[inaudible] >> and she is a frequent guest on television and radio shows. before joining american constitution society, caroline served as the director of the aclu washington legislative office and general counsel and legal or of the pro-choice america. our final guest is a public speaker for operation outcry, a ministry that seeks to educate the public about the devastating consequences of abortion. she is a resident of davenport, iowa. we welcome you all, your written statements will be entered into the record into their entirety and i ask that you summarizer testimony in five minutes or less to help you stay within that time, there is a timing light on your table. when it switches from green to yellow, you have one minute to conclude your testimony. when the light turns red, it

signals that your five minutes have expired. doctor, we will begin with you. welcome. >> please turn on your microphone. >> i apologize. >> thank you, chairman, and members of the committee. i only have five minutes and i will get right to it. second trimester abortions, your patient today is 70 years old and 22 weeks pregnant and her baby is the length of your hand and a couple inches and she has been feeling her baby kick for the last two weeks. you walk into the operating room and you introduce a suction catheter into the uterus. and if she were 12 weeks pregnant or less come in basically the width of your hand or smaller, you could do the entire procedure with this.

the baby this day do not fit through catheters for size. after centering the fluid out from the baby, you introduce the sulfur clam comments about 13 inches long and made of stainless steel. the business and is about two and a half inches long and a half-inch wide. there are rows of sharp teeth. when he gets a hold of something he does not let go. the procedures is a blind abortion, picture grabbing anything you can finally, and pull hard and out pops a leg about that big would you put him on the table next to and reach in and pull out an arm, about the same link that you put on the table. use this instrument to tear out the spine and the intestines and the heart and lungs. >> if you have your instrument around something and your fingers are spread about as far as they go, you know you did it

with right if you crush down and the white material runs out of the cervix and that was the baby's brains. sometimes a little face comes back and stares back at you. congratulations, you just perform this abortion and affirmed her right to choose. >> the most commonly used procedure at this point not a lot i have not done any of these myself but i have had abortionists describe what we are talking about. please run my video. >> how may i help you? >> hello, i was hoping to schedule an abortion. >> what was the first day of your last. >> it was like the middle of

may. like may 15, probably. >> okay, it looks like we can do this for you but it is going to be a weeklong procedure. so if you're able to come next week and we start this on the 12th, i'm going to be looking at a fee of $8000. >> all my. >> every week that goes by the fee goes up by another thousand dollars. [inaudible] [inaudible] >> the injection is going into the sack into the pregnancy. it will insert into the baby's bottom. if it's head down, it will be inserted through the head.

if we can't catch it early enough, it happens, if you are feeling pressure moving down coming out, the pregnancy coming out. then you will want to unlock the door to the hotel room, get yourself on the toilet. you don't have to clean up, just be on the phone with us and we will stay with you until we can have you talked to the doctor or nurse. >> what happens if it comes out when i am on the toilet. >> you don't have to look down, the doctor or nurse will come take care of it. do not let yourself look at it. if you feel it's too much. if you want to cover yourself with a caliph something, go ahead.

>> if you are one of those people that has no painless contractions -- [inaudible] >> if it pops out when i'm on the toilet, what do i do. >> you sit there and stay there and you do not move until we can get you. >> i don't have to worry about like -- taking it out or anything? >> so for $10,000, a woman 27 weeks pregnant it's to labor a loan on a unattended hotel room with no one to watch her vital signs or otherwise attend her. and if her baby delivers in a toilet, her own dead son or daughter, so be it.

>> the next speaker, police. >> thank you for having me. i was employed at the planned parenthood in storm lake. i spent 17 years learning how they work. i concluded that no business, certainly no health care business summit should view a woman's body as a profit center, but that is what they are all about. they're more concerned with profits than about the health of women. when i first began working for planned parenthood, i was convinced that i was serving my community. >> over the past 28 years i did not fit well into their corporate culture. though during my initial interview, i expressed concerns about abortion. i was hired and promoted by planned parenthood and i believe that could help reduce abortions are answer women. over time i learned that i was wrong to trust planned parenthood.

i'm here today because all people need to know the truth about planned parenthood. in 2002, the remains of a newborn, a full term child were discovered in my small iowa town. in a trash dump. the child had been born alive, the sheriff investigating the murder of a child came to seek medical records of potential suspects. i assumed that planned parenthood would want to cooperate with the criminal investigation. but instead of planned parenthood turned the murder into a fundraising opportunity and claimed that all women's health records would be compromised. and that a woman's right to abortion would be under attack. as it often seems to do, planned parenthood raised thousands of dollars from this sort of event. >> once a week they had signed

off on prescriptions that have been dispensed the week before. i learned more. a woman with a positive pregnancy test would be offered a web camera abortion on the spot so she couldn't change her mind. next, a nonmedical clinic assistant with minimal training with perform a transvaginal ultrasound and scanned image to a doctor in another location. the doctor would briefly talk to the woman by a sky television connection. then the doctor could push a button on her computer that opened a tour and give the abortion pill. the woman was told is that one set of bills of the clinic and take the second set at home 48 hours later. planned parenthood instructed workers who had experienced convocations at home to report their local e.r. the women were told to say they were experiencing a miscarriage and not that they had undergone a chemical abortion. planned parenthood cut costs by

performing these with virtually no overhead. no on-site doctors or medical staff, very little equipment, and no expense for travel to a remote clinic. and yet it charged women the same feat for fee for a chemical abortion as it did for a surgical abortion. web camera abortion arm big money makers for planned parenthood. i expressed my concern to planned parenthood management that these were unsafe and possibly illegal. do they planned parenthood scheme is so financially successful it has been implemented in iowa and minnesota and they have touted it as the first in the nation and have plans to expand its every state. after i left planned parenthood i realize that realized that it had been fraudulently billing the iowa medicaid program. filing $20 million. first it dispensed without

prescription medically unnecessary oral contraceptive pills to medicaid patients. and second it billed them for abortion related services in violation of federal law and third at coerced donations from patients in violations of the regulations. each of these was implemented to benefit the bottom line and not women's health. planned parenthood was organized as a nonprofit, these are some of the reasons that it has reported this revenue. when i first began working at planned parenthood, i trusted him and thought that its leaders knew what was right, but i learned that it cannot be trusted, and in fact, it does not deserve to be trusted by any american, woman or man. planned parenthood is more concerned about the bottom line than it is about the health and safety of women. thank you.

>> thank you. >> good afternoon, chairman and ranking member, distinguished members of the committee, i am the president of the american constitution society for law and policy. i am testifying in my personal capacity and do not purport to represent an institutional views of the american constitution society. achy for providing the opportunity to testify today in response to this most recent attack on planned parenthood. planned parenthood is a nearly century-old health care provider that plays a critical role in securing the right to health care for millions of americans. each are planned parenthood centers provide services such as family planning, counseling, contraception, rest exams and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. the 2.7 million patients and no less than one in five women in the united states has visited a

planned parenthood center at least once in her lifetime. these services help women prevent an estimated 516,000 unintended pregnancies and 270,000 abortions every year. these are services that women and men, young people and others desperately need and that many would go without should they lose access to the health centers. planned parenthood provide services at approximately 700 centers located in every state in the nation and 54% of these are in rural or medically underserved areas or areas with shortages in health professionals. there are simply insufficient numbers of alternative providers to absorb the patients who need care, should they lose access to planned parenthood. planned parenthood centers are crucial for women in this country, more than half of the 2.7 million patients each year to lie upon public health

programs such as medicaid to cover their costs. 78% of planned parenthood patients lived with incomes of 150% of the federal poverty level or less. indeed, in 68% of the counties with a health center, planned parenthood serves at least half of all safety net family patients. planned parenthood is an integral part of the health care system in this country, it provides critical care services to many women, particularly poor women that might otherwise go without these services. this most recent round of attacks on planned parenthood was instigated by an anti-choice organization, the center for medical progress, whose members deceptively ample traded in parenthood clinics and conferences, claiming that they work for a tissue to german company. the representatives surreptitiously and possibly illegally recorded meetings with staff and then over the course of several months the least

numerous videos of these encounters. they now claim that the videos show that they violated the partial worth abortion act. the content is released, which arguably shows no wrongdoing at all. they are unreliable and they had been selectively edited, they hired experts to review the video and those who were contract instructors of the fbi, and one of the most experienced video experts in north america found many deceptive is edits. they edited dialogue of it altered the meaning of the dialogue. in other cases the segments of

dialogue or omitted altogether. there is no question that those videos are selectively and edited an incomplete. as such in the words of expert analysis, the manipulation of the video does mean that they have no evidentiary value and cannot be relied upon for any official inquiries. every jurisdiction that has conducted an investigation since there activities were investigated have found no wrongdoing. six states have completed investigations into whether they violated any laws in its donation program. all six of them unanimously claims that they did not. and in fact, the chairman of the house committee on oversight and government reform's has questioned the ceo at length, admitted that no, i am not

suggesting that they broke a law. i'm not suggesting that they violated any laws. we all know that they have tried to undermine women's access to the full reproductive health care that they are intended to. and have need of to ensure that they can live full lives. so i respect the committee and i thank you for inviting me here to talk about this important issue. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and all committee members. >> i was scared when i arrived to my paid my money and i sat in the waiting room. i was taken back to a room with a nice and asked how i felt about this or that i told her,

it had to be wrong, it had to be a baby. she told me that it was just a blob of tissue. that this abortion would be easier and safer than if i carried it to term. i was a scared teenager with no medical knowledge and experience. they were the trusted medical professionals and adults, so i thought and i trusted and believed them and went through with the procedure. the type of abortion that i had was a vacuum aspirator method, the most common done in the first trimester. i laid on the table and i waited for the doctor that i had never met before. which is most of the time the case. to come in. the doctor was cold and unfriendly. he told me to lie still and that would not take long. i have no had no anesthetics. he said that i would feel tugging and a slight sensation of cramping. that was not true. it was the most extremely painful procedure i'd ever have done. i could hear the increased labor

and every time the suction machine would pull apart a limb of my baby. from my body. every time i tried to set up sit up to see what was going into that dark, was at my baby? they kept pushing me back down and telling me to lie still. and since the procedure was over they quickly wheel of the jar out of the room with my baby's remains. they knew that it was my baby, they saw the head, they saw the feet, the saudi arms. and i wasn't told about fetal development. when i was at planned parenthood. they did not tell me to my unborn baby would have arms or legs or a heartbeat. why did they want to tell me that. were they afraid that i would change my mind? it must've been a wrong choice if after knowing all the facts i chose life for my child.

>> when i got home, i call planned parenthood and i told them about the pain in the bleeding. they told me that this is no longer their problem and that i would need to call my own position. there was no way i was going to call my own position because i was too scared and ashamed that i didn't want my parents to find out what i had done. i wondered if i would die. i started drinking heavily, i started doing drugs and i promiscuous. my life is spinning out of control. i became pregnant to my times and chose abortion both times. each experience was similar. the second abortion they showed me blobs of tissue on flights and told me that that is all they would need removing and not

a baby. but the third abortion, i was so ashamed and embarrassed that i didn't even give them my real name. i gave them a friend of mines maim. i cringed to thank what would've happened if there would have been competitions if i would've died on the table. who would they have called? would my parents have ever found out? having an abortion does not solve any of my problems, it only created new ones and larger ones. the way i do with them was more alcohol, drugs come anything to numb the pain and i even tried to kill myself. but god had a plan for my life. one of the test that i had done determined that there was blockages in my fallopian tubes.

and during the tests and doctor asked if i have ever had abortions and i admitted that i have three of them. she showed me on the screen where my tubes were damaged and mangled from the abortion procedure. and she said that i would never have children. because of the abortions. and she wanted me to have a hysterectomy so that i would not have an ectopic pregnancy. she left the room. and i laid there paralyzed and let it soak in that the only children i would ever bear i had killed. i had to tell my husband that he was never going to be able to have his own children because of the choices that i had made. >> i was angry that i was lied to and that i didn't get all the

facts of what i could make the choices for myself. i thought that a were pro-choice and care for women. i didn't think the big carrot for me. i felt used and abused. i live with the consequences and the pain and regret every day along with many other women. in front of me or pages of sworn testimony of women who have been hurt and abused, physically and emotionally, psychologically. by planned parenthood and other abortion industries in general. i'm here representing them as well as myself. and it is a heavy load. i am asking you to please consider these stories and mind when you make legislation and when you make decisions about defunding planned parenthood and about abortion. all of us who have been hurt by being made to pay planned parenthood with our tax dollars.

and that is like being forced to pay your abuser over and over again. abortion is not health care. it is the taking of an innocent life. thank you. >> thank you. we will now proceed with questions for the witnesses and i will begin by recognizing myself. before i can, i would like to show a video that puts a human face today. [inaudible] done on.

[inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible]

[inaudible] >> thank you for sharing with us your personal experiences following the three abortions you underwent. on the website, there are frequently asked questions associated with abortion. one considers where there are long-term risks associated with abortion, stating that save an uncomplicated abortion does not cause problems for future pregnancies and ultimately most women feel relief after an abortion. based on your experience, do you think these characterizations provide women with all the information that they need about the risks associated with the procedure that they are about to undergo 2. >> no, i do not. i did not hear any of those risks from them and i don't believe that that is a true

statement at all. my story proves that. but this is not safe for me and i couldn't have children and all of these stories prove that. people have been physically harmed, i have a friend that lost a daughter on the table of an abortionist. there are ramifications and it does hurt women. [inaudible] >> it is said that some prefer to initiate with a nonliving fetus for emotional reasons or to avoid the problem of a transient at the time of fetal expulsion. that is on page 185. what in plain english are they referring to in this sanitized statement. >> they are referring to -- >> turn your microphone on.

>> they are referring to bring about a fetal death prior to it initiating a procedure. you can do that a couple of ways. >> it is much more difficult to administer certain things to cause fetal death. i inject thing this in large doses into the amniotic sac or directly into the fetus as was shown there, you can cause a fetal death. that -- if you are successful that obviates the problem of live birth. with abortion that i described between 14 and 24 weeks and dismembering a baby, a dismemberment abortion, there is no chance of a live birth. but when you use these later techniques where you are essentially inducing labor with

drugs, if you do not induce this ahead of time and you run the risk of a live birth, you have a situation of a person under the law even as the laws are constituted that have a right to medical care, which is obviously not going to be available in hotel rooms or in clinics, these women need to be in hospitals. that is what they are referring to. >> thank you. >> one more question. why did you and your practice of doing abortions? >> i did over 1200 abortions over a four year time frame in private practice, not counting the ones that i did in my training. ..

you bury your child and then you go back to your life. i don't remember exactly how long it was after i showed up at albany medical center or number nine and was not thinking of it as anything special. i reached in and pulled on nonrelated and got sick. earlier on a describe stacking a body parts on the side of the table, not to gross people out jesus simpleto simple term. when you do an abortion, you need to keep inventory.

you need to make sure you get to arms into legs and all the pieces. if you don't patient will come back. i'm telling you straight up my experience, after over 12001200 abortions 1st and 2nd trimester up to 24 weeks and being dedicated, for the 1st time in my life ii really looked at that pilot body parts on the side of the table. did not see her wonderful right to choose all the money i just made the someone's son or daughter. i stopped doing late-term abortions after that and several months later stop doing all abortions. >> thank you. >> the chair now recognizes the gentleman from michigan. twelve minutes remaining. >> i would like to go forward and thank all of the

witnesses. but i have a question for ms. carolyn fredrickson please. i am going to quote from our chairman's memorandum on this hearing. the purposethe purpose of this hearing will be to hear from witnesses on the issues surrounding the alleged acts of planned parenthood. so without commenting on its authenticity, does the video played by doctor levantine out earlier have anything whatsoever to do with planned parenthood? >> i do not see the relevance of the video to a hearing that is supposed to be focused on planned parenthood itself and any allegations, unsupported as

they may be, of wrongdoing. i don't see how they relate to the hearing. >> can you describe the result of the independent preventive analysis of videos released by the center for medical progress? >> the independent examination by the forensic experts found that the videos were completely unreliable because they have been so heavily edited and an appeal to manipulated that they could not be shown to prove any evidence of any type of wrongdoing. >> now, as you note, ms. fredrickson, in your testimony, six states, missouri, pennsylvania,, missouri, pennsylvania, georgia, indiana, massachusetts command south dakota have looked into allegations of wrongdoing at planned parenthood affiliates. can you report to your

knowledge what they have found? >> all of them found that there was no basis for any finding of any wrongdoing by planned parenthood. and so those investigations were dismissed. >> now, what would happen to women if roe v wade were overturned? landmark case involving a woman's right to choose. with women still choose to end their pregnancies? with those procedures be safer than those provided by planned parenthood today? >> mr. conyers, it is true andan unfortunate that when abortion was illegal in this country women did seek abortions and unfortunately those illegal abortions are dangerous and put women's

lives in jeopardy and women do nonetheless seek out abortions, so it is imperative that abortion remain safe and legal in this country. >> now, thank you. some have claimed that there are clinics to absorb planned parenthood patients, planned parenthood affiliates are forced to close their doors. is that true? >> that has been described as ludicrous by experts in public health who see that there is no way that these health centers to fill a gap that is provided by planned parenthood, which is an anchor for women's healthcare in america and is,is, in fact, the leading health provider of healthcare for women. >> and just about through. is there adequate capacity in the healthcare system to absorb all of planned

parenthood's patients? >> no, there is clearly no capacity to absorb those patients. they would unfortunately have been easy on met testing and breast exams and as a result they're would be more abortions, not fewer. >> what kind of patients might be particularly harmed if those that want to defund planned parenthood were successful in their efforts. >> i thank you very much for your testimony and i think

the chairman for the time. >> the committee will stand in recess and reconvene immediately after the vote. [inaudible conversations] >> at the end of the classic movie casablanca of the inspectorthe inspector issues in order to round up the usual suspects. every time my friends on the other side of the aisle have a horrific act they issue a

similar order. we have heard them all here today. dotoday. do not believe your eyes and ears and what you hear on the video. look somewhere else. don't focus on this horrific act. this is justthis is just political theater. somehow the other, if you are sensitive and do not like the fact that an unborn child is torn apart limb by limb you have some kind of massive attack on women in general, and don't look at the horrific act of this group might have done because after all they might have done some of the good acts that were horrific and excuses go on and on, the reality is there is simply no. there is nothing that our friends on the other side of the aisle would look at this organization and say comeau we might like you,you, but that is too far and we

cannot condone that. and i would like to now show a video. [inaudible] >> now,now, mr. chairman, we heard a lot about editing a videos. there is no evidence at this video has been edited. the procedures that were discussed of crushing an unborn child in more than one place, by the way that has a heart, lung, and liver that is so well developed

the planned parenthood want to save the heart, lung, liver but not the life they created it. one simple question, is that procedure too brutal for you? >> i would like to respond by saying as you started describing this is political theater. >> if you don't want to answer the question you're not going to run the clock on me. yes or no, is it too brutal? >> that may be, but i have five minutes. you can answer it or not. i understand if you don't want to answer, but can you say whether you feel it is too brutal or not? >> i feel abortion should be safe for legal? >> is that procedure too brutal? >> i am not a dr. >> if you had a small dog and had to put it to sleep,

do you think it would be brutal for the veterinarian to crush that dog in two different places? >> i trust women and their doctors. >> let the record show ms. fredrickson would not answer the question. doctor, is that too brutal? >> every abortion, every abortion involves the destruction of human life. i get frustrated sometimes with the it is not a babya baby it's a fetus. we have mostly gotten beyond that argument. you know why that is? that is your son, your daughter, every abortion results and a dead son or daughter. subsequently gruesome. it's perfect. if i abused dog i be arrested. fight it abortions again 1st trimester, 2nd trimester i would be hero do so many people it's absurd.

they won't say any procedures too far or not enough. and there's a big difference between saying they may not be allowed to protect us to get something that may not be illegal and to say there was no wrongdoing done because what we heard on that tape was wrongdoing and with that i yield back. >> thank you, mr. chairman. we have heard a lot about saving lives. after 23 years in congress, i am shocked by the hypocrisy we continually hear from my friends on the other side of the aisle. they have been over 900 mass shootings across the country, including 300 mass shootings in 2015, an

average of more than one every day this year, 10,128 people have been killed this year alone gun violence of people in any other developed country were not more or less mentally ill. although we have just 30% 30%30 percent of the worlds population there is 90 percent of the world supply. i think this 3 percent of the worlds population. since sandy hook there have been 142 school shootings. since the organ shooting 146 people have been killed and 128 shootings.128 shootings. not one hearing, not one vote on gun violence. for comparison sake two months ago and extremist liar release a series of heavily edited and probably illegal videos filled with lies about planned parenthood from an organization that has been

providing compassionate healthcare to women 1st century. the house is open three official investigations, spent countless hours a committee hearings and yesterday voted to establish a 4th investigation to a special select committee, taken 20 votes this year alone restricting women's access to healthcare. this very hearing is the 2nd in 30 days on planned parenthood despite the fact that this farce is knowingly based on lies. if there was even one shred of evidence planned parenthood broken laws that would have gone to a prosecutor right away. perhaps that is why one of my republican colleagues announced on tv just last week that there is no evidence planned parenthood has broken any laws. imagine how many lives we could save my colleagues devoted even one half of that attention to stopping the epidemic of gun violence in this country?

my colleagues were claim we cannot possibly take action on gun violence because the right to own a gun is protected by the constitution. it is a funny argument coming from the other side in light of the shameful hearing. you know what else is protected? a woman's right to access abortion and make her own choices about her healthcare and whether to get an abortion. if the same colleagues refuse to take any action on gun violence have no problem tossing the constitution out the window to impose their own moral opinions on all american women. measures passed at the state and local level put unbelievable restrictions on a woman's right to access an abortion. they must wait 48 hours before the coverage of the procedure, take time off from work and endure endless badgering and assault from protesters. they must face regular shaming for the republicans on this committee. almost all men for making

the choice to exercise their constitutional right. yet there are no such restrictions for acquiring again. no background check, no id. imagine if we made people talk to the same posted by a firearm as they do for having an abortion, the invasive questions about why your getting the gun and whether or not you have considered your options. imagine the onlyimagine the only way was to prove you have been raped or assaulted in the past. think about being shamed and shouted out in force. that outrage, that nagging feeling that the government has no right to put any restrictions on their constitutional right is with thewhat a woman feels every time she tries to make a decision about her health

and whether or not to access her constitutional right to an abortion. until this committee is ready to face the real crisis talk to take a firm stand that enough is enough for these proceedings will remain hypocritical farce. are you aware the center for medical progress obtained its nonprofit status for the irs are presenting itself as a nonprofit and did not indicate political activities and is this a fraud, illegal to provide false information? >> yes to your 1st question. >> use your mic. >> they did make that application and i do believe it is a fraud and illegal. >> at the moment three house and one senate committees,, majorities proposing taxpayer dollars to establish select panel. what do you make of the fact that the majorities committed resources and almost none to investigating

allegedly or activity at the center for medical progress? >> it indicates that the true agenda is to undermine women's right to make personal ability. >> as do the testimony of three witnesses. thank you very much, and i yield back. >> now recognize the gentleman from iowa. >> thank you, mr. chairman. just listen to the gentleman from new york about the same hopes to buy a firearm as there is to get an abortion. i suggest it is much easier to get an abortion that it is to buy a gun or possess one or transport one. that is true in many cities, including chicago where we have seen a lot of death desecration that comes from

violence that does not seem to trouble the minority party. but i am looking for your testimony. i notice that you list the numbers of life-saving breast exams, the number of women whose cancer was detected early, 500,000 exams. very likely did save lives. i did not notice, and have prevented an estimated 516,000 unintended pregnancies in 217,000 abortions every year. i had not seen planned parenthood produce a number that actually took credit for the number of abortions prevented -- excuse me, the number of abortions prevented, neither did i see in this testimony the number of abortions that planned parenthood does?

>> i believe the number is 350,000 per year. >> what would the typical price be? >> i don't know. >> did i just been state off their website $1,500. when i punch that through my calculator it was 340,000. were in the ballpark. that turned out to be 510 million. that happens to be very close to identical to the exact number of the appropriations they were going to planned parenthood should the appropriations go forward, which it has. it is hard for me to accept the idea that this is a nonprofit organization. your testimony spoke to that seeing those kind of numbers

, could you be convinced that planned parenthood is nonprofit? >> officially planned parenthood is a nonprofit. their main concern is really the bottom line. we would have monthly manager meetings one of those items. if we did not do abortions at that center we had a goal for abortion referrals. >> could you say clearly hearing your testimony with confidence that in your

years working for planned parenthood even though it is filed as a nonprofit that they are profit driven? >> there all of the profit. they purchased birth control pills for $2.98 a cycle, build the iowa taxpayers $35 a cycle, reimburse a little over $26 and solicit from the very women administrator action referred to as very low income at or below poverty level to my $10 donation per cycle for each pill that goes out, each cycle that sells. the gap of services, not a way to fill that gap?

>> we already have evidence it is nearly impossible if not impossible to fill that gap. even in louisiana where they have tried to cut back on planned parenthood services and found they could simply not not serve the population that needed the services. >> tell me, how did planned parenthood grow into this service and into this that cannot be created another way? i you submitting that free enterprise and transportation and funding and resources would not grow another entity or two or three or 45 that would fill the same demand? >> with all due respect, we are talking about medicaid patients,patients, so i don't think they can be filled by the free enterprise system. >> what do you think would happen? >> more unintended pregnancy and unfortunately more

abortions. >> i just suspect that the witness is not considered how this comes together come out free enterprise moves and accepts medicaid checks malik clinic system works come out of providers are able to take a look at the marketplace and supply and demand. i suggest that that would be supplied without any great concern and yield back. >> i think the gentleman" recognize myself. forgive me. i recognize ms. jackson lee for five minutes. >> let me thank you very much all the witnesses. it is appropriate for them as a congress of thank you. let me also say this is a judiciary committee and it is important to be fact finding and to maintain and then tear to current stated statutory or court law that has set precedent for the actions that may be in place

now. obviously we have the right to make a determination. desperately did not have the adequate medical care consultation that was needed let me thank you anytime i see a doctor for taking the oath and recognizing the need for good care, but, but i want to go back to what this hearing is all about. are you representing at the video you showed was a planned parenthood video?

>> no, i am not. >> i have a short amount of time. that is not a planned parenthood video. i want to make clear the hearing is planned parenthood exposed. >> i'm sorry. >> let me pronounce it correctly. are you a lawyer? are you trying to nonprofit law? >> no. >> would you have a legal understanding of the rights and responsibilities of a nonprofit and what they are allowed to do? >> i ran a nonprofit. >> a lawyer that understands the law of nonprofit. >> no, but i had an understanding. >> but not from a legal perspective you would not be able to discern the appropriate response to federal funding being used for medicaid, healthcare matters versus things that

you have now become opposed to which is your right to do >> one of my biggest concerns is why they were soliciting donations, requiring donations from medicaid eligible women. >> is that something you are submitting it to record? >> i did that every day that i worked there. >> were you able to discern by the understanding of the bylaws just what those requests might be? they have every right to engage in a voluntary perspective. a voluntary request that someone voluntarily may desire to do. it has been said by the chairman of the oversight committee that planned parenthood did if i might

quote correctly by abolishing the law. >> yes, ityes, it is. >> is that the right for women to choose? >> yes. >> the right to privacy. >> under the constitution. >> not an advertisement and billboard for abortion but a right to privacy. >> let me also say, the political agenda, not going to ask you had question, but that question, but i would like to focus on your understanding of what planned parenthood does. do they legitimately have healthcare for women? >> our nation'snation's leading provider of reproductive health care for women providing a critical service.

one in five american women to go to a planned parenthood clinic in their lifetime. >> let me pursue another line of questioning. in order to make sure we know we have a medical structure, abortion care is included in medical training clinical practice and medical education. abortion. abortion has 99 percent safe record but the 57,000 members of the american congress maintain the high standards of clinical practice that have indicated that that is the case and there is misinformation about how abortions today are handled. are you familiar with that contrast? >> yes i understand that many women died of back alley abortions and that it is a tremendous advance. >> let me add the 4th amendment.

let me just ask this question as i close. are you familiar with that name surveillance? >> from the videos, yes. >> do you realize he is not publicly releasing the entirely unedited video? >> no member has seen the entire unedited video. >> taken the fifth amendment >> yes. >> do you understand that he stole the idea of a fellow classmate in high school who happens to be a feminist in order to portray be distorted political and biased video? >> i understand that is the case. >> if we are here to find the facts, is it not factual that through all of the hearings we have not heard of any statement by planned parenthood in essence

violating the law, roe v wade, constitutional amendment command you are that? >> indeed they have agreed that there is no wrongdoing. >> thank you and they yield back. >> appointed parliamentary inquiry. >> this witness just testified. planned parenthood exposed. >> it's not.

i make a motion to strike it from the record. >> .of order. i made a motion at that be stricken from the record to the hearing and i ask for a vote on my request. >> i 2nd the motion. >> all those in favor. >> the gentleman restates his motion. >> mr. chairman. >> there was already a vote. >> reserving my right to object, gentleman had his

opportunity to object. >> that is not true. >> all those in favor say i. >> all those opposed. >> i wonder who will strike that from your memory. >> ask for a recorded vote. >> recorded vote has been asked for.

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>> mr. chairman. >> inquiry. >> as i understand it, this is a motion. >> parliamentary inquiry. >> i asked the ruling and take time to ask. >> report the vote. >> the chairman can consider that. >> state your inquiry. >> ii wanted to ask if this was a motion to strike testimony of a witness or video and if we had such

motion because i don't recall ever having one where we were striking testimony of witnesses that have been made. >> as i understand, the minority is asked district a video which was given to them days ago and is not a surprise anyway. >> it was given to us yesterday morning. >> and that is the motion. >> regular order. >> this is regular order. >> the gentleman state his order. >> i we will waiti will wait until they are quiet and the statement parliamentary procedure once they have gotten quiet. mr. chairman, have we had a procedure before for under our parliamentary rules to strike evidence of a witness? i don't remember one taking place. >> i am told not in this committee. >> okay. please announce the vote.

>> mr. chairman. >> mr. shepherd votes now. >> nine members voted i, seven members voted no. >> and then the question is agreed to. >> i will now recognize myself for five minutes or questions. one of the hallmarks of humanity throughout history is our astonishing proclivity as human beings to obscure rationalize away and incontrovertible truth in our own minds before others to achieve some solidarity.

does abortion kill a little baby? if abortion does not kill aa little baby and i am here to pretty much suggests that we should be having such a hearing or anything like that, but if abortion really does kill a little baby, than those of us seated in the greatest nation in the history of the world are sitting in the midst of the greatest human genocide in the history of humanity, and the victims of the most helpless of all children. we recently had a vote. house of representatives to protect born alive children.

there wasthere was not one person to my left the voted for the bill. born alive children, and, and i suggest that if we have come to the moment in america where we no longer willing to protect born alive children, then it is time to reassess who we are and whether or not the founding fathers dream still has a place in our society. if a child is born alive during an abortion procedure a dr. has medical duty to say that child, correct? >> he does have an ethical duty to provide care whether it is life-saving or palliative. >> well, the president of planned parenthood has said in testimony that she never heard of such a circumstance

happening at planned parenthood. do you believedo you believe that among the hundreds of thousands of abortions planned parenthood commits every year that there are in fact children born alive that die because they do not receive appropriate care? >> i cannot speak specifically from the parents. the reason i introduce a video is because planned parenthood has stated and we understand that they do perform late-term abortions. has. it has been stated by mr. richards that they perform late-term abortions to viability. if you're going to talk about late-term abortions he need to know what the techniques are which is why i introduced the testimony that i did. >> based upon your experience, what is your assessment of how low income women's healthcare could be met without planned parenthood? >> with all respect to ms. fredrickson, your

assertion and backing it up with statements from other people like it is ludicrous that other providers could adequately take on planned parenthood patients, the statement itself is ludicrous. where worked for over 13 years. the planned parenthood facilities are in albuquerque, santa fe, and farmington. there is not a single planned parenthood south and has not been for over a decade. one of the poorest areas in the country. ms. miss richardsons talk specifically about the healthcare that planned

parenthood provides, specifically family planning, counseling, contraception,, pregnancy tests, pap smears command breast exams. zero, and std testing. those of the services they provide. the poor people in my area get contraceptive counseling pap smears, breast exams, and truly comprehensive healthcare from our healthcare clinics. this committee hasclinics. this committee has heard that there are over 16,000 of their clinics across the country. look at my map again. this is covering in new mexico, and unlike planned parenthood they are not a nine to five monday through friday business. their women get taking care of if they have a headache or nausea or stroke or heart

attack or all the other things that happen. that is what we call comprehensive healthcare. $500 million, as a dr. i would give you my opinion that $500 million would be far better served, those women across the country would be far better served if the money was put into community health centers where women to get truly comprehensive care. >> i think the gentleman. now i would recognize mr. cohen from tennessee. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this hearing is disappointing in so many ways that it is hard to begin. let me just say that it is a

a myth to think that if we were able to defund planned parenthood, which i don't think we could legally do, that there is the capacity to provide the medical services to the women being served. the last time we had a hearing in this committee on the same subject i put a letter into the record of that hearing from the california nonprofit clinic saying they do not have the capacity to pick up the caseload of planned parenthood flat out. that has been a lot of discussion about abortion here today. abortion is a very emotional subject for people in this country command i think that that is why we have ended up in the situation that we have with no federal funding for abortion. so if the effort to cut off funding for planned parenthood would succeed, we would cut off contraception

but not abortion which is an absurd result, i must say. you know, i have known women who have had abortions command i have never met a woman who felt happy about it. this is not a festive occasion. it is a situation where women find themselves and make it choices of the government telling them what to do. i think of the daughter-in-law of a dear friend of mine who had an abortion late are pregnancy when she found out that the much wanted child she was carrying had all of her brains formed outside of the cranium and the child would not with and she and her husband were devastated, but she was told by her physician that if she carried this child to term not only with the child die that she might die and she

would certainly never have the chance of having another child. we think about the women all over the country who struggle with this decision and make a decision, but one of the important things is to provide the contraception so that women don't have to be faced with that terrible decision. i do think one of the most important things that planned parenthood does is to provide birth control to women who want to control their own fertility. and if we were to cut off funding for planned parenthood, that would not be available to the women, many women who live in my committee in san jose and gilroy. i think that that would be a very wrong thing. there has been a lot of dirt in the year about planned parenthood as an institution

planned parenthood in san jose is a well-respected organization. i have thousands of women have told me how much they rely upon planned parenthood not only for pap smears and birth control and cancer screenings, they even do some pediatric care. they are full service, and it is an important institution and a well trusted institution in my district which is what i hear from families and from women i called. earlier in the oversight and government reform committee there was a chart indicating planned parenthood performed more abortions than life-saving procedures and 2013. as you see the hearing?

>> i don't think that is an accurate chart. no evidence that they have violated the law it anyway. by you aware of evidence that has been held about whether they filed for the tax returns, whether they were operating in compliance with the law? >> so far i don't believe there have been congressional inquiries. >> i know our attorney general in california is looking into it. i will disclose by saying that i hopei hope that this is the end of the persecution of planned parenthood. it is important and ii hope.

trying to smear this wonderful institution. i yield back. >> i make a motion that the video that is part of mr. levantine us testimony those previously stricken from the record being a part of the record. >> all those in favor of the motion respond by saying i, those opposed know. i think the gentleman, and the gentleman is now recognized for his question.

>> the gentlewoman from california recognized for five minutes. your next. >> the gentleman from ohio for his question. >> thank you, mr. chairman. indicated that this hearing is disappointing, and it is certainly disappointing that we have to hold a hearing like this about an organization that every year brutally kills hundreds of thousands of unborn innocent babies and sells their body parts and does not for

profit. i happen to represent most of the city of cincinnati. planned parenthood does approximately 330,000 abortions. they basicallythey basically wipe out the population of the city of cincinnati every year, about 300,000 people in that particular community so it is very disappointing that we have to have a hearing like this and here the testimony. you earlier said your comment, something along the lines of it is not against the law. if that is the case,, the organization a you are here testifying on behalf of today, if it is accurate than what you are doing, just trying little innocent unborn lives and selling your body parts for profit, if that is not against the law we demo but a change the

law wewe're supposed to be a civilized society and civilized country. to think that that kind of behavior is occurring in these modern times, it makes one wonder what the hell is going on in this country. it is disgusting. i know the excuses. we did not know we were being taped. that is accurate offense. i think it takes a lot of courage to have experienced some of the things you experience over the years and to be willing to come here and testify about what

has happened. i heard you testify. thank you for coming forward and doing what you are doing now to expose what has occurred. if you could again -- and i know you already said it, but in your past obviously you did perform abortions and then at some point in your life you decided not to do that anymore. couldcould you share again what it was the made that change for you? >> it was a loss of my own adopted daughter.

>> thank you. >> thank you. >> you indicated, would you want to share some of the stories of other women? there is actually to victims. there is also the woman who has been a victim often times in a planned parenthood facility, but could you share in the brief time i have left anything you would like to say that the other women? >> i have heard a lot today about safe abortions. >> we are not having safe abortion in this country.

they are not able to have there own children because of it. why are we talking about why this is not safe. these are the stories to tell it, and it would be more if women were not too ashamed to ashamed and afraid to come out ofand talk about this and sometimes it does not happen for years. their women they will be up to talk about it for tenten and 20 years command i heard multiple stories, hundreds of how they have been maimed and wounded in every way.

i cannot -- it was hard for me to even bond with my own child that i adopted because of this procedure. i am just begging for you people to protect women. this is notthis is not a good choice for women. protect us. do the right thing. instead of looking at pocket books i would like to ask the committee how many people are receiving donations which saddens my heart. would you choose that are protecting women? >> thank you very much. i yield back my time. >> the children from tennessee is recognized for five minutes. >> when mr. franks made a comment about a bill on the floor three or four weeks ago, on that same day there was another bill to fund

planned parenthood. and no one on this side voted for them. he is right, and they did not come to the subcommittee and they did not get to the full committee for markup or for hearing because regular order did not apply because the pope was going to be here, andhere, and we wanted to put the focus on this issue because it was politics. if there is a bill, this is show business hearing. it went straight to the floor, no amendments allowed. just like benghazi was politics, had accomplices purpose of hurting the woman >> with the gentleman yield? >> no, i won't. he admitted but they were doing.

this is the same deal. there is not any evidence that there has been any law violated and yet we have a special committee. you admitted that your video had nothing to do with planned parenthood. >> it was not shot on planned parenthood. >> he did not to eight years. >> medical ethics lost there medical license?

the know of anyone who lost a medical license? no? >> no. >> and the you? >> i do not. >> medical ethics, case closed. second question. >> and i am sorry for your problems of history. your 1st abortion was a planned parenthood. where was your your 2nd? >> in the goldmans clinic. >> in your 3rd? >> i believe it was at am a goldman. >> they do the same types of procedures there. >> this hearing is about planned parenthood. you now have a not-for-profit.

what is the name? >> cornerstone for life. >> do you draw a salary? >> i geti get a stipend. >> and that is? >> a thousand dollars a month. >> and you are considered a christian speaker. >> usually i do not get paid the fact is, this hearing is just like benghazi, the select committee on planned parenthood made his politics. the whole idea that this is about planned parenthood is wrong and doctor levantine it has admitted there is no evidence of any medical, ethical impropriety, only a title it has been put up your. one 3rd of her history is planned parenthood it is

unfortunate that this is how we're spending our time. perform by planned parenthood and happy medicaid reimburses them. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> please be careful using this.

we didn't get into the practices, the fetal body tissue issues. we were very narrowly focused on the finances. the.we were making is that planned parenthood had revenue of 127 million more. we started to look at a nonprofit organization is what people are making and how they were spending that money. theythey were spending money and giving it to political organizations, have a lot of shared services. i think that is a legitimate question as we look at the finances of organization that is structured as a nonprofit organization. i was asked a direct question about the finances. thatthat is the way i took the question given the direction and drive of the hearing. did we find any wrongdoing? the answer was no.

in one moment it is inappropriate to suggest that i have come to some grand conclusion that every part of the operation. we did subpoena the video. we have some of those videos in a safe. we have jointly worked with the democrats on that. we had a court ruling earlier this week to get the rest of those videos. there was a temporary restraining order in california that would not release his videos. the judge recently ruled in our favor in the videos are being sent to congress. i will work with elijah cummings and figure out the best course home what to do. but just caution to members that it is a bit of a

stretch to say that i have done some conclusive investigation. did i look at the finances, yes. it is a legitimate question to all of us. why do we send money to an organization were revenue exceeds expenses? that does not sound like an organization that needs to be supplemented by taxpayer dollars. >> yield for a question. >> i just want to ask whether or not you have any evidence in that planned parenthood has broken the law? >> the video that has been out there, the rumors 11 swirling with the testimony causes a lot of people to legitimately ask and dive into whether or not what they're doing is illegal.

it is a legitimate question from an objective.of view, and so ii think they will continue to be investigations. i voted in favor which does have to go further and dive deeper into those issues, but i don't think that the final chapter has been written all this criticism. that is so false. the 1st not-for-profit organization was the nfl. i called out the nfl. they restructured and for the 1st time they are now no longer a not-for-profit

organization.a not-for-profit organization. in a very bipartisan way with elijah cummings and the democrats we worked on that issue and made a major transformation, major change and looking at another not-for-profit organization and is taking hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money, legitimate decision in the context of an 18 plus trillion dollar debt which is a discussion we had, proud of it. with that, i yield back. >> the chair thanks the gentleman. >> would you mind me having a look. >> while she is coming down to do that let me ask doctor levantine question. is there any circumstance under which you agree that a woman should have a right to

have an abortion to abort a fetus that was eroding from incest or rape? >> if i were a congressman. >> you support a law that would ban. >> not been come allow. >> you believe that a woman should have a right to choose. >> all the same morally have a great problem with that. politically i would vote for such a law. >> heartbeat at 21 days. it's never okay to have an abortion. we have 57 million missing people. >> you went to work at planned parenthood

terminating pregnancies. >> i started as a clinic assistant. >> you are a woman who was fired by planned parenthood. >> you love planned parenthood. >> do you believe that they should be defunded? >> indeed i do. brought with fraud. >> thank you.

>> you have a lawsuit pending. >> a whistleblower case. if you when you make a lot of money. >> we never really talked about that. >> you will make a lot of money if you went can't take it from me. >> i don't need a lamborghini. i don't know what i would do with that. >> money does not matter. >> right. time the truth is what matters. >> okay. well, as far as you know planned parenthood does not make political contributions, does it? >> i have no idea what contributions it makes? >> or if they do. they don't, do they? >> i am not familiar with the entire corporate structure. >> doctor, are you aware of

the stories of the many women whose lives have literally been saved by planned parenthood? >> in what way? >> that is a my question. are you aware of that being the case? >> are attached to the question without knowing in what context you are asking it. >> how about you? >> i would ask the same question. >> ii do you don't want to answer the question. well, you have not heard about the story of tiffany who was so broke she cannot afford a regular dr. visit the plan parenthood was her only option than that of routine pap smear that planned parenthood diagnosed her with cervical cancer. the early discovery of which saved her life. have familiar? >> i would ask how much money they ask after the dinner pap smear. >> am sure it was the --

levy payable. >> it could not be more than the value of her life. >> if she would have gone to a federally qualified health center. >> maybe she could not have gotten conversation. >> in my town is four blocks. >> there are other people at different circumstances. shouldn't you be concerned about them? >> are 20 free clinics for everyone planned parenthood. theythey are everywhere. >> and the purpose of this hearing was to shut down planned parenthood because of abortion. >> the time of the gentleman has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. gomer, for five minutes. would you yield back to me

briefly? >> yes. >> i just want to stay for the record regarding the., in the state of georgia there are for planned parenthood locations, most or all of which provide abortion services. therethere are 274 other healthcare alternatives that provide women services that do not provide abortion. in terms of convenience of location, they would be a good argument that there is much more convenience to get to healthcare facilities, public health care facilities that do not include abortion services. >> thank you. i think there was some effort to cast doubt on your capabilities that it has been working for planned parenthood since you were not an attorney. i doi do not know how many attorneys we have running

planned parenthood facilities, but i hope that there are not many. >> there is typically one per affiliate. >> really? one lawyer for planned parenthood affiliate? >> they do lobbying and run the pack the political action committee. >> they have a pack? and how many mammograms to those do? >> they do not do mammograms >> if we cut federal funding for planned parenthood across the country how many women would be denied mammograms? >> zero. >> but if we cut funding they're would be lawyers the do lobbying and some people that get political donations

money and financing. >> my friend indicated it was a myth that it would provide services and yet when we here the actual facts it turns out while, if we provided the money directly to healthcare facilities that do nothing but help women with the full range of services for women, including mammograms and things that planned parenthood never does, it sounds like that women would have even better services, more services even though a lot of parts were break for

the lawyers that would not be able to get the federal funding and be able to lobby and donate to our democratic friends. i was so pleased with the comment from my friend from genesee the benghazi was politics. that is exactly what we have been trying to get to. it was politics. you had people meeting here in america in washington while people were dying, while time was was gathering david evans anglin dority and going to the rooftop to man guns to try to protect the people in those facilities. yes, benghazi was about politics. and ii would love to know what the president was doing that night. if i have people that worked for me i cannot go to bed.

it apparently there was plenty of rest before he went to the fundraiser in las vegas the next day. yes, my colleague is right. it was about politics, and politics command we need to get to the bottom of why those people were killed while no one in washington that knew what was going on lifted a finger he is on a gurney, and they are beating his leg blown off against the side of the little plane someone in washington those that are doing nothing. you bet it was politics.

we need to say yes. that was politics, and we need to find out why it was so political set of coming together as americans in protecting those people. my time is expired. >> the chair recognizes gentleman from florida for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. it is remarkable to me that the two most important issues to the majority of our collided and one hearing now one of four committees investigating planned parenthood. what are we investigating? no one said this, but we need to be clear about it. the goal of the majority is to return to a nation where rove the way it is not the

law of the land and women do not enjoy the constitutional right at the supreme court make clear they have to make decisions about there own body. now, i don't know why we are here. we arethey are not here to talk about the fruitless investigations undertaken by six different states that have failed to find any legal wrongdoing, not here to discuss the merits of fetal tissue donation given that the knew -- new england journal of medicine growth in every person in this country have benefited command we are not here to discuss a federal court order issued this week mandating the center for medical progress turnover more of its misleading and fraudulent documentation. the only purpose is to smear a healthcare provider that enjoys aa higher approval rating among the american people than i would guess any member in this body enjoys. as this committee contemplates medical ethics of women's reproductive freedoms i asked this

question, the medical ethics of not holding any hearings on aa gun violence epidemic the claims the lives of 30,000 americans every year for the medical ethics of not holding a hearing on the 12,000 homicides and accidental gun deaths and 18,010 deaths by suicide, and the medical ethics of states trying to bend pediatricians from discussing basic gun safety measures with parents? this house judiciary committee has held zero hearings. nor has this committee held hearings on the deadly mass shootings have inflicted so much grief and committee. not after santa barbara, and there have been none scheduled after roseburg. not after any of the mass shootings that have occurred.

october is domestic violence awareness month. more than 1600 women were murdered my men. while this committee continues its redundant attacks over women's health command ignores the reality that every day american women are murdered future domestic gun violence. it is congress works to ensure that women face even more humiliating obstacles violent offenders are still able to skirt background checks and get guns to commit horrific crimes. the american people already frustrated. even the most basic action. this committee have there jurisdiction, this one, judiciary committee.

there is a bipartisan public safety and second amendment protection act introduced by congressman thompson and king them close gun sale loopholes with comprehensive background checks for all purposes. the tracethe trace act that empowers law enforcement to stop the flow of guns to streets. congresswoman maloney's maloney's legislation to lift the ban on federal research on gun violence, my own legislation , the safe and responsible transfer act. not one of those bills, not want has been the subject of a hearing from this committee, not even a hearing with the majority can bring in witnesses to tell us why bipartisan supported and is somehow to extreme. that has not been a single hearing on any commonsense improvements to gun laws. the american people are frustrated with congress. the time for silence on this issue is over.

at the beginning of the hearing today one of my colleagues talked about the self-imposed blindness, self-imposed blindness. that is a self-imposed blindness that congress has to gun violence. the humanity of the victims he hopes becomesbecome so glaring that it moves an entire generation of the american people. i can only hope that the humanity of the victims of the thousands the tens of thousands of lives lost my move this congress to finally take action. i yield back. >> the gentleman yields back. chair recognizes the gentleman from idaho. i would like to say that there are right now on the books hundreds of federal gun control laws and regulations and yet in the

last six years the enforcement, the prosecutions for violations of all those laws are down by 30 percent. it seems to me that an administration led by an individual who calls for more laws every time we have one of the strategies ought to go look in the mayor and determine what is appropriate. >> will the gentleman yield. >> i will not. it is a problem that can be addressed with the laws that exist now.