Officials in twelve states initiated investigations into claims made by the videos, but none found Planned Parenthood clinics to have sold tissue for profit as alleged by CMP and other anti-abortion groups.
Members of CMP posed as representatives of a non-existent company called Biomax Procurement Services, presenting themselves as potential buyers of fetal tissue.
[11] In a less-edited version of the first video, PPFA staff repeatedly state that the organization makes no money from tissue donations, and that the $30–100 charge only covers procurement costs.
[15][16] The CMP alleges that the videos show Planned Parenthood officials offering to make adjustments in the techniques used in abortions in order to acquire more intact fetal tissues and organs.
[4] StemExpress, a supplier of biological specimens mostly stem cells for research, has "unequivocally" denied O'Donnell's allegation, stating that the video is "deceptively edited and falsely worded to suggest impropriety or illegality where none exists".
[20] Eric Ferrero, vice president of communication for the PPFA, noted that O'Donnell "has never worked for Planned Parenthood", and called her allegations "false and outrageous".
"[22] In a letter to a Congressional committee, PPFA wrote: "A group of extremists who have intimidated women and doctors for years—in their agenda to ban abortion completely—are not 'documenting' misdeeds; they are trying to create them, quite unsuccessfully.
[13] Responding to the videos and to CMP's allegations, three different Congressional committees, and officials in a number of states, launched investigations into Planned Parenthood's tissue collection activities.
[26][27] On July 30, 2015, former Indiana Governor Mike Pence announced that the state's investigation did not find any evidence of wrongdoing in Planned Parenthood's handling of fetal tissue.
[28] In Massachusetts, where there is no fetal tissue and organ donation program, Attorney General Maura Healey found that aborted fetuses are disposed of properly in a report that "voiced strong support for" Planned Parenthood.
[32] At the local level, the Harris County district attorney launched a criminal investigation in conjunction with the Texas Rangers and the Houston Police Department after the fifth video was released showing a Planned Parenthood executive in that city.
[5] Officials in Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, South Dakota, and Kansas investigated and failed to find any evidence of Planned Parenthood clinics breaking any state laws concerning the collection of fetal tissues.
The report stated, "As a result of our investigation, the Office of the Missouri Attorney General has found no evidence that (Planned Parenthood) has engaged in unlawful disposal of fetal organs and tissue.
"[37] On October 8, 2015, Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz (Utah), chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, stated that the GOP investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood.
[38] On January 25, 2016, a Houston grand jury chartered to investigate Planned Parenthood, instead indicted Daleiden[39] and another videographer, Sandra Merritt,[40] for creating fake driver's licenses used as identification (a felony) and offering to purchase fetal tissue (a misdemeanor).
[55] The Washington Post, New York Magazine and Los Angeles Times described the panel's inquiry as a "witch hunt" and criticized both its findings and tactics in editorials.
[23] A Los Angeles judge placed a temporary restraining order on the release of further videos of employees of StemExpress, one company which Planned Parenthood does business with, based on California's anti-wiretapping law.
[13] Daleiden has stated that, in the suppressed video, the "top leadership" of StemExpress "admitted that they sometimes get fully intact fetuses shipped to their laboratory from the abortion clinics that they work with and that could be prima facie evidence of born-alive infants".
[65] In September 2019, a hearing was held in San Francisco to determine whether David Daleiden and his associate Sandra Merritt should go to trial for fifteen criminal counts of felony invasion of privacy.
The court, however, denied their claim that Daleiden was protected by California's Shield Law for acting as a citizen journalist, because the Department of Justice had sufficient probable cause of criminal activity to make the seizures.
According to a congressional report,[70] research into the Zika virus has been stalled along with investigations into Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, diabetes, and childhood leukemia.
[72] Gu studies congenital heart and kidney diseases in infants but has since placed his research on hold after United States Marshals delivered the subpoena to his Nashville apartment, which is in proximity to Marsha Blackburn and Diane Black.
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published an editorial in support of Planned Parenthood's "efforts to channel fetal tissue into important medical research".
[74] The videos were shown to several anti-abortion congresspeople, including Diane Black, Trent Franks, and Tim Murphy, weeks before being made publicly available.
[7] The timing of the first video led commentators to speculate it may have been released to coincide with a bill to raise money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which gives funding to Planned Parenthood.
raised the issue that this kind of congressional vote could violate the United States Constitution, which prohibits bills of attainder, which refers to lawmakers punishing an individual or organization based on alleged infractions without a finding of guilt by a court.
[14] During the September 16, 2015, GOP presidential candidates' debate on CNN, she harshly criticized Planned Parenthood and their involvement in fetal tissue donation,[94][95] stating "I dare Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama to watch these tapes.
In the edited video, O'Donnell alleged that while she was working in a pathology lab at a Planned Parenthood clinic, her supervisor told her that they would procure a brain from a well preserved fetus.
[96] Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who "staunchly defended" the organization, said that the videos were "disturbing" and called for a national investigation into the sale of aborted fetal tissue.
[99] In court filings, the Justice Department argued that Louisiana's action violates federal law by denying Medicaid patients the choice of their healthcare providers.