Free Republic

The first in a series of hearings about Planned Parenthood kicked off Wednesday in Capitol Hill, with Republicans and Democrats running in circles over whether or not the organization did anything wrong, failing to reach any common ground. “No reliable evidence demonstrates that Planned Parenthood violated the law,” said John Conyers, D-Mich., ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, which called today’s hearing. Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said the committee is investigating not only whether or not Planned Parenthood broke any existing laws, but also whether there are gaps in current laws that need to be filled. “There are questions regarding...

This morning, the Congressional Judiciary Committee conducted its first hearing on the investigation of Planned Parenthood. Titled “Planned Parenthood Exposed: Examining the Horrific Abortion Practices at the Nation’s Largest Abortion Provider,” this first hearing included four witnesses, one of which was Ms. Priscilla Smith, a Director and Senior Fellow at the Program for the Study of Reproductive Justice at Yale Law School. Her comments before the committee were truly horrifying. During the questioning period, Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte read from Justice Kennedy’s dissent in the U.S. Supreme Court Stenberg v. Carhart decision. Kennedy had quoted the testimony of Dr. Leroy...

The writer is one of the lawyers who in 2000 successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Stenberg vs. Carhart, in which the court struck down a Nebraska law against the procedure ofter termed partial-birth abortion. On June 4, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill banning so-called partial birth abortions - just three years after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a similar Nebraska ban. The bill, which is similar to one already passed by the Senate, is expected to be signed by the president shortly. Proponents of the bill have been working overtime...