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Several Planned Parenthood officials and three private bio-medical firms were targeted on Friday by a U.S. congressional panel as lawmakers dig deeper into a controversy swirling around the women's health organization. A U.S. House of Representatives committee made public a letter requesting interviews with personnel from the organization who appeared in surreptitiously recorded videos in discussions about providing fetal tissue for research. House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans also said they had written to three companies identified as human fetal tissue suppliers to request information and briefings. (Cornwell, 8/7)

Republican calls to end federal funding of Planned Parenthood, after an anti-abortion group released a series of undercover videos, have put a spotlight on the organization in recent weeks. ... The organization says the recent controversy has taken attention away from the many health care services it provides to both women and men that are not abortion-related. According to the annual report, 42 percent of the services it provides is for STI/STD testing and treatment, 34 percent is for contraception, and 9 percent goes to cancer screening. Another 12 percent is miscellaneous women's health and other health services. The 327,653 abortions Planned Parenthood clinics perform each year make up just 3 percent of the total services the group provides. (Welch, 8/7)