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Missouri Finds No Evidence Planned Parenthood Clinic Illegally Handled Fetal Tissue

Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards is sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015, prior to testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on "Planned Parenthood's Taxpayer Funding." (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards is sworn in prior to testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in Washington on Sept. 29, 2015.Jacquelyn Martin—AP
By Tanya Basu

The Missouri attorney general’s office has found no evidence that a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis illegally handled fetal tissue.

Chris Koster, Missouri’s attorney general, and his office released a 47-page report on Monday, one day before Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, testified in Congress on Tuesday. The New York Times reports Koster’s office reviewed 3,500 pages of documents and conducted interviews, covering 317 surgical abortions in June, a month before a string of videos from the Center for Medical Progress, an anti-abortion group, incited controversy about how Planned Parenthood handled fetal tissue.

“As a result of our investigation, the Office of the Missouri Attorney General has found no evidence that [Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region] has engaged in unlawful disposal of fetal organs and tissue,” the report read.

The St. Louis Planned Parenthood is the organization’s only location in Missouri that is authorized to perform surgical abortions.

[New York Times]

 

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Write to Tanya Basu at tanya.basu@time.com