An investigation in The Los Angeles Times found that unpublished footage showed Daleiden coaching O’Donnell, and that he and his associates sought to ply abortion providers with alcohol and induce In addition to secretly recording abortion providers, Daleiden released video interviews with a former StemExpress employee, Holly O’Donnell. Grand jury convened in Harris County, Texas, by an avowedlyĪnti-abortion prosecutor brought charges against Daleiden and his Instead of charging Planned Parenthood, a Twelve states have looked into allegations that Planned Parenthood broke the law. Planned Parenthood said the money that changed hands was reimbursement for costs and has since ceased accepting any funds at all. It is legal for women to donate such tissue after an abortion, as long as no “valuable consideration” is involved for any party. Republicans on the committee said Daleiden’s videos and screenshots of StemExpress’ website indicate that the company and the abortion providers that partner with it, including Planned Parenthood, violated the law forbidding profiting from such donations. Democratic members of the committee variously called the proceedings a “farce” a “kangaroo court” and “a witch hunt,” and compared them to the fictional television show “House of Cards.” In an often testy hearing, the committee heard from two senators and six attorneys. “The Chair ignored that offer and, instead, called this public hearing and invited witnesses who have noįirsthand knowledge of the facts to opine about potential criminal Schakowsky, the company’s procurement director offered to explain itsĬost structure to the committee. Though according to ranking minority member Democratic Rep. Tissue procurement company that is in the crosshairs of the committee, (Daleiden did, however, live tweet the proceedings.)Īlso absent were representatives of StemExpress, the actual fetal But he was not called to testify about his secretly recorded videos of abortion providers, for which he posed as a procurer of fetal tissue for medical research. The work of David Daleiden, an anti-abortion activist currently facing criminal indictment in Texas whose home was recently searched by California authorities, had sparked the committee’s creation. Wednesday’s hearing of the so-called House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, a Republican-led panel examining whether abortion providers broke the law governing fetal tissue donation, was notable for what it didn’t include as much as for what it did. House committee holds testy hearing on Planned Parenthood tapes