Planned Parenthood at Risk — New England Journal of Medicine

Planned Parenthood at Risk — NEJM

by George P. Topulos, M.D., Michael F. Greene, M.D., and Jeffrey M. Drazen, M.D.
(Harvard Medical School, Peter Bent Brigham Women's Hospital, Mass General Hospital)

Planned Parenthood is under attack — again. This time, a campaign of misinformation about the retrieval of fetal tissue used in research and therapy is the excuse. When women have made the decision to terminate a pregnancy, Planned Parenthood allows them the opportunity to have the fetal tissue that would otherwise be discarded be used by qualified researchers to help answer important medical questions. The organization does so carefully, following all applicable laws and ethical guidelines. In a Perspective article now published in the Journal, Charo presents compelling arguments defending these uses of fetal tissue.1 Planned Parenthood, its physicians, and the researchers who do this work should be praised, not damned. The research is not easy to do, but as Charo explains, it has benefited millions of people worldwide. If the antichoice forces were allowed to rule the day, these advances would never have been made.

We strongly support Planned Parenthood not only for its efforts to channel fetal tissue into important medical research but also for its other work as one of the country’s largest providers of health care for women, especially poor women. In 2013, the most recent year for which data are available, Planned Parenthood provided services to 2.7 million women, men, and young people during 4.6 million health center visits.