Planned Parenthood video: Congress launches investigation

Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood's senior director of medical research, appears in the video

The US Congress has launched an inquiry after a video claimed to show a Planned Parenthood doctor discussing the sale of foetal body parts.

Planned Parenthood said the claims by an anti-abortion group are false and the foetal tissue is not sold for profit, but donated for research.

It is illegal to sell the body parts of aborted foetuses in the US.

House Speaker John Boehner urged the White House "to denounce, and stop, these gruesome practices".

"When an organisation monetises an unborn child - and with the cavalier attitude portrayed in this horrific video - we must all act,'' Mr Boehner said.

The group that filmed the video, the Center for Medical Progress, claimed in a statement that Planned Parenthood was selling body parts of aborted foetuses.

Planned Parenthood called the claims made by an anti-abortion group "outrageous"

"Partial-birth" or late-term abortions - where foetuses are removed intact - are prohibited in most cases in the US. Medically they are known as intact dilation and extraction procedures.

Planned Parenthood called those claims "outrageous" and "flat-out untrue" and said the costs discussed in the video were to cover expenses.

"At several of our health centres, we help patients who want to donate tissue for scientific research, and we do this just like every other high-quality healthcare provider does," said Eric Ferrero, a spokesman for Planned Parenthood.

They say all donations are done in accordance with US laws regarding tissue donation and all patients who provide tissue do so voluntarily.

In the hidden camera video, Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood's senior director of medical research, discusses providing foetal tissue.

She tells the filmmakers - who posed as employees of a biotech firm - that abortion doctors can adjust their methods to leave organs intact.

"We've been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that, so I'm not gonna crush that part, I'm gonna basically crush below, I'm gonna crush above, and I'm gonna see if I can get it all intact," Ms Nucatola said in the video.

The governors of Texas and Louisiana have also launched investigations into Planned Parenthood.

Several Republican candidates for president - including former Florida Governor Jed Bush and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina - also condemned the organisation.

"This isn't about 'choice.' It's about profiting on the death of the unborn while telling women it's about empowerment," Ms Fiorina wrote on Facebook.