answers, and
this body is going to find out. Clearly, Planned Parenthood doctors are
receiving and filling requests for hearts, lungs, lower extremities,
and livers, a request that is unfortunately and apparently common.
I have never taken to the floor of this House to express outrage over
this issue, but today, I do, and it is time for answers.
Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I think America, with these videos, feels
that very same outrage.
Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Mrs. Roby).
Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and I thank all of our
colleagues that are here to talk on this extraordinary issue that has
stunned us all.
Last week, in the wake of the first video, Planned Parenthood
responded by forcefully and categorically denying that the organization
sells body parts of aborted babies for profit. The tone of Dr. Deborah
Nucatola describing the way in which babies' organs are harvested and
sold was unfortunate, they said, but there is nothing to see here.
Well, just this afternoon, as I was sitting on the plane to come back
to Washington, I watched the second video that has been released,
showing a different senior official at Planned Parenthood discussing
the same thing.
Dr. Mary Gatter, president of Planned Parenthood's Federation of
Medical Directors' Council is shown negotiating prices for the tissue
and even joking about her poor negotiation abilities, but that she
wanted to settle on the prices soon because she wants a Lamborghini.
Once again, the candid words of top Planned Parenthood officials
believe the public spin on their PR teams--they felt like this was
necessary to get what they wanted in order to make a profit. What we
haven't heard from Planned Parenthood is a response to perhaps the
biggest revelation, that its providers alter abortion procedures in
order to gain access, as my colleagues have already discussed in great
detail.
What I found really stunning about Dr. Mary Gatter's comments that
she made today is she discusses deliberately breaking the rules in
order to obtain intact organs. She considers out loud on this video how
to alter the abortion process to get intact baby organs. She said, We
need a less crunchy option--this is sick to hear those words come from
my mouth, that we need a less crunchy option when we are talking about
a baby; this violates their rules--she says, as long as we do it in a
way that doesn't cause more pain.
These doctors sure sound like they know that there is a competitive
black market at play and are willing to engage in illegal activity to
tap into it. This is sickening, and it will not go unaddressed.
{time} 2000
I said last week to my colleague--and I will say it again--that I do
not care
[[Page H5322]]
how much weight Planned Parenthood throws around this town. They are
not above the law.
If Planned Parenthood really has nothing to hide, then these
officials will have no problem with a complete investigation. It is our
responsibility to protect those who cannot defend themselves and to
stop illegal activity when we see it.
That certainly seems to be what is happening here, and I thank all of
my colleagues for standing up for the unborn.
Mr. DUFFY. I appreciate the gentlewoman.
Mr. Speaker, I think it is a good point to make that there should be
a set cost for these body parts. There should be costs of storing and
transporting, but there should be no extra cost, and there should be no
negotiation.
Yet, if there is a black market and if markets are demanding certain
prices because they are making a profit off of it, you are going to
maybe have $30 for one and $100 for another based on the black market.
I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Walker).
Mr. WALKER. I thank Representative Duffy for his leadership on this
matter.
Mr. Speaker, tonight I join my colleagues in speaking out against the
barbaric and heinous actions we all witnessed in an undercover video in
which Planned Parenthood was caught selling the body parts of aborted
children.
In 2013, Planned Parenthood performed 327,653 abortions and received
over a half billion dollars--$500 million--in taxpayer funding.
Ironically, it was in 2013 that President Obama became the only
sitting President to ever address this organization. May I remind you
that it was at this address that the President made the decision to
invoke God's blessings on these hideous activities.
The mask is now coming off an organization that barters the very
parts of a baby in a manner that most Americans find appalling.
So many of us here are parents. We have watched in awe at the
ultrasound images of our children. We have seen their little hearts
beat and have marveled at God's creation in how fearfully and
wonderfully they are made.
How can we stand idly and not speak out for these lives, the very
least of these? That is why I have taken immediate action by joining in
a letter with several of my colleagues, speaking out against Planned
Parenthood's evil and depraved actions, and fully support a
congressional investigation into this organization.
I am proud to be an original cosponsor of Congresswoman Black's bill,
the Title X Abortion Provider Act. We must stop now these organizations
from receiving a single taxpayer dollar through the Title X program.
I urge the Senate to act quickly to pass the House's legislation that
ensures no taxpayer dollars are used for abortions, H.R. 7, the No
Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure
Act of 2015.
May God give us continued courage to seek justice, to love mercy, and
to speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Tennessee
(Mrs. Blackburn), one of the most powerful voices in the House,
specifically on the life issue.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank the gentleman. And I thank the gentleman for
his leadership in organizing this hour.
Mr. Speaker, we come to the floor tonight as mothers and grandmothers
and dads and granddads, and we come with such heavy hearts and with
such a burden for what we have found out, for what we have seen, and
for what has been made public about Planned Parenthood.
I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, that I thought it was very interesting
that the head of Planned Parenthood came out this week and said, ``Oh,
we think there are more videos to come.''
That is because they know they have been caught, and they know they
are guilty, and they know what they have done; but no amount of trying
to go out and push it to the side is going to push this to the side.
That is why our committee, the House Energy and Commerce Committee,
is taking up an investigation. We are already working on this.
We are pushing forward to get the witnesses before us and to exercise
the appropriate oversight that is there for us to do.
Planned Parenthood does get Federal taxpayer dollars. The problem is
money is fungible. And when you see what has been carried out in these
videos--in their own words what they describe--you know how destructive
that process is.
As Mr. Walker just said, Planned Parenthood conducts over 300,000
abortions a year. They are the Nation's largest abortion provider.
Their focus is no longer family planning or women's health. It is
abortion.
What we have found out is that, through this sector of their business
that is focused on abortion, they have now moved even further away, and
they are into selling body parts--harvesting and selling body parts.
We have heard the Members speak so eloquently to this, and I know,
Mr. Speaker, people can hear the emotion in our voices and in our
hearts, because this is a subject you don't think about discussing on
the House floor, but it is one that has been left for us to oversee.
They talk about procuring these body parts. In their own words, they
talk about setting the price, negotiating, dealing with the tissue
brokers. These are the most abhorrent and inhumane statements and words
and conduct.
The conduct and the demeanor of these individuals on those videotapes
cannot be denied and the casual nature with which they discussed this,
as if it is routine. It is an expected part of their business. That is
why we are moving forward to investigate them. That is why we feel
funding should be restricted.
Over 65 percent of the American people, Mr. Speaker, are against the
use of taxpayer funds for abortion, and it is time for us to deal with,
to hold accountable, to restrict, and to put some barriers around what
has been happening with Planned Parenthood. It is an investigation we
will pursue until we know the truth and have every element of truth.
Mr. DUFFY. I appreciate the gentlewoman's wonderful comments.
When you talk about the casual nature, you talk about doing
procedures that are less crunchy. What are we talking about, less
crunchy? We are crunching human bones. That is what they are actually
saying in that videotape.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. We are talking about setting the price for this.
Mr. DUFFY. For crunching bones.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. It is just their routine nature. This was not the
first time they had done this. In listening to them, that is made very
apparent.
Mr. DUFFY. I appreciate the gentlewoman.
Mr. Speaker, I am now proud to yield to the gentlewoman from North
Carolina (Mrs. Ellmers), one of my good friends.
Mrs. ELLMERS of North Carolina. I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin
for holding this very important Special Order.
I want to thank my colleagues who are here today talking about this
very important issue.
It is not the first time that we have come together to talk about the
importance of protecting life, the lives of those who are yet to be
born.
I can't even begin to tell you how disgusted I am, how nauseous I am
right now, that we are having this discussion about the sale of baby
body parts and that Planned Parenthood so values the organs of the
unborn and, yet, so devalues the life of the unborn.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart in sharing these
concerns with my fellow colleagues. We now know about the two videos
that have been released, the first video showing the senior director of
the medical services at Planned Parenthood, who was bragging in
gruesome detail of how this group harvests and sells fetal organs.
She described how they take particular care of the baby's organs. If
only this group were just as devout in showing so much care, time, and
attention to the life of the baby.
In the second video are details of how the health of the mother is
purposefully put in jeopardy to yield pristine, viable organs.
Mr. Speaker, this is sickening. This is all for a price, a price
which is being negotiated. Regardless of whether you
[[Page H5323]]
are a pro-life individual or a pro-choice individual, you have to be
absolutely appalled at this.
As a nurse, a mother, and one who believes that the life of the yet
to be born should be protected, I can't begin to understand how someone
can recount these appalling details in such a nonchalant manner unless
this has become routine.
As Representatives, it is our job to protect the rights of women. It
is our job to protect the rights of the unborn. This horrific
revelation warrants a response from Congress, and I am proud to be on
the Energy and Commerce Committee to begin this investigation.
Mr. DUFFY. I appreciate the gentlewoman's comments, and I look
forward to an aggressive investigation by the Energy and Commerce
Committee.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Gibbs).
Mr. GIBBS. I thank the gentleman for holding this Special Order
tonight.
Mr. Speaker, last week millions of Americans saw the horrific video
in which a top Planned Parenthood doctor detailed the gruesome nature
of abortion procedures. Dr. Deborah Nucatola's casual conversation
about crushing the body of an unborn child is nothing short of
barbaric. What is worse is the negotiation of the price of the remains
of the unborn child.
In a second video, which was released today, Dr. Mary Gatter
negotiates the price of fetal remains, discusses a ``less crunchy''
procedure to preserve body parts, and jokes about needing to purchase a
Lamborghini from the profits of those organ sales.
But this is not a joke. Profiting from the sale of human organs is
illegal and so is changing a procedure specifically for organ
harvesting.
This is a terrible reminder of what an abortion really is, ending the
life of a child. If harvested organs are so valuable, how valuable is
the child? Is the value of a child's life not greater than the sum of
his or her parts? How long will we, as a Nation, continue to allow such
heinous, despicable acts?
May these revelations on video serve as an opportunity for all
Americans to reflect on the precious nature of life and how we treat
the unborn, who are truly the most vulnerable and innocent among us.
I thank Speaker Boehner and the Judiciary and Energy and Commerce
Committees for opening investigations to determine what, if any,
Federal laws were broken as a result of these awful practices.
The House must not provide any Federal funds to Planned Parenthood
when they condone and profit from these actions.
I call on the President to denounce these practices, and I urge my
colleagues in the House to support the elimination of Federal funding
for Planned Parenthood.
Mr. DUFFY. I couldn't agree more with the gentleman from Ohio in
regard to taxpayer funding being used for abortion.
I think so many Americans are outraged by Planned Parenthood and the
abortions, but, now, specifically by these videos that have come to
light. I thank the gentleman for his comments.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn).
Mr. LAMBORN. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his continued
leadership on this critical matter of life.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today sickened and angered by yet another report
showing what Planned Parenthood's limitless disregard for the unborn
child is.
Watching senior Planned Parenthood executives discuss the sale of
aborted babies' body parts while they casually dine is beyond
revolting. This callous barbarism should have no place in civilized
society.
I am also troubled to have discovered that some of these abhorrent
transactions may have taken place in my home State of Colorado.
Reports surfaced last week revealing that Colorado State University
appears to have violated State law by purchasing aborted baby body
parts from a California affiliate of Planned Parenthood.
If true, these actions would appear to violate a law that was created
by a bill that I introduced and that became law during my time in the
Colorado State Senate, a bill prohibiting the purchase of fetal tissue
from an abortion.
I have sent a letter to the university and have demanded an
explanation. Further, I have provided a copy of the letter to Colorado
Attorney General Cynthia Coffman, and I have urged her office to launch
a full investigation.
These troubling revelations exposing the monetization of fetal organs
further demonstrate the need to fully defund Planned Parenthood.
It is unacceptable that we continue to force taxpayers to subsidize
this corrupt organization that disregards the dignity of human life
while seeking to extract monetary gain from its destruction.
{time} 2015
Mr. DUFFY. I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga), one
of my colleagues on Financial Services, one of our chairmen who has
been doing fantastic work and a champion for life.
Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. I, too, thank my friend and colleague from
Wisconsin for his leadership on this and so many others.
Mr. Speaker, I just wish the American people could be here on this
floor right now and feel the passion, the frustration--honestly, the
anger. I especially want to address my female colleagues who have been
here and have had the courage to come and take a stand. That isn't
always done.
I think it was especially hard a little earlier as we were doing 1-
minutes seeing a colleague, watching a 1-minute address from an
apologist of Planned Parenthood calling these horrors trumped up--
trumped up--disgusting, frankly. It is just amazing. This is one of the
reasons why I voted, along with a number of my other colleagues, the
vast majority of my colleagues on the Republican side, to defund
Planned Parenthood. Forty-one percent of their total revenue is
taxpayer dollars, $1.5 billion in 2011 to 2012.
We must never forget that we are not just talking about numbers on a
spreadsheet. We are talking about unborn children, not lab specimens.
We are talking about human lives. We must continue to fight for every
unborn child here just because of their intrinsic worth, not because of
a spreadsheet or some sort of price list that Planned Parenthood or any
other organization has put together.
We must continue that fight, and especially when there are so many
other options, that adoption option that is out there. When you see the
work being done by crisis pregnancy centers like in my area, the
Lakeshore Pregnancy Center, or the right-to-life organizations or any
of those others that are out there in the trenches praying for, working
for not just those children but, frankly, the parents that may be
making a bad decision.
We must continue to fight for the unborn here in Congress. I know I
pledge to do that; I know so many of my other colleagues do, too. We
must promote that culture of life and strong families in west Michigan,
in this Nation, and around the world.
I would just like to again thank my colleagues for calling attention
to this horrific, horrific act that has been going on.
Mr. DUFFY. I appreciate the gentleman's comments. This debate has
been going on for some time. Not long ago there was a debate between
Rick Santorum and now Senator Boxer, and during that debate Senator
Boxer was talking about life beginning when you take your baby home
from the hospital. I mean, some of the viewpoints on the other side are
absolutely outrageous. It just shows there is a lot of work to do.
I yield to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Hartzler) to talk
about this important issue.
Mrs. HARTZLER. I thank my colleague from Wisconsin for his leadership
and hosting this Special Order tonight.
Mr. Speaker, it is vital that we have this extremely important
conversation concerning the unborn. While this topic is very difficult
to discuss, it is something we must talk about and recognize in order
to stop the unspeakable horrors currently taking place.
Last week and this morning, new videos were released detailing how
Planned Parenthood harvests and sells the body parts of aborted
children. For decades, Planned Parenthood employees have tried to
diminish the humanity of the unborn by belittling them to blobs of
tissue. However, this video is
[[Page H5324]]
evidence that Planned Parenthood knows that these are not simply blobs
of tissue, but actual human beings that have tiny lungs, livers, and
beating hearts.
We need to get our priorities straight. In the video the Planned
Parenthood doctor callously describes altering abortion procedures by
crushing a baby's body in order to preserve certain organs for
harvesting. She says: I am going to basically crush below; I am going
to crush above.
This is human life we are talking about. We cannot stand by while
aborted baby parts are being sold for profit. This morning's video
shows another Planned Parenthood doctor shamelessly haggling over the
price of aborted baby body parts. She discusses how the price could
change based on the volume and developmental stage of the aborted
babies.
While I am pleased that there are Federal and State investigations
underway, I believe more needs to be done. Planned Parenthood has
received over $200 million in Federal funds since 2012. It is clear
that Planned Parenthood places profit--not women's health and safety--
ahead of all else, and they must be stopped.
I urge support for Congresswoman Black's legislation that prohibits
all Federal funds to Planned Parenthood. Federal dollars cannot
continue to flow to any entity that has such a blatant and heartless
disregard for human life.
Mr. DUFFY. I appreciate the gentlewoman's powerful words.
I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Weber).
Mr. WEBER of Texas. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, before I begin my prepared remarks, I want to say
something to my mom, Jeanne Weber, in Pearland, Texas.
Mom, thanks for being pro-life. Thanks for cradling even the very
thought of me in your heart and mind before I was conceived; and, Mom,
thanks for cradling me in your womb and then later in your bosom and
then in your lap, and all my young years. I love you, Mom. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I cannot tell you how deeply disturbed I am by these
videos that have been unearthed showing employees of Planned Parenthood
selling body parts of aborted babies.
It has long been my mission to fight against any organization that
will not protect the unborn. As a member of the Texas statehouse, I
voted alongside other Texas House conservatives to defund the Planned
Parenthood in Texas to ensure that taxpayer money would not be used on
these ghastly abortion procedures.
Now, as a Member of Congress, Mr. Speaker, I have fought alongside my
colleagues to protect the unborn and the sanctity of life. On May 13,
the House voted in strong support of my good friend Representative
Trent Franks of Arizona's legislation, H.R. 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn
Child Protection Act, a crucial piece of pro-life legislation that bans
the murder of babies who are at least 5 months old in the womb and can,
indeed, feel the excruciating pain of dismemberment and a ghastly death
that Planned Parenthood would perpetrate on them.
In 2013, we saw the horror of Dr. Gosnell, and now we see the real
disturbing practices of Planned Parenthood and their black market sale
of body parts of aborted babies.
Mr. Speaker, I only ask this: How can organizations put a price on
tissues, limbs, and livers, and then not acknowledge that there is life
at the time of conception? No price can be placed upon the worth of
seeing a child born and take its first breath.
And, Dad, before I go, thank you for standing alongside Mom and being
pro-life. I love you both.
Mr. DUFFY. The gentleman's remarks were well said. Aren't we all
grateful that our parents were pro-life? It gives us a chance to be on
this floor and express our views.
I yield to the gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. McMorris Rodgers),
the chair of our Conference but, more importantly, a mother.
Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. Mr. Speaker, I want to join in expressing
appreciation to Congressman Duffy, the gentleman from Wisconsin, for
bringing us all together tonight on this very important issue and what
has recently been uncovered through the videos featuring senior level
Planned Parenthood officials admitting to unethical, potentially
illegal procedures.
It is really unthinkable to most of us. It is unthinkable not just
because of their cold, nonchalant attitude toward ``crunchy
procedures,'' but because these videos highlight that we have allowed
the debate on women's health to get horribly skewed. Anyone watching
these videos can say the American people must have answers.
This isn't women's health. This is an agenda. It is an agenda that is
driven by monetary gain, not the best interests of women. Abortion
providers should not get to hide behind the foil of health care to get
away with unspeakable acts.
The practices described in these videos are despicable, and Planned
Parenthood must be held accountable. If a hospital were even allegedly
involved in any kind of illegal activity, we wouldn't hesitate for a
second to haul them before a committee. Abortion providers should be no
different.
Policymakers who are serious about protecting women and families
should be invested in getting to the bottom of these statements made by
Planned Parenthood. I applaud our committees for launching inquiries
into Planned Parenthood practices and procedures. The American people
must have answers.
Mr. DUFFY. Absolutely. I appreciate the gentlewoman's comments.
I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Jody B. Hice).
Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia. I thank the gentleman and appreciate his
leadership in this Special Order.
Mr. Speaker, I am honored to stand with my colleagues here tonight in
mutual condemnation of Planned Parenthood and their horrific practices.
Like so many others, I likewise have just been horrified, deeply
disturbed by the flippant comments made by an executive at Planned
Parenthood.
It is bad enough knowing that this organization performs over 300,000
abortions every year, but it is another whole matter to come to the
realization that they are also engaged in trafficking human baby parts.
It is absolutely unconscionable.
I believe that all life is sacred and needs to be protected. I
commend my colleagues for stepping up and calling for a congressional
investigation against Planned Parenthood. I also say a huge thank you
to Governor Deal from my own State for, likewise, calling for an
investigation of Georgia to see that infant organs are not for sale in
that State.
Mr. Speaker, enough is enough. It is time that Planned Parenthood be
held accountable for these despicable acts.
I again just say thank you, and I am honored to stand with my
colleagues here this evening as we stand for life; and at the same time
that we try to prevent these abysmal practices from marring our
collective consciences, I plan to continue to champion life. It is just
abhorrent that there would be any organization trying to make a profit,
an industry for profit out of the sale and trafficking of baby human
parts.
Mr. DUFFY. I yield to the gentleman from Texas, Dr. Babin.
Mr. BABIN. I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my outrage over the recent disclosures
of Planned Parenthood's deliberate efforts to harvest tissue from
aborted babies. The practices described by Planned Parenthood officials
on these videos are simply despicable, unspeakable, and barbaric. The
lighthearted tone of Dr. Deborah Nucatola, the Senior Director of
Medical Services for Planned Parenthood, as she talked about how much
fetal tissue parts were worth while eating salad and drinking wine only
adds words of insult to this atrocity.
A video released just today shows Dr. Mary Gatter, another high-
ranking Planned Parenthood official, again discussing fetal tissue
payments. Gatter describes using a less crunchy technique to yield as
much and many body parts as possible for more money to buy herself a
Lamborghini. This is inhumane. As a health provider myself, I condemn
it in the strongest terms. I hope the relevant medical licensing boards
in their States disqualify her and Dr. Nucatola from ever practicing
medicine again.
It is a national disgrace that taxpayer dollars account for 41
percent of Planned Parenthood's revenue and that
[[Page H5325]]
over the past 3 years the organization has received $1.2 billion in
funding from Medicaid. All of this for an organization that performs
more than 300,000 abortions a year. American families should not be
forced to pay the operating costs and salaries for abortion businesses,
much less one that engages in fetal tissue trafficking.
{time} 2030
As an original cosponsor of Representative Black's Defund Planned
Parenthood Act, we are working to prohibit Federal funds from going to
Planned Parenthood or any entity that performs abortions. I call upon
the House and the Senate leaders to allow for its immediate
consideration and attach it to any must-pass bill.
I would like to thank the gentleman from Wisconsin and all of my
colleagues who are here tonight to speak on this important issue--and
the millions of Americans who are leading this effort in all 50 States.
May God bless all of you.
Mr. DUFFY. I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Farenthold) for a
few comments on this important issue of life.
Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to insist Congress stop the
immoral and monstrous action being taken by Planned Parenthood in any
way possible, and that includes making sure no more Federal dollars go
to this organization.
Today, we learned about a second video from yet another Planned
Parenthood senior official who was recorded haggling over the price of
body parts from murdered children and bumping up the price while joking
she needed a new Lamborghini. It is disgusting.
The first video, leaked on July 14, showed Planned Parenthood's
practice of aborting babies and selling their organs. This behavior
violates every moral and ethical code that I can think of.
I was disgusted by the video showing a senior official enjoy lunch
while discussing how easy it is to kill a child by crushing their heads
in order to harvest the fetal organs.
We must do more to create a culture that embraces life. If you are
pregnant and seeking family planning services from Planned Parenthood,
you are 42 times more likely to receive an abortion than prenatal care
or an adoption referral.
This isn't about women's health. It is about feeding an abortion
mill. To me, it is unbelievable that taxpayer dollars continue to
support this evil organization. Planned Parenthood's entire business
model is centered around providing abortions, not giving quality
medical care to women who need it.
According to the Susan B. Anthony List, Planned Parenthood Clinic
Director Abby Johnson has written that she was given an ``abortion
quota'' and was even told by her superiors to double the number of
abortions to bring in more revenue.
It is not just abortions that are offensive about this organization.
Planned Parenthood has also fought against mandatory reporting when
they discover children are being sexually abused. Employees have
acknowledged aiding and abetting human sex trafficking of young girls
under the age of 14.
It is time we give those who need it better access to real women's
health care. We must defund Planned Parenthood now and use that funding
to assist women who need real health care.
Mr. Speaker, we have been talking about this too long. It is time to
stop supporting a group who callously murders innocent and helpless
children and sells their organs and calls it reproductive health care.
Mr. DUFFY. As we are about to close this hour, we have had a chance
to hear from so many members of the House Conference who have spoken
out on behalf of the unborn, those little babies that don't have a
voice to speak for themselves, and I know in the next half hour we are
going to have Mr. Franks from Arizona continue this conversation with
so many more of our members who want to be heard on this important
topic.
I just want to close with this. The Democrats talk so often about
what big hearts they have. They talk about how compassionate they are
for their brothers and sisters and their neighborhoods. The bottom line
is, when you watch these videos and you see the harvesting of organs,
the pain of little babies, I call on my friends across the aisle to
show that compassion for the unborn and those voiceless little ones who
need a voice to stand up for them and defend them at this very
important time.
There has been a time in our past, Mr. Speaker, where powerful people
determined that there was a class that was less than human, and it is a
black spot on our history.
Today, there is a group in this House that has advocated that there
is a class in this country that is less than human. Yes, they may not
have a voice, but that does not make them less than human. And I am so
proud of our team for standing up today to make sure that we fight for
those people because they are not less than human. They deserve the
right to life, and they deserve to have a defense.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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