The six pro-abortion Democrats chosen by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to serve as members of a select panel investigating Planned Parenthood’s activities have received thousands of dollars in contributions from the nation’s largest abortion provider, setting the investigation up for an ethics conflict from its start.
Planned Parenthood is here for good. pic.twitter.com/ILyOOMCCyf
— Planned Parenthood (@ppmn) October 30, 2015
As The Hill reported last week, Pelosi chose six of the strongest abortion advocates to represent her Party on the House Select Investigative panel that will probe Planned Parenthood following the release of a series of videos exposing the organization’s apparent practices of harvesting the body parts of unborn babies for sale on the open market, and altering the baby’s position during abortions in order to harvest intact body parts for those sales.
Pelosi has chosen Rep. Jan Schakowsky – a leading member of the House Pro-Choice Caucus – as the ranking member of the panel. Schakowsky will be joined by Jerrold Nadler, Diana DeGette, Jackie Speier, Suzan DelBene, and Bonnie Watson Coleman.
Data from the Center for Responsive Politics lists Planned Parenthood donations to political campaigns from 1998 through the 2016 election cycles. The following amounts are totals contributed by Planned Parenthood to the campaigns for the Democrats on the special panel:
- Rep. Jan Schakowsky: $11,865
- Rep. Jerrold Nadler: $5,535
- Rep. Diana DeGette: $36,735
- Rep. Jackie Speier: $4,000
- Rep. Suzan DelBene: $19,232
- Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman: $2,500
However, as Newsbusters reported:
But going back to 1990, Planned Parenthood has given the representatives more than $81,000.
Back when the Center for Responsive Politics listed donations going back to 1990, MRC Culture counted $13,115 for Rep. Jan Schakowsky in contributions from Planned Parenthood. Adding that number to the total of the others since 1998 ($68,002) brings the total to more than $81,000.
Additionally, RedState reports the following:
The abortion lobby, EMILY’s List, has given the ranking member of this panel (which is supposed to be investigating the abortion industry’s legally dubious practice of selling aborted babies’ body parts to pad “their bottom line”), Rep. Schakowsky, over $64,000 dollars in direct campaign contributions. It has handed Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) over $48,000.
Likewise NARAL Pro-Choice America has flooded Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO)’s campaign coffers with over $31,000 and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)’s with over $19,000.
All totaled, the abortion industry has paid more than $305,000 for the six Democrats appointed to the Select Investigative Panel tasked with investigating Planned Parenthood.
DeGette also admitted in 2011 that she was a member of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Planned Parenthood for several years in the 1990s.
Referring to the House special panel as “the Select Committee to Attack Women’s Health,” Pelosi said in a press release, “I am proud to name six strong champions of women, families and facts to stand up against the latest Republican assault on women’s health.
“Hard-working families deserve better than a taxpayer-funded Republican Select Committee fixated on dismantling women’s health,” she added. “As Republicans try to take affordable family planning and lifesaving preventive care away from millions of American women, Democrats will be in the room to fight for the truth.”
However, Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, observed that the House select panel investigating Planned Parenthood appears to be starting its work with a conflict of interest.
“If the Minority Leader genuinely wanted to get to the truth of the matter she would have been bold and appointed members of unquestionable integrity, such as Congressman Dan Lipinski,” Mancini said. “Instead, she appointed members whose campaigns have received thousands of dollars from the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, to investigate the practices of that very group.”
Prior to stepping down, former House Speaker John Boehner appointed the following eight Republican members of the select panel: chairman Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Rep. Joe Pitts, Rep. Diane Black, Rep. Larry Bucshon, Rep. Sean Duffy, Rep. Andy Harris, Rep. Vicky Hartzler, and Rep. Mia Love.
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