Planned Parenthood accused of breaking federal law: report

The pro-life watchdog group behind a series of videos that purportedly documented Planned Parenthood engaging in the illegal sale of aborted fetal tissue released new documents that it claims show the organization violated federal law by selling aborted baby body parts.

In a Tuesday press release, the Center for Medical Progress announced that it obtained documents via a public records request that show Planned Parenthood agreeing to transfer “proprietary” aborted baby body parts to the University of California San Diego for “valuable consideration.” 

One of the documents CMP released purports to be a “Biological Material Transfer Agreement” contract between Planned Parenthood of San Diego and UCSD. The agreement, which became effective in May 2009, grants UCSD access to “certain” PPSD biological materials for research, such as fetal and placental tissue. 

Get Our Latest News for FREE

Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.

“PPSD shall retain all right, title, and interest in and to the Material, including but not limited to all right, title, and interest in patents and patent applications and other intellectual property rights relating to the Material,” the contract stated. 

The pro-life activist group cited 42 U.S. Code § 289g–2, which deals with prohibitions regarding human fetal tissue, asserting that the documents expose a violation of federal law. 

“This new evidence shows Planned Parenthood sells late-term aborted baby body parts in violation of federal law, for far more money than has ever been discussed before,” CMP Founder and President David Daleiden said in a statement. 

“Planned Parenthood’s national headquarters knew about and approved these sales of aborted babies for valuable consideration as part of government-funded research grants,” he added. “The federal OIG investigation of fetal trafficking in Pittsburgh must be expanded to include Planned Parenthood’s activities in San Diego and every other location where this $1.8 billion abortion business supplies aborted babies for taxpayer-funded experiments.”

“The highest levels of Planned Parenthood leadership must answer under oath for what we now know is the organization’s participation in government-sponsored trafficking of late-term aborted babies,” Daleiden continued. 

Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest — formerly known as Planned Parenthood of San Diego — and UC San Diego did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment. 

CMP contends that UCSD professors have developed numerous patents held by the University of California using aborted fetal body parts, according to public databases cited in CMP’s report. 

In 2014, the contract with UCSD underwent an update to reflect PPSD changing its name to Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest. The updated contract states, “All other terms and conditions of the Agreement will remain the same and shall continue in full force and effect.”

CMP highlighted UCSD emails from 2017 in its latest report.

In one of the emails, an unknown sender wrote that they had attached “MTA and Agreement documents between UC Regents and PP.” Another set of emails from 2020 included discussions about Advanced Bioscience Resources and whether the entity “retained any rights or had any requirements before transferring.” 

One email thread cited by the pro-life group contained messages about setting up a quarterly “Planned Parenthood/UCSD Research Collaboration Meeting.” One user in the email chain raised questions about “payment to the residency program.” 

As CMP noted, UCSD is one of many universities where Planned Parenthood operates its Ryan Residency Training Program and Fellowship in Complex Family Planning. 

CMP also cited an April 2021 invoice payment of $10,000 Planned Parenthood of Pacific Southwest paid to UCSD. In the description on the invoice, Planned Parenthood wrote, “Anniversary Celebration’ Champion’ Sponsorship.”

Another document CMP obtained through its records request was a “Registration Form for Affiliate Research Proposals,” which began in May 2012. The form outlined the study’s objectives, which included creating a bank of “high-quality fetal tissue samples and cell cultures” and “to obtain samples from normal as well as abnormal gestations.”

In December, CMP released documents it obtained alongside the conservative activist group Judicial Watch showing that federal law enforcement officials investigated the University of Pittsburgh after its fetal tissue research practices came under scrutiny. 

The CMP founder has repeatedly raised concerns about the legality of the institution’s fetal tissue research practices, as well as Planned Parenthood potentially acting as a supplier of fetal body parts for the University of Pittsburgh. 

“If this investigation has been conducted honestly, the facts uncovered may be more horrifying than we ever imagined,” Daleiden said in a statement at the time. 

“Planned Parenthood has cloaked its human atrocities committed against vulnerable mothers and infants under its ‘research’ program for decades — it is time for justice under the law for every level of the taxpayer-funded enterprise of selling aborted baby body parts.”