Over the past week, the nation witnessed the vicious and intense attacks that Planned Parenthood unleashed on Susan G. Komen for the Cure, one of the nation’s leading organization dedicated to finding life-saving treatment for women with breast cancer. Planned Parenthood and its allies tried to portray Komen’s decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood as “political” to evade the truth: the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and its affiliates have a sordid and documented history of engaging in a pattern of deception and abuse.
Importantly, it is these known abuses at Planned Parenthood that triggered an investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce—the same Committee that is currently investigating Solyndra—of PPFA and its affiliates “institutional practices and policies” and their “use of federal funding.”
The Committee is seeking to determine the breadth and depth of the problems at Planned Parenthood. Unfortunately for Planned Parenthood, facts thoroughly discredit its attempt to deceive the American public. Planned Parenthood is using “political reasons” as a scapegoat to evade its documented failure to comply with federal and state laws and its utter disregard for the health and safety of women and young girls.
It is only commonsense that Komen—whose mission is to improve American women’s access to breast cancer screenings and life-saving treatments—would seek to ensure that it makes grants to deserving organizations that can best provide these important services, particularly to poor and vulnerable women. However, as is evident from the dishonest and extreme attacks against Komen orchestrated by Planned Parenthood and its supporters, the abortion giant refuses to face the consequences of its systemic and institutional abuses – abuses that may disqualify it from receiving future Komen grants.
Moreover, as other entities reconsider their funding priorities, Planned Parenthood and its allies will likely continue to issue threats and engage in bullying tactics to avoid the natural consequences of its malfeasance. Thankfully, Planned Parenthood cannot hide or escape from the reality that it is currently under investigation by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. And for good cause.
The abuses at Planned Parenthood provide a compelling and rationale basis for denying funding to the abortion giant – a justification that is not “political.” In order to further encapsulate that rationale, AUL’s Legal Team has produced “Planned Parenthood Abuses: Highlighting Investigations, Audits, and Legal Actions,” a Memorandum that documents some of the abuses at Planned Parenthood that warrant investigation. (Further documentation can be found in AUL’s comprehensive Report released this past July, “The Case for Investigating Planned Parenthood.”) Persuasive evidence appears to show a systemic and organization-wide pattern of violating federal and state laws, a blatant disregard for women’s health and safety, and pervasive endangerment of minors at Planned Parenthood. The burden of proof is on Planned Parenthood to prove that it is worthy of continued funding and support.
Last week’s controversy over funding the nation’s largest abortion provider is rooted in facts—the lives of real women and girls forever changed by the abuses that have taken place inside Planned Parenthood for years.
- Is it “political” to want to safeguard America’s minor girls from being victimized by sexual predators?
- Is it “political” to seek to ensure a minor girl’s parents are involved in the life-changing medical decisions their daughter may make?
- Is it “political” to investigate an organization’s apparent willingness to partner with sex-traffickers?
- Is it “political” to enforce mandatory reporting laws to ensure America’s minor girls are not exploited?
- Is it “political” to ensure that an organization that receives over $1 million dollars a day from the American taxpayer—where documented misuse of federal funding already exists—is complying with the law and using federal funding properly?
This Memorandum and the AUL Report, “The Case for Investigation Planned Parenthood,” document Planned Parenthood’s abuses. Planned Parenthood cannot be allowed to continue to evade the consequences of its actions. It is rightly being investigated because Planned Parenthood has failed to demonstrate it is the “trusted provider” it holds itself out to be.
