The Union Leader - End Planned Parenthood Investigation

News Article

By Unknown

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, is one of 10 senators asking the chairman of a House subcommittee to stop its investigation of Planned Parenthood and to instead focus on job creation and economic growth.

In the letter, the senators call the investigation "frivolous and fiscally irresponsible" and state their support for women's health and the services Planned Parenthood provides to women and families across the country.

The senators wrote, "At a time in our country when women rely on Planned Parenthood more than ever for essential health care, this invasive and baseless investigation is all the more reprehensible, and is an abuse of your oversight responsibilities. We urge you to immediately cease this investigation … [It] amounts to no more than a witch hunt, and is a waste of resources at a time when the American people have asked that Congress come together and focus on job creation and economic growth."

The letter was sent to Republican Florida U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Stearns said in a Sept. 15 letter that Planned Parenthood or its affiliates were using federal funding for abortion, which was banned in 1976.

"Although Planned Parenthood is barred from using federal funds to perform abortions, these funds are fungible and allow the group to use funds from other sources ostensibly for abortions," Stearns said in a statement. "Also, with a national debt exceeding $14 trillion, funding of Planned Parenthood should be evaluated with other expenditures to reduce the deficit."

Stearns has also asserted Planned Parenthood has an "extensive record" of violating state reporting laws regarding sexual assaults and child abuse to the point of encouraging young girls to lie about their ages in order to circumvent law enforcement reporting requirements.

The senators also state, "As you are aware, the Department of Health and Human Services' Inspector General, and state Medicaid programs around the country already audit Planned Parenthood on a regular, and public, basis."

They also said, "This investigation detracts from the critical work that Planned Parenthood provides women -- including routine gynecological exams, STD testing and treatment, and lifesaving cancer screenings -- many of whom consider Planned Parenthood to be their main source of care."

Shaheen signed the letter to Stearns asking to curtail his investigation along with Democratic U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Barbara Boxer of California, Patty Murray of Washington, Mark Begich of Arkansas, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Jon Tester of Montana, and Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

In September, Stearns and his subcommittee sought Planned Parenthood's internal audits from 1998 to 2010 showing how much federal money the organization received and how it was spent; state audits of the group for 20 years; policy statements that certify there is no co-mingling of federal dollars in programs that fund abortions; and the group's procedures for reporting "criminal conduct," including statutory rape, sexual abuse and suspected sex trafficking.

Earlier this month, the Colorado- based Alliance Defense Fund filed an official protest with the U.S. Department of Human Services and the federal Government Accountability Office on behalf of NH Executive Councilors Dan St. Hilaire, R-Concord; Ray Wieczorek, R-Manchester; and David Wheeler, R-Milford, asking the agencies to terminate a contract awarded to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England for family planning services in areas of New Hampshire.

The three councilors opposed a contract with Planned Parenthood and voted it down in June, but last month the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded the $1.1 million, family-planning contract to the organization.

When the federal contract was completed last month, Shaheen said in a statement, "Women in every part of the state deserve access to affordable reproductive health services, and Planned Parenthood is a critical provider of those services in our state ... I am glad the federal government has stepped up to provide this new contract, so that women in every part of New Hampshire will have somewhere to turn for basic health issues."

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