The Ohio attorney general's investigation of Planned Parenthood, which was launched after the Center for Medical Progress released the deceptively-edited anti-Planned Parenthood videos, did not turn up any evidence that Planned Parenthood sold fetal tissue or body parts. According to Attorney General Mike DeWine, however, the organization is guilty of inhumanely disposing of fetal remains. Whatever that means.
DeWine made the allegation two weeks ago during a Friday press conference but, as you might have expected, DeWine's claims have fallen apart.
The Columbus Dispatch reviewed the record and found no cases of Planned Parenthood receiving a citation for what Attorney General DeWine says they're guilty of.
A examination of 49 state inspection reports disclosed no citations and only two vague references to disposal of biological materials. One involved storage of boxes marked “infectious waste” in an Akron clinic; the other noted lack of a current contract for “hazardous biomedical waste removal” at a Bedford Heights clinic.
If the Health Department has never cited Planned Parenthood for improperly disposing of fetal remains, DeWine must have found the smoking gun somewhere else, right?
So how did DeWine’s office find information about disposing of fetuses in five months that health inspectors didn’t record over at least five years?
“We defer that question to the Department of Health,” DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said.
The allegations against Planned Parenthood may be bullshit but state lawmakers are already cooking their next anti-abortion bill which will implement new requirements for cremating and burying aborted fetuses.
It doesn't matter if the allegations aren't true. All conservative lawmakers need is for an allegation to be made. That's good enough for them and their supporters.
As the Columbus Dispatch points out, the requirement that fetuses be disposed of in a "humane" manner isn't really a requirement at all. State regulators have never actually enforced the rule probably because it's so vague as to be meaningless.