Governor Dayton:
Planned Parenthood Federation of America came under scrutiny last week after an undercover video showed Dr. Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood’s senior director of medical services, detailing how some of their affiliates are performing abortions in a manner that keeps the baby’s heart, lungs and liver intact. Nucatola also discussed how much money some organizations would be willing to pay local chapters for the harvested organs.
We hope you, as governor, share our desire to make sure this abhorrent and illegal practice is not occurring in Minnesota.
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner announced July 15 that he will launch an investigation into whether Planned Parenthood is selling body parts for profit, which is against federal law. While we support this investigation on the federal level, a similar investigation should be conducted here in Minnesota.
Planned Parenthood operates eighteen clinics in Minnesota with two that provide abortion services (Rochester and St. Paul). We respectfully ask you to use the power of your office and any appropriate state agency to investigate the following issues:
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Minnesota Statutes 145.422 prohibits the buying or selling of “a living human conceptus or nonrenewable organ of the body.” Planned Parenthood’s clinics should be examined to make sure this practice is not occurring in Minnesota.
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Federal law prohibits the practice of partial birth abortion, a method of late-term abortion that ends a pregnancy and results in the death and intact removal of a fetus from the uterus. In light of Dr. Nucatola’s admission that Planned Parenthood affiliates are performing abortions in a manner that keep the baby’s organs intact, Planned Parenthood’s Minnesota locations should be examined to determine whether this illegal practice is happening here.
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Research universities have been identified as potential buyers for organs and body parts harvested from aborted babies. As the state’s leading research institution, the University of Minnesota should collaborate with state officials to make sure they are not buying or receiving organs harvested from abortions.
As legislators, we hope none of these practices are occurring here in Minnesota. However, hope is not sufficient in this instance. The people of Minnesota deserve a thorough and transparent account of Planned Parenthood’s operations.
Please consider working with us in the future on legislation that protects women and children in Minnesota through stronger oversight of this intrusive medical procedure.
We ask that you use the full powers of your administration to look into these matters immediately and report back to the legislature and the public with the results.
Legislators’ letter to Gov. Dayton requests investigation of Planned Parenthood in Minnesota