The six Democrats named this week to the House Select Investigative Panel looking into Planned Parenthood’s fetal-tissue practices have received more than $81,000 from PACs affiliated with the organization.
The conservative Media Research Center, using data from the Center for Responsive Politics, released figures Thursday saying the $81,000 represents campaign contributions from 1998 to 2016.
More than half of those donations, or $43,362, came in the 2012 and 2014 election cycles, according to LifeNews.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi assigned the Democrats to the panel Wednesday, saying she was “proud to name six strong champions of women, families and facts to stand up against the latest Republican assault on women’s health.”
The Democrats are Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado, Rep. Jackie Speier of California, Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Select Investigative Panel, chaired by Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Republican, is charged with examining “medical procedures and abortion business practices” stemming from allegations raised by recent hidden-camera videos involving fetal-tissue procurement from Planned Parenthood.
“At my request, three House committees have been investigating the abortion business, but we still don’t have the full truth,” said former House Speaker John Boehner in an Oct. 23 statement. “Chairman Blackburn and our members will have the resources and the subpoena power to get to the bottom of these horrific practices, and build on our work to protect the sanctity of all human life.”
Mrs. Pelosi referred to the committee as the “Republicans’ Select Committee to Attack Women’s Health.”
In addition to Ms. Blackburn, the other Republicans on the panel are Rep. Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania, Rep. Diane Black of Tennessee, Rep. Larry Bucshon of Indiana, Rep. Sean Duffy of Wisconsin, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, Rep. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri and Rep. Mia Love of Utah.
In a statement, Ms. Blackburn said she would lead a “broad based information gathering fact-finding mission to answer questions about how we treat and protect life in this country.”
