House panel to subpoena for list of fetal tissue researchers: report

by Jessie Hellmann - 03/24/16 9:10 AM ET

A House committee is set to issue 17 subpoenas for names of people involved in fetal tissue research amid Democratic complaints of intimidation, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) will ask for the names of researchers, graduate students, laboratory technicians and administrative personnel involved in the research on behalf of the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives.

{mosads}The committee was created in the wake of a series of videos that purportedly showed Planned Parenthood officials trying to profit illegally from the sale of these tissues.

While several state investigations have exonerated Planned Parenthood, while the videographers of those videos were indicted in Texas, the House investigation into related matters continues.

“We are going to review the business practices of these procurement organizations and do some investigating of how they have constructed a for-profit business model from selling baby body parts,” Blackburn told the Times.

But Democrats said such efforts qualify as blatant intimidation.

“It’s one step further than McCarthyism, because McCarthy just threatened people’s jobs,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.). “They’re threatening people’s lives.”

Universities may also find the investigation unsettling, fearing that the release of the names could endanger lives if anti-abortion activists decide to target those involved in fetal tissue research, according to the report.

In November, Robert Dear Jr. killed three people and wounded nine at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo. Dear reportedly said “no more baby parts” after his arrest.

Many of the schools and organizations, including the University of California, San Diego, have blacked out names before submitting documents to the House panel, resulting in the subpoenas.

Tags Abortion fetal tissue Marsha Blackburn Planned Parenthood