In the aftermath of undercover videos made by pro-life activists which appear to show Planned Parenthood officials backed making profits off of fetal tissues, Gov. Rick Scott said on Wednesday he was launching an investigation of the 16 Planned Parenthood offices across the Sunshine State.
Scott ordered the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) to investigate the Planned Parenthood offices and make sure they were complying with the law.
“The videos coming out about Planned Parenthood are deeply troubling to say the least,” Scott said on Wednesday. “It is against the law for any organization to sell body parts. I asked AHCA Secretary Liz Dudek to begin immediately dispatching staff from their licensure office to evaluate the 16 Planned Parenthood offices in Florida that perform abortion procedures to ensure they are in full compliance with the law. If a Planned Parenthood office is not following the law, we will move quickly to take legal and regulatory action against them.
“We hold our health-care organizations in Florida to the highest standards of safety and we expect them to fully comply with the law at all times,” Scott added.
Planned Parenthood fired back, dismissing the videos, which were edited, as a political attack.
Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates Executive Director Laura Goodhue said her organization would work with Scott’s investigation but insisted it was politically motivated.
“These political attacks claiming that Planned Parenthood profits in any way from tissue donation are simply not true,” Goodhue said on Wednesday. “While we do not have donations programs in Florida, some Planned Parenthood organizations in other states do, and they follow all laws and ethical guidelines. We always seek and welcome feedback from medical experts, but not from politicians.
“We will, of course, cooperate fully with any investigation, but important medical issues shouldn't be politicized,” Goodhue added. “This isn't what people in our state want our elected officials to spend their time doing.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
