Last year, Rep. Cliff Stearns, (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, said he was starting what would become a congressional investigation of Planned Parenthood.
Stearns sent a letter to the Planned Parenthood abortion business requesting a wide range of documents and, according to a Human Events report, says he has plenty of evidence to move forward.
“There is evidence that shows Planned Parenthood is not keeping a strict financial accounting or complying with the law,” he says. “There is also mounting evidence that, when dealing with young women who come in looking for abortions, if the woman was raped they are not reporting who did it to the state, which is the law.”
“There is ample evidence to have a hearing,” Stearns said. “The next step is to show the American taxpayers how accurate they have been with their accounting, and in many cases have not been, and bring accountability to almost half a billion dollars (in yearly federal funds) and how it is being used.”
“Are they so powerful that everyone is afraid to stand up to them and ask them for an accounting?” Stearns said. “The fact that we have never done an audit or had any kind of oversight shows that Congress is reluctant to do this, yet they should have oversight like any other organization.”
“The fact they were able to raise money so quickly after Komen, indicates they already have enormous financial fundraising abilities and probably don’t need taxpayer dollars,” Stearns said. [related]
Human Event says, “Stearns and his committee are examining recent reports compiled by several anti-abortion groups that detail these charges, and the committee has ordered Planned Parenthood to turn over numerous internal audits, with the intention of holding the first-ever oversight hearings on the controversial organization. Stearns said Planned Parenthood is cooperating with his review, and turning over numerous internal audits and other documents he has requested.”
The letter requests any information related to improper billing related to federally-funded programs, proof that federal funds are not being improperly used to pay for abortions by PPFA or its affiliates, audits by state agencies of any Planned Parenthood affiliate, and documentation of how many affiliates currently receive Title X family planning funding.
The Stearns letter also requests documents on standards and practices related to billing issues, written policies and procedures, and it requests information on how the abortion giant keeps its family planning abortion monies separate and segregated.
The abortion business responded on Twitter, saying, “Stearns is misusing his position to attack Planned Parenthood & women’s health care.”
“Planned Parenthood is a trusted nonprofit health care provider that provides professional, reliable and quality health care, including birth control, lifesaving cancer screenings, annual exams, and STD testing and treatment to three million women and men across the country,” said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “This politically motivated investigation is a continuation of the efforts of earlier this year to undermine Planned Parenthood, and more disturbingly, women’s access to the primary and preventive care they need.”
Richards said the abortion business has “a strong record of fiscal responsibility and have, always complied with all laws and regulations applicable to the receipt and use of federal funds.”
Planned Parenthood has come under heavy criticism in recent years for covering up cases of statutory rape by failing to report abortions done on unborn children of teen girls who have been victimized to authorities and by aiding and assisting alleged sex traffickers in obtaining abortions and other “services” for the women and girls they victimize. As such, as the Stearns letter asks for information related to those concerns.
“Please provide a summary of how PPFA detects criminal conduct and the policies and procedures in place to prevent it or report it,” the letter reads. “Please provide the policies and procedures PPFA and its affiliates have in place to ensure that all Planned Parenthood clinics report all cases of suspected sexual abuse, including statutory rape, to proper authorities.”
“Please provide the policies and procedures PPFA and its affiliates have in place to ensure that suspected sex trafficking is reported to the proper authorities,” it adds.
The letter also includes four pages of legal instructions on how the abortion business should comply with the requests Stearns makes in the letter.
Stearns said earlier this year that he was planning an investigation of the abortion giant: “I believe my Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee should review the findings of this report and possibly hold a hearing on why taxpayers are funding Planned Parenthood with its record of abuse and violations of state laws,” Stearns told Politico. “The American people deserve a concrete reason for funding Planned Parenthood; a reason I do not believe exits.”
