WASHINGTON, DC - Today, all 23 Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter urging the Republican majority to “stop using this Committee to level baseless and politicized attacks on Planned Parenthood and on women’s health" under the guise of a legitimate investigation. Meanwhile, instead of working to keep the government open before funding runs out in three days, the Republican majority intends to create a radical new subcommittee, within the Energy and Commerce Committee, to continue this partisan attack, despite having no evidence to substantiate claims made against Planned Parenthood thus far.
The Democratic members criticized the Republicans’ decision to show inaccurate and incomplete video clips in order to further their extremist agenda. Despite receiving substantial evidence that the videos released this summer by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) were heavily edited, Committee Republicans chose to broadcast the inaccurate and discredited videos at a Health Subcommittee hearing earlier this month and claim that they were authentic and unedited.
Committee Democrats strongly objected, writing that the majority’s decision to do so and continue to perpetuate misinformation is “unworthy of this Committee and undermines our belief in the integrity of its processes."
The lawmakers also urged the majority to stop “using the Committee to contribute to an extreme political agenda that get us closer and closer to a government shutdown." Republican members continue to recklessly threaten to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood and deprive millions of women of life-saving preventative services, even though no evidence has been found to substantiate the claims made against the organization to date.
Earlier this month, the Energy and Commerce Democratic staff, as part of the Committee’s ongoing investigation into allegations against Planned Parenthood, released an in-depth memo discrediting claims that the organization allegedly sold fetal tissue to tissue procurement organizations (TPOs) for profit. The memo is based on briefings, documents, and written replies the Committee received in response to Chairman Upton’s original inquiry this July into Planned Parenthood’s practices.
The full text of the letter can be found here.
