GAO To Launch Nationwide Investigation into Planned Parenthood

Members of Congress announced Monday that the General Accounting Office (GAO) will conduct an investigation of every dollar of federal funding going to Planned Parenthood and other organizations that support less restrictive abortion. The purpose of the probe will be to determine how these organizations have spent taxpayer funds and whether funding has been used fraudulently.

According to LifeSiteNews, the GAO will investigate the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the Guttmacher Institute, the Sex Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), the Population Council, and Advocates for Youth.

Ultimately, the GAO will provide a “comprehensive” report that will list every service performed and every federal dollar allocated.

“It’s time for Americans and especially Congress to take a second look and defund Planned Parenthood,” said Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ). “Hopefully this will help us finally put an end to U.S. taxpayer support, funding and complicity with this violence against children.”

In February 72 members of Congress sent a letter to the government watchdog agency requesting the probe.

Smith said:

It is deeply troubling that despite the fact that Planned parenthood claims direct responsibility for killing over 6 million unborn babies – including a record 333,964 abortions in 2011 alone, they still receive taxpayer money – since Obama’s election and U.S. subsidies to the abortion industry at home and abroad, have significantly increased.

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) observed that Planned Parenthood’s revenues saw “an 11 percent increase over the past two years.”

The abortion industry giant performed a record number of abortions in 2012, and received $542.4 million in taxpayer monies, which represents a record amount of funding.

“Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide abortions clearly benefit from Uncle Sam,” said Vitter, “but there’s no accounting to prove how they actually use that money. This GAO report would shine a light on how our tax dollars are being spent.”

In late July, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (PPGC) agreed to a $4.3 million Medicaid fraud settlement that included the refunding of $1.4 million of fraud to the state of Texas. State Attorney General Greg Abbott charged PPGC with falsifying records to use government funds for abortion follow-up visits, as well as for charging for services never provided.

Last year, the Alliance Defending Freedom reported that Planned Parenthood had committed between $88 and $99 million in fraud and abuse.

“Federal tax dollars are legally prohibited from being used for abortions,” said Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX). “Under the U.S. Constitution, the Obama administration has a duty to enforce these laws. And under that same Constitution, Congress has a duty to ensure that the executive branch follows the law of the land.”

LifeSiteNews reported last year that President Obama had overstepped the elected representatives in states that have chosen not to fund Planned Parenthood by directly awarding monies to the organization.

In September of 2011, the Obama administration announced that it would bypass state authorities in New Hampshire and restore Planned Parenthood’s funding directly. The state’s Executive Council had voted to redirect Planned Parenthood’s share of Medicaid funding to clinics that do not perform abortions. The Obama administration threatened to deprive all of New Hampshire’s Medicaid facilities of federal funding unless the decision of the Executive Council was reversed, but then decided to simply overstep the state’s decision and provide the funds directly.

The states of Kansas and Indiana reportedly received similar threats.

In July of 2012, the Obama administration awarded $426,000 in Title X funding to Planned Parenthood in North Carolina, overriding the elected representatives of that state who had voted not to fund the abortion giant.

Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) said, “I look forward to reviewing the results and ultimately, mobilizing the support needed to stop federal funding of abortion providers once and for all.”