Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio has asked the Justice Department to investigate Planned Parenthood for supplying human tissue from abortions to the University of California San Diego in exchange for a "valuable consideration."
According to the Daily Signal, which exclusively reported on this letter from the senator to Merrick Garland's office, Marco Rubio has information from recent reports. "If confirmed, this relationship represents a flagrant violation of federal law, which explicitly prohibits the transfer of fetal tissue for any compensation," the Florida senator stated to the Democratic attorney general in his letter, which he also addressed to the Health Department.
"I request that you both open an investigation into the matter, publish your findings for the American people to see, and hold any guilty parties accountable to the fullest extent of the law," he added.
.@TheJusticeDept should investigate Planned Parenthood's move to give aborted baby tissue to @UCSanDiegohttps://t.co/AaD9dmKD0Y
— Senator Marco Rubio (@SenMarcoRubio) March 26, 2024
According to Marco Rubio, Planned Parenthood entered into a contract with the University of California San Diego in 2009. Planned Parenthood agreed to provide human tissue from abortions to the university, which would use it for educational and research purposes. According to the Daily Signal, the contract was obtained by pro-life activist David Daleiden.
Senator Rubio is concerned that the contract is illegal. According to the media outlet, Rubio claims that the university donated $10,000 to Planned Parenthood in 2021. "Not only was Planned Parenthood providing the aborted fetal tissue in exchange for 'valuable consideration,' but emails between the groups show that Planned Parenthood and UCSD were actively collaborating and meeting at regular intervals to discuss the progress of the research," the senator argued in his letter.
This is not the first time that there have been doubts and controversy surrounding the abortion organization. Planned Parenthood publicly acknowledged in 2015 that it had donated or exchanged human tissue from abortions. However, it also assured that such donations had been made legally and that their sole purpose was to provide resources for scientific research.
In 2016, a Harris County, Texas, grand jury voted to indict Planned Parenthood. However, it did not find the reproductive rights organization guilty.
