Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement on a report from the Democratic staff of the Energy and Commerce Committee which demonstrates that Planned Parenthood Federation of America did not sell fetal tissue for profit, as had been alleged in a series of deceptively edited videos

“An extensive review of these allegations demonstrates that the claims about Planned Parenthood were completely unsubstantiated and seem instead to have been a part of a coordinated attempt by anti-choice activists to discredit  Planned Parenthood and undermine the right of women to comprehensive health care. Planned Parenthood provides critical health care services to more than three million men and women each year, and has worked to eliminate the disparities that exist in health care in the United States by providing comprehensive medical services to individuals with Medicaid or without health insurance,” said Congresswoman Clarke, who with her colleagues Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, and Congressman Jerrold Nadler have urged an investigation of  the company behind these videos, which appear to have been recorded in violation of the laws of California. “I am hopeful that, based on the evidence that has been ascertained, Republicans in Congress will not persist in their attempt to defund Planned Parenthood, and which would negatively impact its invaluable contributions to health care in the United States.”  

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, the Committee on Ethics and the Committee of Small Business in the House of Representatives, proudly represents Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, Park Slope, Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.