[1][2] Following the 2015 release of undercover videos filmed by The Center for Medical Progress, an anti-abortion group, purporting to show Planned Parenthood engaging in the sale of tissue from aborted fetuses, John Boehner, the Speaker of the House, announced in September 2015 that he was considering forming a select committee to investigate Planned Parenthood.
[3] On October 23, Boehner announced that the committee would be led by Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and would also include Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania, Diane Black of Tennessee, Larry Bucshon of Indiana, Sean Duffy of Wisconsin, Andy Harris of Maryland, Vicky Hartzler of Missouri, and Mia Love of Utah.
[5] Instead, they chose to participate, naming Jan Schakowsky of Illinois as the Ranking Member, and also naming Jackie Speier of California, Jerrold Nadler of New York, Diana DeGette of Colorado, Suzan DelBene of Washington, and Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey.
A Planned Parenthood spokesperson described the report as "a partisan attack" and noted that 13 state-level investigations and other congressional inquiries had found no wrongdoing.
[10] 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.