A move to halt Government funding of US abortion group Planned Parenthood, in the wake of allegations that it has been profiting from the sale of baby parts, has been blocked in the Senate.
Republican senators had put forward a motion to remove funding from the organisation, which receives more than $500 million of taxpayer money every year.
However 46 Senators, mostly Democrats, opposed the move, meaning that it could not progress. Republicans may try again next month.
Investigation
The news followed the release of three more videos by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), which has been conducting a long-term undercover investigation into the abortion giant.
One video includes an interview with Holly O’Donnell, who took a job as a “procurement technician” at a company which deals with Planned Parenthood, StemExpress.
Although she thought she would just be drawing blood, she was tasked with procuring tissue from aborted babies in a Planned Parenthood clinic.
Profit for ‘parts
O’Donnell describes the profit which Planned Parenthood received from StemExpress, saying: “For whatever we could procure, they would get a certain percentage.
“The main nurse was always trying to make sure we got our specimens.
“No one else really cared, but the main nurse did because she knew that Planned Parenthood was getting compensated.”
Harrowing
Another video shows the Vice President and Medical Director for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, Dr Savita Ginde, negotiating a deal for baby parts with two actors posing as representatives of a tissue procurement company.
In harrowing footage toward the end of the video, Ginde is seen standing over an aborted baby and agreeing to receiving money for individual body parts rather than the whole body of a baby.
She says: “I think a per-item thing works a little better, just because we can see how much we can get out of it.”
A further video shows employees at another facility, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, negotiating the sale of baby parts and appearing to admit that the clinic performs abortions after the state of Texas legal limit of 20 weeks.
Callous actions
In an article for Time magazine this week, Senators Joni Ernst, Rand Paul and James Lankford expressed their repugnance at the actions of Planned Parenthood.
“These videos are hard for anyone to defend, and they pull back the curtain on Planned Parenthood’s callous actions that strike the moral fabric of our society.
“The American people have just cause to be horrified by the actions of Planned Parenthood. Protecting the most vulnerable in our society is an important measure of any society.”
The article concludes: “We should not watch as unborn children of our nation are being callously rummaged for parts and sold at a price, nor should taxpayers be asked to contribute to Planned Parenthood, which has illustrated a stark lack of compassion for children.”
Denial
Cecile Richards, the President of Planned Parenthood, has continued to deny any wrongdoing by the organisation, labelling the CMP as “extremists”, and accusing the group of manipulating their footage.
The CMP reiterated previous statements that a full version of each video is available online.