Blackburn Statement on Lawsuit Filed by CA District Attorney Against Tissue Procurement Businesses

Washington, DC – Select Investigative Panel Chairman Marsha Blackburn issued the following statement regarding the lawsuit filed by Orange County, California, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas against DaVinci Biosciences and its sister company DV Biologics:
 
“For nearly a year, critics of this Panel’s fact-finding investigation have repeatedly called for it to be disbanded, saying there’s nothing to see here. They claimed there was no wrongdoing in the fetal tissue industry. This claim was soundly debunked with a lawsuit filed by Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, which reveals that officials at the state and local level share our concern that some fetal tissue middlemen may have broken the law,” Chairman Blackburn said.
 
Documents produced to the Panel show that, from 2008 through 2015, DaVinci Biosciences obtained its fetal tissue from Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties (PPOSBC). DaVinci has told the Panel that PPOSBC “donated” the fetal tissue. But DaVinci has also told the Panel that its executives contributed thousands of dollars to PPOSBC starting before the Planned Parenthood affiliate began “donating” fetal tissue to DaVinci. Planned Parenthood has said PPOSBC was its only affiliate that gave fetal tissue directly to a research company.
 
“Based on the evidence uncovered during our Panel’s investigation, we have been deeply troubled about the relationship between DaVinci and PPOSBC, which appears to have created a market for the donation of human fetal tissue,” Blackburn said. “As a result, our Panel is continuing to look at connections between Planned Parenthood and tissue procurement companies. The lawsuit filed by the Orange County DA shows that there is also broad support at the state and local level to uncover the truth about what is going on in the abortion and fetal tissue industries.”
 
To learn more about the Select Panel’s investigation, click HERE.

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