House Republicans Continue to Hammer Planned Parenthood

This summer, the Center For Medical Progress released video footage of Planned Parenthood executives seemingly discussing the sale of baby body parts. Since the release of the first video, there has been a steady stream of new, equally unsettling, footage. Republicans in Congress have taken the allegations against Planned Parenthood seriously and are endeavoring to find out which laws may have been broken and how culpable various Planned Parenthood executives may be.

Just this week, Cecile Richards, who is the president of Planned Parenthood, was called to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The committee, one of four congressional panels looking into the matter, questioned Richards on a variety of topics. 

Chairman Chaffetz began by simply questioning Planned Parenthood's need for federal funding. "I could be here a long time listing out fairly exorbitant salaries" he said before drawing attention to the fact that heading the non-profit group earns Richards $520,000 a year. Democrats, who love to criticize large CEO salaries, seem to have no problem with Richards' compensation even as they claim federal funding is critical to Planned Parenthood's continued existence.

Referencing repeated claims that the videos released by the Center For Medical Progress amount to nothing more than entrapment, Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio asked Ms. Richards "[i]f this was all entrapment, why'd you apologize?" After continual push-back from Ms. Richards including such evasive answers as "agreeing to disagree" Congressman Jordan was forced to let up only because his time ran out. 

Congressman Jimmy Duncan of Tennessee followed up with a poignant statement saying: "It seems to me that the apology you offered was like what some criminals do. They're not really sorry for what they have done. They are sorry they got caught and it seems to me that your apology is more because you got caught on these videos."

Intensive Congressional inquiries are not likely to taper off any time soon. There are several, as of yet unanswered, questions about the legality of Planned Parenthood's actions. Has Planned Parenthood obtained any illegal profits from the sale of aborted baby body parts? Are Planned Parenthood doctors altering accepted abortion procedures in order to ease tissue collection from the aborted children? Lastly, are any illegal partial-birth abortions taking place in Planned Parenthood facilities? These are important questions that deserve answers, and Congressional Republicans are working tirelessly to obtain them.

Do Democrats Defend Planned Parenthood So Vehemently Because Planned Parenthood Supports Them?

Planned Parenthood funding is outrageous.  Chairman Chaffetz released a memo that outlines some of the outrages of the funding of Planned Parenthood just from a fiscal responsibility standpoint.  A few highlights from the memo are below. 

1. Planned Parenthood services are available elsewhere and covered by Obamacare:

Obamacare makes federal funding for Planned Parenthood duplicative.   Under Obamacare, individuals should be getting their health care via Medicaid or a Qualified Health Plan.

2.  Planned Parenthood is wasting taxpayers’ money as it parties and traveling like kings.  An example of the latter is:

Planned Parenthood spent $5,109,997 on travel in 2013.19 That is nearly $14,000 a day on travel. . . Tax returns show Planned Parenthood books first class or charter travel.

3.  One of the reason Planned Parenthood is so fervently defended by the Democrats is that Planned Parenthood spends millions of dollars supporting liberal and Democrat political causes!

Over the past five years, Planned Parenthood has given the Planned Parenthood Action Fund $21,567,629 in grants.  It has also given other 501(c)(4)s a total of $1,099,932.

While much of the outrage over Planned Parenthood has been focused on the immoral and possibly illegal activity of the videos, the fact of the matter is federal funding of Planned Parenthood is an outrage in and of itself that needs to stop. 

Planned Parenthood Receives Tax-Exempt Status with No Oversight

Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA), a member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight,requested that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) conduct an audit of Planned Parenthood after more recent videos revealed Planned Parenthood’s alleged illegal harvesting and selling body parts of unborn children.

Planned Parenthood is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3), organization that receives millions of dollars from federal and state governments.  In Rep. Kelly’s letter to the IRS, Kelly urges the IRS to ensure Planned Parenthood’s compliance with the Internal Revenue Code.  Kelly notes that:

[T]he IRS has sole responsibility for enforcing our nation’s tax laws as well as determining whether certain organizations qualify for tax-exempt status…Engaging in the sale of fetal tissue and organs is illegal in the United States and is not an appropriate action for an organization that receives special treatment and exemptions under the tax code.

The lack of IRS oversight on this issue is ironic to say the least considering the IRS’ targeting of conservatives. Only after a Freedom of Information lawsuit, the IRS admitted it targeted the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to come under “high scrutiny” and used donor lists of conservative tax-exempt organizations to target individual donors for audits.

Meanwhile, the IRS paves the way for Planned Parenthood to receive tax-exempt status, and the White House claims the issues surrounding Planned Parenthood do not have anything to do with the IRS.

Planned Parenthood: "Specimens" for Profit and Power Over Women's Health?

Bills are now introduced in the House and the Senate to cut off federal funds for Planned Parenthood, and would instead direct money to women’s health groups. This is a proposed fix to the legal issue of Planned Parenthood misusing federal funds to profit from harvested fetal tissue in the name of research.

A third video released on Tuesday continues to reveal a Planned Parenthood official negotiating with someone believed to be a buyer of fetal tissue. The video also includes an interview with a phlepotomist who worked for a company procuring fetal tissue from Planned Parenthood. Phlebotomist Holly O’Donnell stated,

For whatever we could procure, (Planned Parenthood) would get a certain percentage. The main nurse was always trying to make sure we got our specimens. No one else really cared, but the main nurse did because she knew that Planned Parenthood was getting compensated.

Although Planned Parenthood claims, "We do not make a profit on fetal tissue," the legality of Planned Parenthood’s funding hinges on this fact. As RNLA previously reported here, laws restrict fetal tissue research so that no one should benefit financially. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell remarked on the Senate floor today:

We introduced legislation last night that would ensure taxpayer dollars for women’s health are spent on women’s health, not a scandal-plagued political lobbying giant.

The Senate expects to vote on the bill before August recess.

Planned Parenthood Violated Research and Funding Laws

New evidence shows Planned Parenthood violated laws concerning fetal tissue research by profiting off the body parts of unborn babies. Center for Medical Progress released a video revealing Planned Parenthood’s practices, and it sparked debate over these laws regulating fetal tissue research as well as the government funding of organizations like Planned Parenthood that perform abortions.

Laws restrict fetal tissue research so that no one should benefit financially from the donated tissue, However, abortion providers, are be reimbursed for additional expenses, such as storing and transporting it. Laws also state that the abortion must be performed according to what’s best for the patient, not what’s best for harvesting "the tissue."

A spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood said that the patients are not reimbursed for any donations, and Planned Parenthood claims fetal tissue donations are done “with no financial benefit for the patient or Planned Parenthood.”

Yet, in the recently released video, Dr. Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood’s senior director of medical services, discussed Planned Parenthood’s practices of selling unborn babies’ body parts for profit. As Nucatola casually eats lunch she answers questions about a price range per specimen.

“You know, I would throw a number out, I would say it’s probably anywhere from $30 to $100, depending on the facility and what’s involved.”

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas urged Congress to take action saying,

There is no place for taxpayer funding of organizations that profit from taking away innocent life, much less profiting off the bodies of the lives they have stolen…[Congress] should renew efforts to fully defund Planned Parenthood to ensure that its morally bankrupt business receives not one penny of taxpayer money.

Carly Fiorina, Republican Presidential hopeful, posted,

This latest news is tragic and outrageous. This isn’t about ‘choice.’ It’s about profiting on the death of the unborn while telling women it’s about empowerment.

Diane Black authored a bill to defund Planned Parenthood and ensure that this misuse of taxpayer dollars does not continue. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte also announced that his committee would be looking into claims made in the video.