Congress Calls for Probe of Planned Parenthood after Sting Video

Research using fetal tissue has led to vaccines for polio and measles as well as other diseases. But legal and ethical issues remain — especially when the tissue comes from fetuses that have been aborted. The latest controversy involves Planned Parenthood.

An anti-abortion group called the Center for Medical Progress has released a selectively edited video featuring actors posing as buyers for a human biologics company. They went to lunch with Deborah Nucatola, senior director of medical services for Planned Parenthood and secretly recorded a conversation about the cost of fetal tissue for medical research.

The video is heavily edited and the audio is hard to understand, but it has spurred an upcoming Congressional investigation. Sarah Kliff covers healthcare for the news site Vox.