Donating Fetal Tissue After an Abortion or Miscarriage Is Totally Legal — and It’s Actually a Great Thing
We’ve seen not one but two shady undercover videos attacking Planned Parenthood in the last week, part of a systematic attempt at advancing a religious and political agenda that harms reproductive rights and autonomy. In each heavily-edited film, we see alleged negotiations over buying fetal tissue for research, an activity which is categorically illegal. Human organs and tissue cannot be bought or traded in the U.S. However, Planned Parenthood does not in fact do this, and it’s disingenuous and dangerous to imply otherwise. Instead, some clinics empower patients who are interested in seeing their abortions go to a good cause — and you can be one of those patients, if you’re so inclined.
The Center for Medical Progress (CMP), the group behind the videos, is going to cost us millions in efforts to debunk its claim and educate the public about fetal tissue donation, an activity that’s perfectly legal. CMP, along with other right-wing groups and lawmakers, is already pushing for congressional investigations and other costly moves that would waste government resources while targeting abortion providers for harassment and limiting their ability to work. This is not the first time sketchy and potentially illegal videos have been used to smear Planned Parenthood, nor will it be the last.
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