In spite of an angry demonstration from pro-abortion lawmakers yesterday, StemExpress, the company which acted as a middleman between Planned Parenthood and research institutions in the procurement of aborted baby parts, has been declared in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a Congressional subpoena for accounting records.

CNSNews.com is reporting on the drama which took place yesterday on Capital Hill during a hearing of the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives where a resolution to hold StemExpress and its CEO, Cate Dyer, in contempt of Congress was passed.

Pro-abortion lawmakers on the panel, who have long charged that the Panel’s proceedings were nothing more than a witch-hunt, tried unsuccessfully to delay the vote, then staged a walk-out by members who refused to participate in the vote.

“We refuse to sanction or endorse this exercise by continuing to participate,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), the ranking Democrat on the panel.

She went on to accuse the Panel of being a “political sideshow with devastating consequences for anyone who cares about women’s healthcare or lifesaving medical research.”

Her colleagues, all Democrats, erroneously claimed that the Panel lacks the legal authority to hold StemExpress and Dyer in contempt of Congress.

However, Panel Chairwoman Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) responded that “nothing in the resolution or the House rules precludes this panel or a subcommittee from marking up a report on contempt for the purpose of forwarding it for consideration by a full committee or the House, as appropriate.”

StemExpress and Planned Parenthood were the subject of undercover investigative videos produced by the Center for Medical Progress that showed Planned Parenthood officials putting prices on the body parts of aborted babies. Planned Parenthood executives continue to push the false narrative that the videos were heavily edited, and refuses to say how much money it received from Stem Express in exchange for the body parts of aborted babies.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Blackburn said that “when we looked at the pricing of fetal tissue, every witness, Democrat and Republican, said you need to get the accounting and banking records of the entities. They all agreed that the entities needed to come forward with that . . . .”

StemExpress failed to produce these records.

“The committee and our work will continue,” Blackburn promised, “and I am sorry that they chose drama over the heavy lift today. I would like to have them working with us.”

Another panel member, Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.), told reporters “This is about the investigation in regard to the sale and profit of infant body parts, that’s what the investigation is about and we have had a number of different businesses who we have subpoenaed comply with those subpoenas, fully and completely. StemExpress has refused to fully comply.

“What I think is important is they refuse to provide documentation in regard to their accounting and banking record so the question becomes: what are they hiding in their bank records?” Duffy asked. “What payments have they received that they don’t want us to see? And why are Democrats siding with StemExpress?”

“Why aren’t Democrats joining us in that effort to uphold American law and do an investigation? I think it’s sad that they would stand up and storm out and try to make this about something that it is not. I think it’s a sad day for American democracy,” Duffy said.

David Daleiden, founder of the Center for Medical Progress, the pro-life organization that produced the videos last year, said that the Panel has already discovered probable cause that Planned Parenthood and StemExpress profited off of baby body parts, used false and invalid consent forms to pressure patients into agreeing to donate their child’s body parts, and violated HIPAA privacy rights of tens of thousands of pregnant women.

“Planned Parenthood’s political cronies on the Panel minority, whom Planned Parenthood funds with tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions, made clear today how terrified they and their abortion industry masters are of the full details being revealed about Planned Parenthood’s criminal partnership with StemExpress,” Daleiden said.

“They walked out of the hearing today because they can’t handle the truth about Planned Parenthood and StemExpress’ for-profit business partnership in baby body parts. Finding StemExpress in contempt of Congress is just the first criminal charge that the full details about the illicit body parts trade at Planned Parenthood will reveal.”

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