After a video appears to have caught a Planned Parenthood national official describing the sale of fetal body parts, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has asked for an investigation to make sure it isn’t happening in his state.
Jindal, who is seeking the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, ordered the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals to launch the probe.
“Today’s video of a Planned Parenthood official discussing the systematic harvesting and trafficking of human body parts is shocking and gruesome,” Jindal said. “This same organization is seeking to open an abortion clinic in New Orleans.”
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal delivers the keynote address during Faith and Freedom Coalition's Road to Majority event in Washington, Saturday, June 21, 2014. Jindal was the last of several prospective Republican presidential candidates to address more than 1,000 evangelical Christians attending the event. (AP Photo/Molly Riley) AP Photo/Molly Riley
(AP Photo/Molly Riley)
The video was released Tuesday by the Center for Medical Progress, a group concerned with medical ethics, and shows Dr. Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s senior director of medical services, talking to actors she apparently believes are representatives of buyers from a human biologics company.
Jindal formally announced his candidacy for president last month, but is only polling at about 1 percent in most national polls. He believes the Planned Parenthood charge, if true, is serious enough to involve the FBI.
“I have instructed Louisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals to conduct an immediate investigation into this alleged evil and illegal activity and to not issue any licenses until this investigation is complete,” Jindal said. “I am also asking the FBI to assist DHH in investigating this alleged criminal activity by this organization.”
The selling of the fetal parts would violate a law signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988.
The video is titled, “Planned Parenthood Uses Partial-Birth Abortions to Sell Baby Parts.” The comments on the video were reportedly made on July 25, 2014.
Nucatola is part of the national group, so the issue is not specific to Louisiana, but could affect Planned Parenthood clinics in any state in the country.