Collusion in the Heartland

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland has taken Nike’s “Just do it” challenge to tackle life with gusto and run the other way with it.

Without checking with any ruling body in the state of Iowa whether their plan was legal, Planned Parenthood abortionists two years ago began dispensing RU-486 abortion pills by computer screen to mothers scattered throughout Iowa, some hundreds of miles away. These are now known as “telemed abortions.”

It is a felony in Iowa for anyone other than licensed physicians to commit abortion. Since physical contact is never made with telemed abortions, or even possible in most cases, Planned Parenthood’s scheme was questionably legal at best, criminal at worst.

Upon learning about Planned Parenthood’s telemed abortions, Operation Rescue filed two formal complaints with Iowa Attorney General Thomas Miller in June and July, requesting an investigation of the organization and its two abortionists, Susan Haskell and Thomas Ross.

Miller passed Operation Rescue’s complaint on to the Iowa Board of Medicine. As an aside, Miller is a pro-abort Democrat who is up for re-election in two months.

Pro-lifers were prepared for the Aug. 20 Iowa Board of Medicine meeting. A group of 30 pro-lifers representing multiple pro-life/pro-family groups in Iowa held a press conference beforehand and then submitted a letter to the Board signed by 57 local and national pro-life organizations, urging it to halt telemed abortions.

A considerate bunch, the Board allowed only seven of the 30 pro-lifers into its waiting area, forcing the others to huddle outside in the pouring rain.

When the Board finally allowed the seven to enter its inner sanctum, Chairman Dr. Siroos Shirazi notified them they had a whopping total of 10 minutes to speak.

Shirazi confirmed his group was conducting an investigation but said it had been launched before and aside from any pro-life complaints. He said the Board would render a ruling at its Oct. 22 meeting.

Obviously, the Board didn’t give off a good vibe that it would eventually rule in favor of the health and safety of women over Planned Parenthood, and now it looks worse.

Operation Rescue, through the Iowa Open Records Act, has received 900 pages of e-mails sent between officials and staff members at the Attorney General’s office, the Board of Medicine and Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. They smell of collusion.

Example: Citizen’s Information Center is a Boston, Mass., citizen’s watchdog group that investigates the medical industry through public-records requests.

In July, CIC formally requested from the Iowa Board of Medicine copies of the licenses of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland’s abortionists as well as any record of complaints and disciplinary actions against them. These are supposed to be available to the public.

But the Board gave Planned Parenthood a heads up and ample time to file an injunction to stop the release of records to CIC.

Here’s an e-mail from Planned Parenthood attorney Mike Falstrom to Kent Nebel, the Board of Medicine’s director of legal affairs:

The Board then informed CIC it couldn’t give CIC the records because Planned Parenthood said no.

Board of Medicine officials also notified Operation Rescue last week that it had no jurisdiction over clinics, just actions of doctors.

They told Operation Rescue that investigations into the legality of telemed abortions came under the jurisdiction of Attorney General Thomas Miller, the very guy who punted Operation Rescue’s request for an investigation to the Board of Medicine.

And here I thought we weren’t in Kansas anymore.