Planned Parenthood CEO's Congressional hearing generates several outbursts

Accusations flew across the room

The tension was palpable during Planned Parenthood's hearing on Tuesday with conservatives bristling with rage as the company's CEO insisted Planned Parenthood was a victim. A rash of undercover videos expose Planned Parenthood of selling fetal tissues, organs and body parts. However, the focus of the hearing had to do with federal money granted to the corporation and how PP used its funding.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Cathlic Online) - Life Site News reported Cecile Richards saying, "while the federal policy, in my opinion, discriminated against low-income women, no federal funds pay for abortion serves at PP or anywhere else except in the very limited circumstances allowed by law" in her opening statement to the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee.
The "limited circumstances" are in reference to the 39-year-old law banning federal funding for abortions outside instances of rape, incest and danger to the life of the mother.

The Washington Post reported Richards saying Planned Parenthood uses over $500 million in annual federal funding. if PP relies on $500 million each year, it could face dire consequences if the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee -and three other congressional panels- discover enough evidence of unappropriated funds. If it is discovered PP is using federal funds to spur illegal activities, the organization could lose all $500 million of its annual funding.

The congressional hearing that took place Tuesday is the first of many following the release of several videos this summer that show Planned Parenthood officials talking about the illegal buying and selling of fetal tissues, organs and body parts.

Planned Parenthood officials insist the videos were edited and that the organization was not guilty since donating tissue for research is legal.

Following the release of the videos, several conservatives around America have stepped forward to cry for the defunding of Planned Parenthood.

Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz questions Richards about her salary, saying, "Your compensation in 2009 was $353,000. Is that correct?"

Richards responded, "I don't have the figures with me. But ..."

"It was. Congratulations. in 2013, your compensation went up some $240,000. Your compensation, we're showing based on tax returns, is $590,000, correct?" Chaffetz asked.

Richards insisted her annual compensation was $520,000 a year as the result of a three-year program, which angered quite a few Democrats for what Rep. Caral Maloney claimed was a "totally inappropriate and discriminatory" questioning about a woman's salary.

Republicans countered, saying tax payers have the right to know how their money was being spent at an organization that not only receives federal funding, but also conducts abortions and may or may not be involved in illegal activities.

When a set of videos from the undercover group that infiltrated Planned Parenthood first surfaced, Richards issued an apology. Rep. Jim Jordan asked her, "If this was all entrapment, why'd you apologize?"

Richards continued to claim the videos were heavily edited before admitting her apology came as "bad judgement to have a clinical discussion in a non-clinical setting."

When asked why she said that, Richards turned from the question, saying, "We may have to agree to disagree on this matter," to which Jordan responded, "I don't think we're agreeing to disagree. I think you're not answering my question."

She finally replied, stating, "I think that is really a total mischaracterization. Fetal tissue research, which as I mentioned, was started - the whole commission that legalized and - and created the structure under fetal tissue research was started under the Reagan administration. And it is actually - what it does is facilitates fetal tissue donation and that is actually, as I said - fewer than 1 percent of our health centers, do any facilitate fetal tissue donation for the patient."

Rep. Jimmy Duncan responded, "It seems to me that the apology you offered was like what some criminals do. They're not really sorry for what they have done. They are sorry they got caught and it seems to me that your apology is more because you got caught on these videos."

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