When fetal tissue research was first authorized in 1993, pro-choice proponent of the research, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Ca.), insisted on legal safeguards that would take profit out of the research equation, saying, “It would be abhorrent to allow for a sale of fetal tissue and a market to be created for that sale.”  Today’s hearing documented that just such a marketplace has evolved, complete with a horrifying Amazon.com-style drop-down menu for the selection of various fetal organs such as ovaries, spleen, tongues, or eyes at different stages of gestation.  The procurement company’s own marketing material promotes the “financial benefit” that “fiscally rewards clinics.”   The Committee investigation has turned up invoices, instructions for procurement kits, contracts, and more that independently verify what was on brazen display in the undercover videos released by the Center for Medical Progress.  It is becoming harder and harder for the abortion industry to continue to obfuscate and defend its dealings in the gruesome marketplace of aborted babies’ organs.

Maureen Ferguson
Senior Policy Advisor with The Catholic Association