next the house judiciary committee hears committee hears testimony about the practices of planned parenthood and considers whether the organization should be federally funded. his hearing is just over three hours. [inaudible conversations] c good afternoon. the judiciary committee will come will come to order without objection the chair is authorized to declare recesses of the committee at any time. welcome everyone to this morning's hearing on planned parenthood exposed examining

abortion procedures and medical ethics in the nation's largest abortion provider and i will begin by recognizing myself for an opening statement. before i go to the statement on bad i would like to take a moment to remember the life of former congressman william john edwards who passed away this month at the age of 100. don edwards was first elected into congress in 1963 where he had a distinguished career working on the voting rights act , the civil rights act and served on the house judiciary committee during the investigation of the watergate scandal. during this time don edwards served the former congressman caldwell butler who i worked for at the time. when don edwards left office in 1995 after 32 years of congressional service, he was succeeded by our own zoe lofgren and her 15 district that i rate

i had the opportunity to serve for two years with congressman edwards myself and appreciate his service. it's now my pleasure to ask a member to share a few words about our former colleague terry espymack thank you mr. chairman. members of the committee and our witnesses and all of our friends that are here in the hearing room, i knew congressman don edwards and worked with him and he has left a lasting legacy. he was a progressive sensible demands and never stop believing that the coercive power of the government should be subject to the highest levels of scrutiny but and i think we still carry on that tradition in the judiciary even now. he also wanted us never to forget that our government

exists to the consent for the purpose of preserving and not eroding our rights. i am grateful to have been a colleague of his daring his service and career in congress and we will miss him and remember him. and i thank the chair. >> mr. chairman? >> the gentlewoman from california is recognized. >> thank you mr. chairman. i briefly would like to join in the eulogy for congressman don edwards. in 1978 graduated from stanford university and came out to washington without a job and don edward tired me. i worked for him for nine years here in washington and also in the california office when we went through the incredible

impeachment of richard nixon along with your prior boss and many other issues. he was a marvelous man, a mentor for me and someone who was widely admired not only in the congress but where he served. ..

>> i had the honor of serving with him for two years. i was elected in 1992. and i knew of him well before i came to congress, one of the leading defenders of civil liberties in the united states and i admired him from afar. when i came to congress and i told the speaker, i was asked what committees you'd like to serve on, i was told that if i wanted to serve on the judiciary committee i had to get mr. edwards approval is my attitudes on civil liberties. so i had an interview with him and i must have satisfied his interest in my attitude because he approved it and i became a member of the committee. such was the esteem, he was

giving it and he was a leading voice of civil liberties for many years and he served his country well and we should thank him and his memory for that. i yield that. >> the chair thanks the gentleman. now i will begin my opening statement. >> by the fifth week, her heart begins to beat pumping blood throughout your body and her arm and leg buds begin to grow in her brain begins to develop, her eyes and ears began to form, by the sixth week, her hands and feet began to form. during this time elites nine

through 12, the baby could begin sucking her thumb and then by 12 weeks, which marks the end of the verse trimester, she is capable of making a fist. upon any given day, her developing heart, including her heart and brain, may be harvested at many planned parenthood clinics to participate in this practice across this country and that moshe will be referred to as a product of conception. despite the horrific nature of these practices and planned parenthood has not been so much about harvesting of baby

products for the people talking about them doing it on video. planned parenthood argued that the video is released by the center of medical progress are highly edited. but it is noteworthy to point out that the group hired to review this video found that the analysis reviewed substantive manipulation. the second analysis commissioned reached a similar conclusion. according to that report, the recorded media files in the state of the video recordings are authentic and show no evidence of manipulation or editing. today's hearing is about the content contained within the videos, including admissions made i planned parenthood official is they raise serious questions about the treatment of our nation's children who may be born alive following a failed abortion. for example, the vice president of planned parenthood of the rocky mountains, babies are

being born intact in some instances. she said that sometimes we get, if someone delivers before we get to them for a procedure, then they are intact. but that is not what we go on. to ensure that babies born alive in such instances are given necessary care, the house passed the born alive abortion survivors protection act which were wires a baby surviving an abortion be given the same treatment and care that would be given to any child naturally born premature at the same age and that includes to prevent the killing of innocent babies born alive. these indicate that practitioners may have adopted new procedures to avoid the risk of violating the partial-birth abortion ban act.

in the first video the senior director of services stated that the federal abortion ban is a law and the laws are up to interpretation. today's hearing is intended to explore what interpretation has arisen. i look forward to hearing from everyone today. i now open and to mr. conyers for his statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and members of the committee. we want to take a moment to walk through the events that have led up to this hearing done on.

>> on july 15 of this year and others were posted online. three different committees launched simultaneous investigations. on september 9, this committee held its first hearing at which the witnesses for the majority refused to discuss this at the heart of the matter.

[inaudible] and that they are extending the so-called investigation indefinitely. we are able to draw some conclusions. but first, there is no evidence in the record whatsoever, on behalf of the 59 affiliates, the planned parenthood federation of america has provided this committee with hundreds of documents. and that includes three investigations of the house. the documents we have reviewed so far allow us to go point by point and created by the highly

edited misleading video that nominated to investigate these very determined that sincere, running his own investigation, has agreed to this conclusion. last week we asked the gentleman from utah, is there any evidence that planned parenthood has broken any law. and no, i am not suggesting that they broke the law. i would like to conclude that this hearing, much like the broader attack on planned parenthood may be a political

theater. designed to rally the conservative base of rollback. in practice, these investigations have had little to do with the videos which some went to great lengths at the last hearing. and that includes the most conservative elements of one of the parties during an interparty leadership crisis. we may have a legitimate difference of opinion but it remains the law of the land and

many women in the health care system go to planned parenthood coming back from a six in 10 women who received services at a family planning center consider their primary source and it makes up an incredibly small amount of the services it provides. [inaudible] 80% detected abnormalities that could have signaled a greater of

cancer. so many others, planned parenthood saves lives. so until they attempted a fun planned parenthood, it places each of those lives at risk. we should be grateful that the effort has been almost entirely unsuccessful, at least so far on the federal level. >> as we head into the second election season, this committee has been -- that they could do a lot more to restore an enforcement mechanism with the voting rights act. we have done little to advance comprehensive immigration

reform. and the proposals remain overwhelmingly popular and will probably easily passed the house. we have to start acting. and i feel that this time they will have to wait even longer. although the scores of gun violence has touched everyone of our districts, we have all been called to strengthen us and close this loophole. all of them are consistent with the constitutional right and the list of missed opportunities is long and our time is short. we should not spend one more

minute or one more taxpayer dollar vilifying planned parenthood without a speck of evidence to back these claims. this committee has too much important work to do and i urge my colleagues to help us put this kind of theater behind us. we can do better. i think the chairman and i appreciate the opportunity to express my views. >> thank you, gentlemen. there is a minute remaining. head to the floor and we will stand in recess until these votes conclude and resume immediately thereafter.

[inaudible conversations] >> we are going to reconvene. i would like to welcome the gentleman from arizona for his opening statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, the tiny diaper that i hold in my hand is one made to fit an micro preemie. once all of these diapers to move my heart because i saw it in the context of the numerous video recordings that were released in recent months that tragically demonstrated that they have no monopoly to unborn

children and little babies that actually survived the trauma of going through an abortion. and the little babies of exactly this age and stage of development at these little diapers are made to fit. and i would like to talk about the shrill response to discredit them in every way possible. they really have no choice. and they know that anyone with a conscience who does watch these videos are finally going to see planned parenthood and the abortion industry for who they are. and this murderous industry will be rejected in the hearts of the american people. however, a forensic analysis of

these video recordings conclusively indicate that the videos are indeed authentic and show no evidence of manipulation or deceptive editing. and this includes the folder and file. the uniformity from the two different investigators also confirms the evidence that these video recordings are completely authentic and the house of representatives very recently passed hr 3504.

the born alive abortion survivors protection act. i'm told that democrats in the senate intend to filibuster this bill that protects not unborn children but rather little children that have been born alive. no one can obscure the community and personhood of these babies or claim conflict with the now completely separate interest of the mother and the child. nor can they take refuge within this schizophrenic paradox that roe versus wade has subjected the country to. the abortion industry has labored for all of these decades. to convince the world that one children and unborn children should be separated. unborn children are not persons

to some and they say they are not worthy of protection, but those same people who now oppose to protect the born alive children suddenly have the impossible of trying to rejoin these born children and unborn children back together and then to try to convince us all to condemn them both, it has collectively been a part of this and neither are worried about this at all. to anyone that is not hardening their heart and soul, and honest consideration of this absurd inconsistency, as you can see this country has faced such paradox before. we have faced such self-imposed blindness before.

[inaudible] at that debate did come in with that came a time from the humanity of the victims with what was being done to them finally became so glaring to the hardest of hearts that it helped an entire generation find compassion and courage to change their positions. >> first, is deliberately turning a blind eye to the helpless of our children born alive in the united states who we have become as a nation? and is voting against were filibustering against a bill to

protect born alive human babies from agonizing death whom i have become and want to be remembered for as a member. and so with that, mr. chairman, i yield back. >> we now recognize the subcommittee member, the gentleman mr. cohen, for his opening statement. >> thank you, sir, i appreciate the time although i don't appreciate the subject matter. second time in 30 days that we have held a full committee. as the ranking member and many others including jason take that have made clear, there is no credible evidence that they have broken any law.

want to pastor somebody wants for civil rights and move this committee forward. knowing that there is no ground to stand on regarding the legality of planned parenthood, many have chosen to move the goalpost. i suspect this will ultimately dissolve in the never ending argument of where this import decided roe versus wade, which for more than 42 years has guaranteed a woman's constitutional right to choose. is it is the law of the land this is lawful, a woman's choice and within a certain period in a time. >> many think that the court got

it right with roe versus wade. i suspect that my colleagues believe the opposite. different values, different backgrounds. the court agrees. i also suspect that they agree with me and most of my colleagues who believe in planned parenthood in the 97%. critical health care include health screening, particularly women's cancer, these are especially important with minority women from whom planned parenthood receives medicaid reimbursement for treating and observing and testing women for cancers and giving them birth control and advice. in fact, it is against the law. and so i would like for you to have a scattershot, a pointless

discussion over the constitutional right of women to make discussions about their bodies. a question that we entered a 1973 but here we are today. we could be talking about voting rights, something that john edwards voted for and we agree with the order of. a friend memorialized on tuesday that they had taken a big step back. we could be talking about gun violence, people dying around this country, but we are not doing that. we could be talking about nonviolent offenders in this committee will do more action on that with a comprehensive bill and i think the chairman for working with the ranking member on that. but we are not. let us not forget this entire exercise is based on heavily edited videos. which it is not including the for-profit sale is. i ask consent to play a compilation prepared by committee democrats and a portion of the unedited video.

those that we do not see in which we make clear that planned parenthood does not sell tissue or profit and to enter that into the record. >> if we could start playing it at 30 seconds and edited at one minute 55 seconds. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

[inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] >> at the end of the day what you are trying to do is take

money out of what you are trying to do not. >> thank you. i think that that is a telling testimony. and it wouldn't be seen in those videos that they are talking about. where she makes clear it's not about making money, it is not planned parenthood's policy, some might donate it for free, it's a woman's decision and it's not our deal. he kept saying bright, like stop saying this, this is what i want to hear. last night the cubs beat the pirates for nothing.

[inaudible] this investigation is based on false premises, one after another and it's time to stop wasting time and stop picking on women and try to take their toys away. i yield back the balance of my time. >> the time of the gentleman has expired. we welcome our distinguished witnesses and if you would all rise, i will begin by swearing u.n. the u.n. each of you swear that the testimony that you are about to give shall be the truth and nothing but the truth so help you god? >> thank you. the witnesses may be seated. and let it be known that they responded in the affirmative. the first witness is doctor anthony who is a word certified obstetrician gynecologist, over the course of his career he has practiced obstetrics and gynecology in private and university settings including as

an associate professor of ob/gyn at the albany medical college. the next witness is susan there that work for nearly 18 years as a center manager of the planned parenthood panic in storm lake, iowa. she was hired in fired in december 2008 when she expressed concerns about web camera abortions. [inaudible] [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.

[roll call] [roll call] [roll call]

[roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call]

[roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call]

[roll call] [roll call] >> 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?