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Tuesday, March 19
The Indiana Daily Student

opinion

​COLUMN: GOP candidates grasp at Planned Parenthood’s ethical, research-funding straws

Nominee hopefuls Jindal, Cruz and Paul made their attempt at criticizing Planned Parenthood.

The Planned Parenthood fetal tissue “sale” debacle has been a nightmare for pro-choice organizations and women’s rights activists attempting to have their voices heard. But for the Republican presidential nominee candidates, it may have seemed like a dream.

At this point, the number of 2016 Republican hopefuls has started to rival the population of a small town.

So, in an effort for each hopeful to make a name for themselves, Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul and Ted Cruz have spoken out against Planned Parenthood, and they’ve spoken out hard.

Jindal has stated he, in conjunction with the FBI, will launch an investigation into Planned Parenthood’s supposed profit off of donations of fetal tissue with hopes of exposing their alleged criminal activity.

Cruz and Paul have said point-blank they support a complete defunding of Planned Parenthood to bar them from ever opening their doors or providing sexual health services again.

But Planned Parenthood is not completely funded by the government. And the most controversial of the services they provide — abortion procedures — are already legally banned from benefiting from government money, with a few exceptions. Medicaid covers only abortions in cases of rape, incest and endangerment of the mother.

The video detailing the fetal tissue donations has also been misrepresented.

In the video, Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood’s senior director of medical services, details the process by which they donate different parts of fetuses to scientific research centers. These centers then use the tissue to aid in the development of treatment and cures for 
diseases.

Planned Parenthood is compensated for the transportation and storage costs associated with the donation.

They do not net a profit.

Jindal, Rand and Cruz have not done sufficiently extensive research to set themselves apart from the pack of GOP-ers in a good way.

Instead, their harsh commentary on the situation may reflect poorly on them as 
candidates.

If faced with the facts of fetal tissue donation, their answers may be different. Like normal organ donation, the patient, in this case the mother of the patient, has the choice to decline to donate. And like normal organ donation, tissue is used to foster medical innovation and potentially life-saving procedures. The GOP may oppose the right to choose, but they have made it abundantly clear they support life.

It appears Republicans have latched onto the Planned Parenthood name and seized an opportunity to attack the organization. But their overreaching call for investigations and defunding without the necessary backstory should not be garnering glory from potential voters. It should prompt voters to cross them off of the long, long list of names of possible nominees for the 
Republican party.

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