Planned Parenthood has been providing “viable nonanomalous” babies killed in “elective abortions” to the University of California San Diego (UCSD) for experimentation, according to a new report.
Published by The Center for Medical Progress (CMP), the emails detail a “Research Plan” that documents the harvesting of babies for experimentation on their bodies. The plan was submitted to and approved by UCSD’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) in 2018. The heavily redacted communications were obtained by the group via open records request.
According to the records reported by CMP, researchers unveiled plans in their submission to “collect tissues from fetuses ranging from 4 to 23 weeks gestational age from subjects undergoing elective surgical pregnancy termination at Planned Parenthood in San Diego.” The researchers further noted that patients with “viable nonanomalous … fetuses” would partake in the analysis.
Planned Parenthood will gather “evidence of fetal heart activity by ultrasound immediately prior to the dilation and evacuation procedure,” the submitted plan reads. The abortion provider aimed to harvest babies from “up to 2,500 patients,” according to the plan.
As noted by CMP, the “majority of healthy infants born at 23 weeks can survive with modern medical care.”
The investigative nonprofit highlighted one 2018 email indicating Planned Parenthood’s overuse of misoprostol (Cytotec) on patients hours before harvesting the viable babies for their body parts. According to CMP, the drug is often “used in chemical abortions to force-start labor contractions.”
In a partially redacted 2018 email regarding the Research Plan, an unidentified individual working on the study wrote, “[A]ny sample greater than about 12.5w[eeks] requires the use of a dilating medication which is given to the patients 3 hours ahead of their procedure (these are called ‘cyto’ patients).”
According to CMP, “Some studies show a 50 microgram dose of Misoprostol is enough to induce labor by 4 hours in the majority of cases,” while Planned Parenthood’s “national guidelines recommend 400 to 800 micrograms before late-term so-called ‘dilation and evacuation’ abortions — 8 to 16 times as much — and urge clinics not to allow patients to leave the clinic after taking the drugs.”
[READ: Documents Show Planned Parenthood Exchanges Baby Body Parts For Intellectual Property Rights]
“Planned Parenthood’s use of heavy doses of a labor contraction drug to dilate pregnant women targeted for a viable fetus harvesting project means these are likely not standard ‘dismemberment’ abortions, but either intact partial-birth abortions or full delivery of live preemies,” CMP Founder and President David Daleiden said in a statement.
The open records request revealed more disturbing findings, including apparent racial discrimination by Planned Parenthood.
As noted by CMP, the English-language consent forms provided by the abortion provider to pregnant women “include 15 bullet-pointed disclosures, the thirteenth of which states: ‘I understand that the donated blood, tissue, or their derivatives may have significant therapeutic or commercial value. I consent to such uses.’” The latter disclosure regarding “commercial value,” however, is not included in the Spanish-language forms.
“The documents show UCSD’s IRB approved the racially-disparate translations in at least four consecutive years, from 2017 to 2020,” CMP reported.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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