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    WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - The US House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution on Tuesday calling for an investigation into whether companies are trafficking in baby parts for medical research obtained through abortion.

    The resolution, which passed by a voice vote, referred to recent media reports that abortion clinics and third-party supply companies were selling the remains of aborted unborn children, including "$50 for eyes, $150 for lungs and hearts and $999 for an eight-week brain." The resolution's sponsor, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colorado, said: "Unfortunately, entrepreneurs appear to have found a profitable niche within the abortion industry and have begun to traffic in the body parts of aborted babies."

    In 1993, Congress lifted a ban on federally funded research using fetal tissue, but made it a felony to purchase or sell that tissue for a profit. Pro-life groups have said that the companies trafficking in these body parts prefer the controversial partial-birth abortion method because it keeps most of the body intact and procures children near full-term.

    The resolution's sponsors said they hope the investigation will be followed by further action by Congress next year.

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