The North Carolina Senate voted 41-3 Sept. 24 in favor of a bill that would ban the sale of body parts resulting from an abortion. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Chad Barefoot, also bans family planning funding for abortion providers and the donation of fetal body parts that didn’t come from a natural miscarriage for medical research.
The bill passed after the release of hidden-camera videos implying officials of Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit that provides abortions along with other reproductive health-related services, were discussing the sales of fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood has denied claims that it profits from selling body parts, saying the video was improperly edited and that the organization follows all regulations in fetal tissue donations, according to a report by the Raleigh News & Observer.