A Republican bill Wednesday attempted to hold state institutions accountable for participating in trafficking fetal body parts, despite a lack of evidence showing wrongdoing.

Rep. Tim Leonard of Evergreen pushed a measure that would have eliminated state funding for state universities that purchase or traffic aborted human body parts.

“This bill is telling our state institutions that are funded with taxpayer money that we no longer want them to demand aborted baby tissues that they are paying for that people are making a profit on,” Leonard said.

Democrats defeated House Bill 1099 on a party-line vote.

The measure comes after allegations in 2015 that Planned Parenthood trafficked fetal body parts, though the organization points out that there is no evidence to show illegal activity.

The issue came to a climax two years ago when pro-life group Center for Medical Progress released videos that the group says shows Planned Parenthood profiting from fetal-tissue programs. The secretly recorded videos were heavily edited, according to experts who submitted evidence to Congress.

A Texas grand jury that investigated accusations of misconduct against Planned Parenthood stemming from the secretly recorded videos instead chose to indict the videographers on charges of tampering with a governmental record. The charges were later dropped.

The sponsor of the fetal tissue bill in Colorado, Rep. Leonard, faced his own legal troubles when in December he served two weeks in a Jefferson County jail on contempt of court charges, stemming from a divorce in which Leonard violated orders regarding educational decisions for his children.

Reviews in nearly a dozen states over fetal tissue programs have been unable to document evidence of wrongdoing.

In Colorado, Republican Attorney General Cynthia Coffman said that her office would not join other states in investigating Planned Parenthood, pointing out that the jurisdiction rests with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. CDPHE has not indicated that it plans to investigate.

That didn’t sit well with former U.S. Attorney Mike Norton, who now serves as president of the pro-life Colorado Freedom Institute and testified in support of the bill.

“Shame on you for covering up these crimes,” Norton said, aiming the remark at all state officials. He alleged that the state is involved in a “political coverup” by not investigating.

Planned Parenthood in Colorado says it does not currently participate in a fetal-tissue donation program. Donations are legal with the consent of the patient. Compensation for costs is allowed, but profit is prohibited under federal law.

Colorado State University, which has a fetal-tissue research program, said the program is legally sanctioned. Universities and research facilities accept fetal-tissue donations, but Planned Parenthood in Colorado does not currently contract with any of them.

Research has gone a long way in combating and curing a wide range of illnesses, according to supporters.

“The use of fetal tissue in biomedical research is important to the wellbeing of humanity,” said Rev. Amanda Henderson, executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado. “It must be seen as a moral imperative.”