In light of the Plan Parenthood video, Ted Cruz has been asking for emergency contributions to his campaign. GOP candidates raise money from Planned Parenthood sting videos

Republican presidential candidates are using two undercover videos of Planned Parenthood executives discussing fetal tissue donation in graphic terms to build contact lists and raise money.

The videos, filmed by anti-abortion activists posing as tissue buyers, show Planned Parenthood executives speaking candidly about their work. Anti-abortion groups say the videos prove the organization is selling the body parts of aborted babies, while Planned Parenthood and its allies call the videos “heavily edited” and insist everything the organization does is legal.


Republicans on Capitol Hill, meanwhile, are calling for investigations, as the GOP’s 2016 candidates work the issue into their fundraising pitches.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, for example, sent an email to supporters urging them to donate an “emergency contribution of $35, $50 or more,” along with a “flash poll” asking, “Do you support Planned Parenthood or do you support Life?”

Users who vote for Planned Parenthood are redirected to The Iowa Republican, a conservative news website, with an op-ed by Cruz entitled “Cruz: We Must Defend the Sanctity of Every Life.”

Those who vote to “support life” are thanked for their vote and then asked to contribute a donation.

“I firmly believe the words of our Declaration of Independence — that we are endowed by our ‘Creator with certain unalienable Rights,’ the first of which is life,” the donation page says. ”I need your voice in this fight with me.”

Sen. Marco Rubio asks supporters to sign “with Marco in standing up for life.” Then they are asked, “Will you chip in a few bucks now?”

Rubio’s website also cites the Florida senator’s vote to defund Planned Parenthood and shows a 16-minute video of him speaking at the National Right to Life Presidential Candidate Forum.

Sen. Rand Paul’s website says, “It is critical for our Republican Party to nominate a pro-life candidate for president in 2016.” Paul asks supporters to sign a petition demanding a vote to defund the organization.

“I pledge to stand with Dr. Rand Paul in his fight to defund Planned Parenthood and put pro-abortion Democrats on the defensive for their outrageous pro-abortion extremism,” the petition says.

After users sign up, they are directed to his donation page, which asks for full contact information.

“Individuals who sign our petitions want to get involved. Unlike Planned Parenthood, Sen. Rand Paul’s campaign is not taxpayer-funded and it takes funds to expose heinous acts such as the selling of baby parts,” said Paul spokesman Sergio Gor.

Neurosurgeon Ben Carson calls the videos “barbaric” on his website.

“Congress must act NOW! Please sign my petition to Congress demanding that they take real action and stop all public funds to Planned Parenthood,” the website says. “I spent my whole life caring for children. What I see in this video is barbaric. Congress must ACT!”

His petition demanding congress hold “REAL” hearings requires entering one’s full name, email address and street address.

Website visitors are also encouraged to contact their representatives and donate to Carson’s campaign. Donors receive a “Stop Planned Parenthood” bumper sticker.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal also ask for contact information to endorse the candidates’ pledges to defund the organization or sign petitions. The next page on all of their websites asks for a donation.

Alice Stewart, a spokeswoman for Huckabee, said that the former governor “has been calling for the defunding of Planned Parenthood since the beginning of his campaign — well before this particular controversy erupted.”

“Our social media engagement is an opportunity to build an army of supporters who share in Gov. Huckabee’s efforts to protect the sanctity of life. We’re pushing more diverse and engaging content on this issue than many of the other candidates,” Stewart said.

Rubio’s campaign said they don’t discuss their digital strategy and declined to comment. The other campaigns were not immediately available for comment.

“This is a moment of moral and political clarity. These videos galvanized a movement already making great gains in terms of going on offense to expose the other side’s abortion extremism,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony List, a leading anti-abortion group. “These are issues that clearly motivate voters. It’s encouraging to see pro-life candidates going on offense now.”

Democrats say the fundraising pitches are misleading.

“The fact that so many Republican presidential candidates including Scott Walker and Marco Rubio are raising money off the deceiving attacks against Planned Parenthood proves it’s politically motivated,” said Jessica Mackler, president of American Bridge 21st Century, a progressive advocacy organization. “Republicans are jumping at the chance to align themselves with an extremist group to continue their attacks on a woman’s right to choose, but it’s only going to end in further damage to their standing with women.”

The release of the videos have sparked investigations into the organization at both the federal and state level.

At least eight GOP-led states are launching probes or initiatives to defund Planned Parenthood, while Republicans in Congress have drafted several bills that would strip the organization of federal funding. Altogether, Planned Parenthood received $528 million in government funding in the last fiscal year, mostly in the form of Medicaid reimbursements.

But House Speaker John Boehner has said he wants to see the results of investigations before any legislative action.