(Note: Since this report was first published,
the Senate has initiated hearings.)
U.S.
Senate joins the "fetal" debate
 Sen. Bob Smith of Vermont has asked the Senate
Judiciary Committee, in a resolution, to hear from four witnesses,
at least three of whom did fetal tissue extraction at a clinic
affiliated with Planned Parenthood of Kansas and
Mid-Missouri.
Two of the persons were technicians and one is
a pathologist who worked for companies that had agreements to do
tissue work at the clinic.
It is legal to use fetal tissue
for research as long as it is donated, not sold, by the women.
Reasonable charges are allowed for companies that extract and
transfer the tissue to researchers. Smith wants to find out whether
fees are excessive and if regulations on removal are being
followed.
Peter Brownlie, president and chief executive
officer of Planned Parenthood, said the clinic had been compensated
solely for providing the facilities for the tissue work. The clinic,
he said, had no part in any sale of tissue or organs.
"We
strongly support federal statutes and guidelines," Brownlie said.
"It is and should remain illegal to sell tissue."
Smith's resolution does not assert that any of
the witnesses did anything illegal or unethical, but it seeks their
testimony by subpoena, if necessary.
Up until a year ago,
Planned Parenthood rented space in its facility for fetal tissue
research.
Abortion opponents said the practice could be used
as an excuse to prolong pregnancies, because fetuses that are more
developed produce tissue that is more valuable. It also can be
profitable, thus keeping more clinics and doctors in the abortion
business, they say.
Brownlie said women who received
abortions at Planned Parenthood signed consent forms for the tissue
donations and never were pressured into extending pregnancies.
Federal law requires consent and prohibits medical researchers from
having any role in the timing or method of abortion.
Abortion
supporters say that fetal tissue represents a tiny fraction of all
tissue research but was being used to stir alarm in the
anti-abortion sector. One source said that didn't mean, however,
that the Senate committee should stay away from the
issue.
Calling for loopholes in the law to be closed, Smith
told the Senate, "Abortion clinics and wholesalers are making a
killing, literally, off the sale of human baby
parts."
Smith's resolution to elicit testimony was on the
committee calendar Feb. 10 but held for action until the next
meeting.
One of the persons who could be asked to testify is
Ross Capps, an Overland Park area resident.
Capps said he
used to be a technician for the Georgia-based Anatomic Gift
Foundation, a nonprofit company that had an agreement with Planned
Parenthood to extract tissue and provide it to
researchers.
Capps said he didn't have anything to do with
the pricing of the tissues. He said he was uncomfortable with his
work and was willing to testify about what he witnessed.
 "My
stance is, abortion is legal, and if they can gain some beneficial
research from the donation of a fetal organ, that's fine, but I
don't want to get involved with it anymore," he
said.
Testimony also is being sought from Dean Alberty,
listed in the resolution as living in Lee's Summit, Mo. Alberty
could not be reached for comment, but Capps said he trained Alberty
at Anatomic Gift Foundation as a technician.
Jim Bardsley,
vice president of Anatomic Gift Foundation, acknowledged last week
that Capps and Alberty had been employees. Bardsley said the company
followed all laws.
Bardsley said, however, that as of Jan. 1
Anatomic Gift got out of the fetal tissue business because of
"negative campaigning and innuendo" by anti-abortion
groups.
"We can live without it (fetal tissue work), but we
couldn't live with it," Bardsley said. The company, founded in 1994,
still retrieves adult tissue and organs, he said.
The other
persons on the list of desired witnesses are Miles Jones and Rosie
Lee Diaz. Jones is a pathologist who did some fetal tissue
extraction at the clinic for about 10 weeks in late 1998, Brownlie
said.
The resolution seeks to have Alberty, Capps and Diaz
submit testimony and "any and all documents relating to the sale of
fetal tissue." It seeks the same of Jones but also wants documents
related to his medical research business.
At the state level,
two Missouri lawmakers have offered bills that would require
disclosure of any fees involved in the extraction and transport of
tissue.
Brownlie said that he didn't object to more
disclosure but that the U.S. Senate resolution and related
investigation were grounded in abortion politics.
"It's a
controversy being entirely fostered by anti-abortion groups that
don't really care about the issue, except that it's a good political
one for them," Brownlie said.
The executive director of the
National Abortion Federation, whose members include about half of
the country's clinics where abortions are performed, alledged that
one of the lead private investigative organizations on this subject
and it's president Mark Crutcher were not credible.
"Life
Dynamics has a long history of disseminating misinformation and
using underhanded tactics," Vicki Saporta said. "There are laws in
place that regulate (tissue research), and they should be adhered
to."
Crutcher said he wasn't surprised by the reaction of
pro-abortion activists.
"When a message comes out they don't
like, they shoot the messenger," Crutcher said.
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Let them know
your opinion.
* Sen Bob Smith (VT) -
1-202-224-2841
* Sen. Jesse Helms (R-Hickory, NC) -
1-828-322-5170
* Sen. John Edwards (D-Raleigh, NC) -
1-919-856-4245
* Senate Judiciary Committee -
1-202-224-5225
* Website: http://www.senate.gov/~judiciary
*
Chairman: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) -
1-202-224-5251
Other members of Judiciary
Committee;
Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Strom Thurmond (R-SC),
Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Charles Grassley (R-IA), Joseph Biden
Jr. (D-DE), Arlen Spector (R-PA), Herbert Kohl (D-WI), Jon Kyl
(R-AZ), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Mike DeWine (R-OH), Russ
Feingold (D-WI), John Ashcroft (R-MO), Robert Torricelli
(D-NJ), Spencer Abraham (R-MI), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Jeff
Sessions (R-AL) |
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