Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) is calling for a federal investigation into whether Planned Parenthood illegally provided aborted baby tissues to the University of California-San Diego.
“If confirmed, this relationship represents a flagrant violation of federal law, which explicitly prohibits the transfer of fetal tissue for any compensation,” Rubio wrote in a letter to Department of Justice Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Christi Grimm. “I request that both of you 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.”
“Most notably, the contract between UCSD and Planned Parenthood was made for ‘valuable consideration.’ The inclusion of this phrase in the contract is significant because federal law explicitly forbids ‘any person to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human fetal tissue for valuable consideration,'” the letter added. “Violations of this law are punishable by a fine or up to 10 years in prison.”
The senator’s letter demands the DOJ uncover the number of aborted babies provided to the university.
“What has Planned Parenthood gained monetarily from its control over the intellectual property rights of the fetal tissue given to UCSD?” he also asks, similarly asking if other federal agencies have provided funding for fetal tissue research.
Rubio’s letter comes as recently released documents reveal that Planned Parenthood and UC San Diego agreed to exchange aborted baby parts. The abortion provider was to hand over the tissues to the university for patents and “other intellectual property rights.”
The contract, made in 2009 for “valuable consideration,” allows UC San Diego “access” to “fetal and placental tissue,” which are materials belonging to Planned Parenthood.
According to public databases, UC San Diego has created patents using aborted baby tissues. “University of California’s total patent invention revenue for 2021-2022 was over $127 million,” wrote David Daleiden, the founder and president of the Center for Medical Progress who broke the news of the exchange.
“This new evidence shows Planned Parenthood sells late-term aborted baby body parts in violation of federal law, for far more money than has ever been discussed before,” Daleiden said. “Planned Parenthood’s national headquarters knew about and approved these sales of aborted babies for valuable consideration as part of government-funded research grants.”
