House Republican tells Planned Parenthood to testify

An anti-abortion leader in the House took a jab at Parenthood Parenthood for not attending a GOP hearing on Wednesday – though no one from the group had been invited to attend.

Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) told MSNBC on Thursday that Planned Parenthood should make an appearance on Capitol Hill to address allegations about illegal activity as part of its fetal tissue donation.

“I invite the folks, and especially Ms. Richards, from Planned Parenthood to come before the committee,” Black said. “Open up the doors, open up the records and say, ‘Come in.’ If there’s nothing to hide, why not do that?”

Black’s comments were in response to a question about why the House Judiciary Committee invited three-anti abortion activists and only one Planned Parenthood supporter to their hearing on Wednesday.

But Planned Parenthood has said it was not invited to the hearing. Instead, the witness from the Democratic side was a lawyer who acknowledged she was not familiar with Planned Parenthood’s programs.

“It’s clear this hearing was not about Planned Parenthood – it was a chance for anti-abortion extremists and members of Congress to promote their political agenda of banning abortion in this country,” Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens wrote in a statement after the hearing.

Officials from Planned Parenthood have come to Capitol Hill for private briefings with several times over the last several months. Laguens has said the group plans to cooperate with requests to put its officials on the witness stand.

Another hearing is also in the works in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said Thursday. The Judiciary Committee is also planning more hearings.

“This is going to be something that’s going to go on for several months,” Black said.