The House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives is referring Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast for criminal prosecution by the Texas Attorney General.

The announcement comes following an investigation by the panel into the question of whether abortion facilities profit from the sale of the body parts of aborted babies.

Chairman Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) released the following statement on House passage of H. Res. 933 that authorizes funding to allow the panel to complete its investigation into America’s abortion industry and fetal tissue procurement practices:

Our Panel was tasked with investigating areas that, prior to the revelations of undercover journalists, received too little attention. For most of us, it is nothing short of an outrage that Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics supplement their budgets by selling human fetal tissue from aborted babies. The House charged members of this Panel with investigating fetal tissue trafficking, second- and third-trimester abortion practices, the standard of care for infants who survive abortions, and the role played by our taxpayer dollars in this sector of society. Over the last year, we have held hearings that explored the bioethics surrounding fetal tissue use and that revealed the sobering reality of how some bad actors seek to profit from the sale of fetal tissue in violation of federal law.

National pro-life leaders responded to the referral of the Planned Parenthood affiliate in Texas for prosecution.

“The panel’s recommendation that Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast be criminally prosecuted is the appropriate next step in bringing justice to bear on a group that clearly sees itself as above the law,” said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. “With criminal prosecution a growing possibility, the new Congress should once again use the reconciliation process to redirect taxpayer dollars away from Planned Parenthood.”

Similarly, Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, said, “The Select Panel deserves enormous credit for their work building on the Center for Medical Progress videos and exposing the network of criminal activity that Planned Parenthood and their allies in the abortion industry have gotten away with for far too long.”

“It’s past time that the abortion giant not only be stripped of federal funding but be criminally charged and held accountable for breaking the law and selling out women – and the body parts of their aborted children – for profit,” she added. “It is our hope law enforcement acts swiftly and brings justice to Planned Parenthood. The Select Panel’s work needs to be extended into the next Congress at the very least and they should receive the funding needed to continue their crucial work.”

The panel was created in 2015 following the release of videos by the Center for Medical Progress alleging Planned Parenthood has harvested the body parts of babies aborted in its clinics for sale to procurement companies.