Congress to investigate Planned Parenthood

The chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Investigations has written to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion industry player, demanding a documentation of all federal tax funds the organization has gotten from 1998 through 2010 and how that money was spent.

"Pursuant to rules X and XI of the United States House of Representatives, the Committee on Energy and Commerce is examining the institutional practices and policies of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America … and its affiliates, and its handling of federal funding," said the letter from U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns.

The letter, to Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, continued, "The committee has questions about the policies in place and actions undertaken by PPFA and its affiliates relating to its use of federal funding and its compliance with federal restrictions on the funding of abortions."

The information that is being required includes:

All internal audit reports from 1998 to 2010. "Please detail how much PPFA and each affiliate expended and received in Title XIX Medicaid funding, Title X family planning funding, and any other federal funding."
Internal audits that uncovered instances of improper billing.
Documentation of "standards, procedures and policies … to address improper billing."
Documentation that ensures federal money is not being used to impermissibly subsidize abortion.
State agency audits.
Documentation regarding the segregation between familiy planning and abortion services.

The members of Congress also want a summary of how Planned Parenthood detects criminal conduct and ensures that clinics report all cases of suspected sexual abuse, including statutory rape.

It is "the first time in history" that Congress is investigating Planned Parenthood, according to Live Action, the activist group that has staged a series of undercover video stings of Planned Parenthood.

The organization noted that earlier this year, its undercover videos prompted the first congressional defunding of Planned Parenthood.

"As Live Action has documented and revealed for the past several years, Planned Parenthood's ruthless abortion first mentality has furthered victimized and endangered vulnerable women and young girls," the group said.

"While we applaud Congress' first concrete steps to investigate Planned Parenthood, the next step must be prompt prosecution of their illegal activity and the speedy revocation of Planned Parenthood's privileged 'nonprofit' status," the group said.

It pointed to the release last February of videos from seven Planned Parenthood clinics aiding and abetting the "sex trafficking of children."

The Live Action team has for several years been conducting national undercover investigations of Planned Parenthood. The footage has documented the apparent widespread cover-up of child sexual abuse in 10 different states, and revealed a variety of suspected offenses.

In the most recent reported year, the Planned Parenthood business was paid $363 million by taxpayers.

Live Action earlier revealed that employees of Planned Parenthood were willing to aid and abet underage sex trafficking, prompting the move to defund the abortion industry leader.

In the videos, members of the group posed as the "managers" of 14- and 15-year-old prostitutes, even girls illegally brought into the country, and taped employees offering services, proposing ways to skirt mandatory reporting laws and helping the pimps find ways to get abortions for the girls.

Live Action's exposé was filmed in Washington, D.C., and includes the audio of a Planned Parenthood employee offering to refer a Live Action member posing as a sex-trafficker of underage girls to clinics where the teens could get abortions.

"If they need an abortion or something," the "pimp" asked, "well, what's the process for that?"

"For that, we don't do it," the Planned Parenthood employee answered. "But we give referrals."

Audio of the exchange can be heard below:

Live Action President Lila Rose, a UCLA student, and her team of friends have conducted stings that prompted multiple investigations by states. Investigations in Virginia cost Planned Parenthood $500,000 in funding; in Orange County, Calif., $300,000; the potential loss of $1.1 million in Tennessee; and another $4.5 million in California.

Further, the Monroe County, Ind., prosecutor launched a grand jury investigation in response to videos revealing alleged sexual abuse cover-up. In Arizona, the Maricopa County prosecutor asked the legislature to strengthen existing reporting statutes. In Alabama, Attorney General Troy King launched an investigation of Planned Parenthood, and in the same state, the Department of Health put Planned Parenthood of Birmingham on probation after finding many violations.

Previous videos document misinformation coming from Planned Parenthood: