Planned Parenthood, CSU & Health Department No Shows For Fetal Tissue Trafficking Hearing

DENVER (CBS4) - After months of controversy about the sale of fetal tissue, Republican lawmakers want to know if Planned Parenthood centers in Colorado were involved.

The Republican Study Committee of Colorado met at the state Capitol to discuss video tapes and legislation in response to them. Eight Republican state lawmakers met for what they called an "informational hearing" on fetal tissue trafficking.

"There's a problem and we're trying to get down to the essence of what the facts are here in Colorado," said Sen. Kevin Lundberg, R-Larimer County.

The meeting comes after a secretly recorded tape showed a doctor from Planned Parenthood of the Rockies talking about fetal tissue donation. Republicans say it shows the doctor trying to sell fetal tissue for profit, which is against the law. But the attorney general and state health department declined to investigate, prompting Republicans to launch their own investigation.

"Those tapes, which were highly edited and have been highly discredited, were meant to create a false environment where that seemed to be the case," Cathy Alderman with Planned Parenthood said. "Their intent is to smear Planned Parenthood and discredit our reputation, and an ultimate goal to restrict access to safe, legal abortion services in Colorado."

"We're making every effort to be as objective as possible in laying facts out and then letting the individual legislators determine what course of action they should take in their preparation for their legislation in the coming session," Lundberg said.

Planned Parenthood and the state health department refused to testify on Monday. Colorado State University, which is being sued for allegedly using state dollars to buy fetal tissue, also declined to show up.

According to CBS4 Political Specialist Shaun Boyd, it's just the beginning and there will definitely be legislation dealing with the issue come January.