--- title: Planned Parenthood Chief Cecile Richard Strikes Back at Critics description: Strikes back at critics after disclosure of controversial video canonical: https://time.com/3962098/planned-parenthood-fetal-tissue-donations-video/ author: Jack Linshi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-17T01:10:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:45.113Z article:section: Politics og:title: Planned Parenthood Chief Defends Controversial Fetal-Tissue Donations og:description: Strikes back at critics after disclosure of controversial video. og:url: https://time.com/3962098/planned-parenthood-fetal-tissue-donations-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Planned Parenthood Chief Defends Controversial Fetal-Tissue Donations twitter:description: Strikes back at critics after disclosure of controversial video. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Planned Parenthood Chief Defends Controversial Fetal-Tissue Donations > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Study Finds Most Women Don't 'Regret' Getting An Abortion [Watch (HLS stream): Study Finds Most Women Don't 'Regret' Getting An Abortion](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9ag1bi4P.m3u8) (1:15)  _Published 2015-07-15. A study from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine says after three years, most women didn't regret having an abortion._  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Jul 17, 2015 1:10 AM UTC  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Jul 17, 2015 1:10 AM UTC Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards delivered a stern reply on Thursday to [a controversial undercover video](http://time.com/3958197/planned-parenthood-republican-video-candidates/) that purports to show the reproductive health organization profits from selling tissue from aborted fetuses. In her [video response](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZUjU4e4fUI) posted to YouTube, Richards said the “heavily edited” footage was intended to make “outrageous claims” about the nonprofit’s programs to help women donate fetal tissue for medical research. “The allegation that Planned Parenthood profits in any way from tissue donation is not true. Our donation programs, like any other high-quality health care providers, follows all laws and ethical guidelines,” Richards said. “\[Women and families’\] commitment to life-saving research, developing treatments for diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s is important and compassionate. And it should be respected, not attacked.” **MORE** [_Why Planned Parenthood Provides Fetal Cells to Scientists_](http://time.com/3958621/why-planned-parenthood-provides-fetal-cells-to-scientists/) Richards did apologize for the Planned Parenthood staff member who made remarks about fetal organs in the video, which several GOP presidential candidates have called [“absolutely horrifying and disgusting.”](http://time.com/3958197/planned-parenthood-republican-video-candidates/) The staff member had believed she was talking to buyers from a biological company, who were actually actors. “Our top priority is the compassionate care that we provide. In the video, one of our staff members speaks in a way that does not reflect that compassion,” Richards said. “This is unacceptable, and I personally apologize for the staff member’s tone and statements.” A congressional investigation of the allegations against Planned Parenthood is under way. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3962098/planned-parenthood-fetal-tissue-donations-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3962098/planned-parenthood-fetal-tissue-donations-video/"},"headline":"Planned Parenthood Chief Defends Controversial Fetal-Tissue Donations","datePublished":"2015-07-17T01:10:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:41:45.113Z","description":"Strikes back at critics after disclosure of controversial video","url":"https://time.com/3962098/planned-parenthood-fetal-tissue-donations-video/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","Research","Planned Parenthood"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3962098/planned-parenthood-fetal-tissue-donations-video/","name":"Planned Parenthood Chief Defends Controversial Fetal-Tissue Donations"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Study Finds Most Women Don't 'Regret' Getting An Abortion","description":"A study from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine says after three years, most women didn't regret having an abortion.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/9ag1bi4P/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-15T14:38:55.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9ag1bi4P.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3962098/planned-parenthood-fetal-tissue-donations-video/","duration":"PT1M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3962098/planned-parenthood-fetal-tissue-donations-video/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```