Planned Parenthood to pay costs of foetal tissue donations

Planned Parenthood will no longer accept money to offset the costs of its foetal tissue donation programme.

The US reproductive health organisation made the change after an anti-abortion group accused Planned Parenthood of profiting from the practice.

Planned Parenthood has denied making a profit, but acknowledged that it charged fees up to $100 (£65) to cover processing costs.

The allegations have set off an effort to pull the group's federal funding.

"Planned Parenthood's policies on foetal tissue donation already exceed the legal requirements," Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards wrote in a letter to the National Institutes of Health on Tuesday.

"Now we're going even further in order to take away any basis for attacking Planned Parenthood to advance an anti-abortion political agenda."

Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards recently defended her group before Congress

Planned Parenthood is a non-profit group that provides reproductive health services to mostly lower-income Americans. Some of its locations perform abortions.

In July, an anti-abortion group released a series of secretly filmed videos, which claimed that Planned Parenthood employees "harvested organs" and "sold baby parts".

Planned Parenthood has said the videos were deceptively edited and the group did not break any laws.

Several states launched investigations after the videos were published online. Several of those states have cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrong doing.

Conservative Republicans in Congress have threatened to shut down the government in the hope of ending federal support for Planned Parenthood.

However, Republican congressional leaders have opposed a shutdown and President Barack Obama has vowed to veto any attempt to defund Planned Parenthood.