U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said a probe found no evidence to back up charges by an anti-abortion group against Planned Parenthood.
WASHINGTON -- House Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats, led by ranking member Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., called allegations that Planned Parenthood sold fetal tissue "unsubstantiated."
Pallone (D-6th Dist.) and Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), the top Democrat on the oversight and investigation subcommittee, issued their findings on Wednesday. The lawmakers said they were disclosing the results to date of the committee's Republican-led investigation into allegations by an anti-abortion group that the women's health care organization violated federal law by selling tissue from aborted fetuses to be used in medical research.
"We have found these claims to be unsubstantiated," Pallone and DeGette said. "Instead, these attacks appear to be part of a coordinated campaign on the part of the Center for Medical Progress and others, to simply discredit Planned Parenthood and undermine a woman's legal right to safe reproductive health care."
The findings were releases as the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday planned its own hearings into the allegations.
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Organizations can cover their costs of handling and shipping the fetal tissue, which is used in research to find cures for such diseases as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, but cannot make a profit.
Release of the heavily edited videos spurred congressional probes and led to calls by Republicans, including Gov. Chris Christie, to cut off federal funding for the organization. Planned Parenthood primarily provides contraceptive services and health screenings; abortion accounts for 3 percent of its medical procedures.
"Now, with the most recent revelation, there's even more reason not to fund Planned Parenthood," Christie said in July on a campaign trip to South Carolina. "I've vetoed funding for Planned Parenthood and if I were president of the United States I would do exactly the same."
At the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Christie cited his vetoes of state funding for women's health centers, including those run by Planned Parenthood as proof of his anti-abortion position.
Planned Parenthood clinics in New Jersey received $5.2 million in federal funds last year. They offer health and contraceptive services in 14 of the state's 21 counties.
Some congressional Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who like Christie is seeking the GOP presidential nomination, has threatened to block any legislation to keep the federal government operating after Sept. 30 unless the bill defunds Planned Parenthood. That could lead to the second government shutdown in three years.
The Republican front-runner in the presidential race, Donald Trump, has called on congressional Republicans to shut down the federal government rather than pass a spending bill that includes funding for Planned Parenthood.
"I think you have to in this case," he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in August.
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.