March Bell Ran A Congressional Panel To Investigate Planned Parenthood…
Bell Was A Republican Staff Director And Chief Counsel For A House Panel That Investigated Planned Parenthood. “In 2015, March Bell was Republican staff director and chief counsel for a House panel that investigated Planned Parenthood.” [Pro Publica, 7/31/18]
…That Asked For The Names Of Women’s Health Care Providers And Correspondence Between Health Care Providers And Government Employees — Potentially Exposing Women’s Private Medical Information To Congress
Democrats Maintained That The Panel Asked Providers Affiliated With A Public University To Reveal Any Students Or Medical Personnel Who Facilitated In An Abortion Or Provided Care Before Or After — And Also Any Correspondence Between Providers And Any Government Employees. “Republicans hired March Bell, former senior counsel for human trafficking in the Justice Department's civil rights division, as staff director and chief counsel. Bell, a Covenant College and Pepperdine Law School graduate, also was involved in investigations for the Senate Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism and the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. Democrats maintain that panel Republicans asked providers to reveal any students or medical personnel affiliated with a public university who facilitated an abortion or provided care before or after an abortion. The requests included any correspondence, agreements or receipts between providers and any government employee. 'These document requests raise troubling questions about the direction of the panel's investigation,' the investigative panel's Democrats wrote in a letter to Blackburn last month. 'These requests would require a health care provider to turn over to Congress the personal medical information of any patient who happens to work for the federal government or any state.'" [Congressional Quarterly, 2/8/16]
- Democrats Said That The Document Requests “Raise Troubling Questions About The Direction Of The Panel’s Investigation” And “Would Require A Health Care Provider To Turn Over To Congress The Personal Medical Information Of Any Patient Who Happens To Work For The Federal Government Or Any State.” "'These document requests raise troubling questions about the direction of the panel's investigation,' the investigative panel's Democrats wrote in a letter to Blackburn last month. 'These requests would require a health care provider to turn over to Congress the personal medical information of any patient who happens to work for the federal government or any state.'" [Congressional Quarterly, 2/8/16]
Bell Said The Panel Investigation Relied On Phone Calls With David Daleiden — A Man Who Was Charged With 15 Felonies For Secretly Recording Women At Planned Parenthood And Releasing Heavily Edited Footage
Bell Said His Investigators On The Panel Relied On “Lots Of Phone Calls With David Daleiden”; Daleiden Was The Creator Of The Planned Parenthood Videos. “Bell revealed that his investigators relied on 'lots of phone calls with David Daleiden' and had also talked with Operation Rescue’s Troy Newman and Life Dynamics’ Mark Crutcher, whom he noted 'pioneered in this field.' Newman and Crutcher are extremist anti-choice activists, both of whom worked with Daleiden on his Planned Parenthood project.” [People For The American Way, Right Wing Watch, 1/27/17]
- David Daleiden Was Charged With 15 Felonies In California For Filming People Without Their Consent At Meetings With Women’s Health Care Providers. “Two antiabortion activists whose controversial undercover videos accused Planned Parenthood doctors of selling fetal tissue were charged Tuesday with 15 felonies by California prosecutors. State Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra's office alleges that David Daleiden and his co-conspirator, Sandra Merritt, filmed 14 people without their consent at meetings with women's healthcare providers in Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Franciso and El Dorado.” [Los Angeles Times, 3/28/17]
Despite Finding No Wrongdoing, The Panel Still Recommended Defunding Planned Parenthood…
After Finding No Evidence Of Wrongdoing, The Panel Still Recommended That The National Institutes Of Health Stop Funding Planned Parenthood. “After 15 months of investigation and $1.6 million in taxpayer dollars, the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives found no evidence of wrongdoing but nonetheless recommended that the National Institutes of Health stop funding Planned Parenthood.” [Pro Publica, 7/31/18]
…An Outcome Bell Has Continued To Advocate For — Including By Suing Planned Parenthood Providers To Drive Up Legal Costs And Disrupt Their Ability To Operate
Speaking On A Panel At An Anti-Choice Summit, Bell Stated That One Way To Shut Down Planned Parenthood Was Through Filing Lawsuits Against The Organization And Its Affiliates “Because Their Business Model Is Fragile” And Having To Pay To Defend Against Lawsuits “Can Shut Down A Whole State Or A Whole Group Of Clinics.” “Speaking on a panel titled 'Making the Case for Prosecution of Fetal Body Parts Traffickers,' the House panel’s chief counsel, former Justice Department attorney March Bell, made it clear that while his committee was ostensibly convened to investigate fetal tissue procurement practices—and did extensively delve into that area— one of its ultimate goals was to find ways to weaken Planned Parenthood. Bell said that still-unreleased videos taped by David Daleiden, the anti-choice activist who has attempted to show that Planned Parenthood sells 'baby body parts' for profit, show representatives of the group revealing that 'clinic budgets are quite fragile,' a weakness he said could be exploited by throwing lawsuits at Planned Parenthood and its affiliates. 'So, because their business model is fragile,' he said, 'any interference in their cash flow that we can bring through any kind of lawsuit—violating any local health regulations, these lawsuits about people not being cared for when there’s a perforated uterus, and so on—can shut down a whole state or a whole group of clinics. It is remarkably fragile.'” [People For The American Way, Right Wing Watch, 1/27/17]
