Politico is reporting on the decision by StemExpress to disassociate itself with Planned Parenthood after being dragged into the controversy sparked by a series of undercover videos released by a pro-life group. The films, depicting clinic workers callously discussing the procurement and sale of fetal body parts, sparked numerous criminal investigations by several states as well as Congress.
“We value our various partnerships but, due to the increased questions that have arisen over the past few weeks, we feel it prudent to terminate activities with Planned Parenthood,” StemExpress said in a statement. “While we value our business relationship with Planned Parenthood, that work represents a small percentage of our overall business activity and we must focus our limited resources on resolving these inquiries.”
StemExpress found itself in the eye of the storm after a former employee, Holly O’Donnell, spoke out on film about the unethical practices going on inside Planned Parenthood facilities that were providing it with organs. The company worked inside several abortion clinics located in northern California.
“Typically, after a patient told a Planned Parenthood physician that she was going to have an abortion, a StemExpress technician would ask for consent to obtain the fetal tissue. If consent was granted, the technician would then facilitate and process the donation of the tissue for StemExpress,” Politico reports.
The small biomedical tissue procurement company was successful in convincing a California court to issue temporary restraining order prohibiting The Center for Medical Progress, the pro-life group that produced the videos, from releasing any further videos of their company employees.
StemExpress notified Planned Parenthood and Congress on Friday of its decision to end the relationship.
The move is not expected to end the controversy, however.
David Daleiden of The Center for Medical Progress has said he intends to release 12 videos in total, six of which have already been aired publicly.
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