A former biotech worker with links to a US abortion clinic operated by the Planned Parenthood group has alleged that not all foetal tissue harvested was done so with patient consent.
In a newly released video, the sixth compiled by the anti-abortion body the Centre for Medical Progress, Holly O’Donnell, described as a former “blood and tissue procurement technician”, details how, during her career with biotech company StemExpress, she was expected to pressure mothers arriving at Planned Parenthood into agreeing to foetal tissue donations, and how some other technicians, who failed to gain said consent, went ahead and harvested body parts anyhow.
“If there was a higher gestation, and the technicians needed it, there were times when they would just take what they wanted. And these mothers don’t know. And there’s no way they would know,” O’Donnell states.
On camera, O’Donnell goes on to relate one incident in which, having been criticised by a colleague for not gaining the required consent from a patient, the same colleague then arranged secretly for the pregnant woman’s foetus to be harvested.
“So basically you just went in there and took her blood and you’re going to be taking her foetus without her knowing,” O’Donnell recalls stating to her colleague.
Describing the attitude among technicians towards foetuses, O’Donnell states: “Pregnancy tests are potential pregnancies, therefore potential specimens. So it’s just taking advantage of the opportunities.”
Meanwhile, as the ongoing release of videos, most of them undercover, continue cause a rethink on funding of Planned Parenthood at state level – alongside a proposed full investigation by Congress – the Obama administration has rounded on critics of the abortion provider and warned states that they may be in violation of the law in defunding the group.
According to a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, any defunding directly affects patient access to family planning services “of their choice” as guaranteed under the Medicaid programme.
Reacting to the video expose, the administration has said it will resist all defunding attempts and insisted that Planned Parenthood’s actions are “are entirely consistent with the strictest ethical guidelines that have been established in the healthcare industry”.
