Members of Congress Call for GAO Investigation of Planned Parenthood

Led by Reps. Diane Black (R-TN) and Pete Olson (R-TX) and Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), 72 members of Congress are calling upon the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the amount of taxpayer funding Planned Parenthood receives and how the funds are being used.

A letter signed by the legislators asks for information on all affiliates of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), International Planned Parenthood Federation, the Population Council, the Guttmacher Institute, Advocates for Youth, and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS).

Last year, PPFA performed a record 333,964 abortions and reported a record $1.2 billion in revenue generated. Taxpayer funding of the organization reached $538.5 million, 45.2% of PPFA’s total annual budget in 2011-2012. The prior year, taxpayer funding amounted to $487.4 million.

In 2012, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) released a report that found more than $99 million in waste or possible PPFA fraud, including an alleged illegal taxpayer funding of abortion and abortion-related procedures.

“Planned Parenthood and other organizations who provide abortions are dependent on Uncle Sam, but there is no accounting with what they are actually using the money for,” said Sen. Vitter. “This GAO report would shine a light on how tax dollars are being spent.”

Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Diana DeGette (D-CO) called the request for the investigation “an ideological crusade against women’s health, reminding the American people that while Republicans may not be interested in averting the sequester’s disastrous cuts, they are interested in getting between women and their doctors and limiting women’s health choices.”