WASHINGTON, D.C., July 14, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — Abortion workers might have delivered babies alive and then killed them in order to harvest their body parts, the House Select Panel on Infant Lives revealed in an interim report on the one-year anniversary of the release of the Center for Medical Progress videos.

The interim report outlined the progress the Panel has made in its investigations into the abortion and fetal tissue procurement industry despite internal obstructions the Panel has faced from its Democratic members, who have “even urged noncompliance with congressional subpoenas.”

“The Panel is concerned with a history of babies being born alive and the sale of baby body parts at some late-term abortion clinics. The Panel’s investigation has revealed that whole baby cadavers of a viable age are transferred from some abortion clinics to researchers,” the report said. “The induction abortion procedure has increased the likelihood that infants will be born alive during abortions, even while the gestational age of viability has lowered due to medical advancements. This intersection, coupled with a profit motive, will be part of the Panel’s focus during the coming months.”

As LifeSiteNews previously reported in June, the Panel announced that abortion facilities and the fetal tissue companies with which they partnered appear to have violated federal patient privacy law and informed consent regulations. The Panel’s interim report details the various ways in which abortion facilities and the fetal tissue companies with which they worked potentially illegally cut corners in order to maximize profits.

At a press conference Thursday morning with fellow members of the Select Panel, Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Missouri) said the Panel’s investigation has shined a light on the “sad, dark world” of the fetal tissue industry.

The Panel also “found evidence that some abortion providers altered abortion procedures in a manner that substitutes what is best for the patient with a financial benefit for both the abortion clinic and the procurement business,” its report says. This is consistent with the Center for Medical Progress’ findings and video showing Dr. Deborah Nucatola, a Planned Parenthood abortionist, discussing how she tailors abortion procedures to maximize her chances of obtaining intact fetal organs.

“I’m gonna basically crush below, I’m gonna crush above, and I’m gonna see if I can get it all intact,” she said over salad and wine.

“Through our investigation we have uncovered evidence that some abortion providers have altered abortion procedures in a manner that substitutes what is best for the patient with a financial benefit for both the abortion clinic and the procurement company,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn, the Panel chair, said.

The Panel will focus on this subject in coming months, according to the report, as well as launching initiatives to ensure compliance from those it has subpoenaed. Some of the individuals who have received subpoenas from the Panel have “heavily redacted” vital information and others have “refused to comply at all,” often at the instruction of the Panel’s Democrat members.

Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wisconsin) said he finds the investigation’s lack of support from Democrats and abortion supporters “troubling,” something that he thinks indicates their embarrassment at what the investigation has revealed.

The report synthesized all of the Panel’s findings since its creation. These findings include:

Evidence that the fetal tissue company StemExpress operated what Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pennsylvania) and Panel Chairman Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN7) called the “Amazon.com of baby body parts,” with a drop-down menu that allowed researchers to order baby body parts obtained from abortions

Evidence that StemExpress recruited and then embedded in abortion centers female technicians in order to “facilitate the consent process” with women undergoing abortions

Evidence that StemExpress paid its employees bonuses for each tissue sample that they collected

Evidence that StemExpress “paid approximately $55 for each fetal tissue sample or Product of Conception (POC) it obtained from abortion clinics and transferred it to researchers for $595 to $910 per tissue or body part. … A comparison of invoices, attorney-created accounting documents, and productions from multiple StemExpress customers shows that the firm may have made a profit when procuring and transferring fetal tissue. The Panel’s cost analysis shows StemExpress overstated some of its labor costs, and claimed as expenses shipping, supplies, and infectious disease screenings. These were costs charged to researchers.”

StemExpress has “consistently refused to produce subpoenaed accounting documents that the Panel requires to complete its [cost] analysis”

An “unclear picture” of the “conduct and income” of Advanced Bioscience Resources, Inc (ABR), another fetal tissue company that resells fetal tissue obtained from abortion centers to researchers, based on information it provided to the Panel

ABR transferred both human fetal tissue and body parts to researchers. Among those body parts were “brains, hearts, eyes, skulls, eyes, spinal cords, spinal columns, and skin,” and many of the babies from whom these body parts were taken were past 20 weeks gestation

Details about the cozy relationship between The University of New Mexico and Planned Parenthood and Southwestern Women’s Options (SWWO), which involves the University supplying them with abortionists and SWWO supplying the University with fetal tissue

The details of The University of Minnesota’s relationship with an abortion facility and procurement of fetal tissue from it “merit further investigation”

The University of Minnesota may have violated state law prohibiting many forms of research on aborted babies

The University of Minnesota may have violated state law by disposing of fetal remains as “biohazard waste”

Colorado State University’s relationship with Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains merits investigation due to potential discrepancies between the cost of harvesting fetal tissue and how much Planned Parenthood billed CSU

Historical and scientific information showing that fetal tissue research is outdated technology and “not mainstream science”

Information showing that the vast majority of vaccines have been able to be developed without the use of cell lines derived from aborted babies

Evidence showing that StemExpress’ annual revenue went from $156,312 in 2010 to $4.5 million in 2014. The fetal tissue company expanded from working with four abortion facilities to nearly 300

“The Select Panel has uncovered a vast array of questionable, if not outright criminal and illegal, behavior from Planned Parenthood and their allies in the abortion and tissue procurement industry,” Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins said. “These tiny babies are treated with no more dignity than a piece of discarded trash, their mothers deceived into believing their difficult decision will result in some life-saving treatment. The reality is much different. Women have been systematically and purposely betrayed by the abortion industry. Their vulnerability translated into dollars, their children torn apart and sold piece by piece to the highest bidder.”