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Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) is calling for a federal investigation into whether Planned Parenthood illegally provided aborted baby tissues to the University of California-San Diego.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf confirmed, this relationship represents a flagrant violation of federal law, which explicitly prohibits the transfer of fetal tissue for any compensation,\u201d Rubio wrote in a letter<\/a> to Department of Justice Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Christi Grimm. \u201cI request that both of you open an investigation into the matter, publish your findings for the American people to see, and hold any guilty parties accountable to the fullest extent of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMost notably, the contract between UCSD and Planned Parenthood was made for \u2018valuable consideration.\u2019 The inclusion of this phrase in the contract is significant because federal law explicitly forbids \u2018any person to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human fetal tissue for valuable consideration,’\u201d the letter added. \u201cViolations of this law are punishable by a fine or up to 10 years in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n The senator\u2019s letter demands the DOJ uncover the number of aborted babies provided to the university.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat has Planned Parenthood gained monetarily from its control over the intellectual property rights of the fetal tissue given to UCSD?\u201d he also asks, similarly asking if other federal agencies have provided funding for fetal tissue research.<\/p>\n Rubio\u2019s letter comes as recently released\u00a0documents<\/a>\u00a0reveal that Planned Parenthood and UC San Diego agreed to exchange<\/a> aborted baby parts. The abortion provider was to hand over the tissues to the university for patents and \u201cother intellectual property rights.\u201d<\/p>\n The contract, made in 2009 for \u201cvaluable consideration,\u201d allows UC San Diego \u201caccess\u201d to \u201cfetal and placental tissue,\u201d which are materials belonging to Planned Parenthood.<\/p>\n According to public databases, UC San Diego has created patents using aborted baby tissues. \u201cUniversity of California\u2019s total patent invention revenue for 2021-2022 was over $127 million,\u201d wrote David Daleiden, the founder and president of the Center for Medical Progress who broke the news of the exchange.<\/p>\n \u201cThis new evidence shows Planned Parenthood sells late-term aborted baby body parts in violation of federal law, for far more money than has ever been discussed before,\u201d Daleiden\u00a0said<\/a>. \u201cPlanned Parenthood\u2019s national headquarters knew about and approved these sales of aborted babies for valuable consideration as part of government-funded research grants.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n