WASHINGTON — Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) on Tuesday signed a letter to the top government watchdog of the Department of Health and Human Services requesting an investigation of the federal government’s support of fetal tissue research.
In the letter, penned by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a group of Republican senators told HSS Inspector General Daniel Levinson recent allegations that Planned Parenthood was involved in harvesting and selling aborted fetal tissue raise “serious concerns about potential violations of federal law prohibiting the transfer of fetal tissue for valuable consideration.”
“We request that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (IOG) conduct an audit of all fetal tissue research supported by HHS, specifically examining the Department’s oversight of contractor and grantee compliance with the laws governing fetal tissue,” the senators wrote.
“The videos not only raise questions about Planned Parenthood’s compliance with applicable laws and regulations, but also highlight potentially significant problems with HHS’s oversight of practices in this market in general.”
The senators are seeking more information on how HHS, the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) vet and hold accountable third-party groups that are paid by the federal government for fetal tissue research.
The is the second time in 2015 that a group of senators has requested more information from HHS in the wake of the provocative Planned Parenthood videos. Nearly half of the senate also sent a letter to HHS earlier this year.
On Tuesday the senators said the lack of response to that inquiry was “unacceptable” and raised concerns that the “department does not appear to have conducted any internal investigation of their own research practices or any audits or other oversight of their contractors, suppliers, and grantees with regard to their compliance with fetal tissue research laws and instead relied on assertions of compliance.”
A copy of the full letter can be found below. (h/t The Hill)
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— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) June 9, 2015
