The Other McCain

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Pro-Life Republicans Hail ‘Blueprint’ for Investigation of Planned Parenthood

Posted on | July 14, 2011 | 6 Comments

“This is a blueprint — this is an engraved invitation to investigate,” Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) said Thursday of a new report documenting taxpayer-funded abuses by the nation’s largest abortion provider. “Planned Parenthood has never been adequately investigated,” he said.

Smith, a veteran pro-life leader in Congress, was one of several House Republicans who called for hearings during a Capitol Hill press conference about a new 181-page report by Americans United for Life,  The Case for Investigating Planned Parenthood.

Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.) called the AUL report “groundbreaking,” and said: “The American people want accountability for how tax dollars are being spent. . . . If there is any question of abuse, misuse or fraud, we need to bring that forward. That is our responsibility as members of Congress.”

“The issue today is, should American taxpayer dollars be going to pay for abortions?” said Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.). “Overwhelmingly, we’ve heard from the American people that they don’t want to see their funds going that way. . . . The money can be much better spent elsewhere.”

“By Planned Parenthood’s own accounting, $363 million — one-third of its budget annually — comes from the American taxpayer,” said Dr. Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life.  “While Congress is discussing going deeper in debt and raising the debt ceiling. . . our government is quietly subsidizing the world’s largest abortion provider with $1 million a day.”

Cheryl Wetzstein reports in The Washington Times:

A House hearing has not been set, the members said. However, Rep. Cliff Stearns, Florida Republican and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, said in a statement that he is considering holding a hearing on Planned Parenthood. . . .
The Government Accountability Office has reported that Planned Parenthood spent $657.1 million in federal funds from 2002 to 2008, but Americans United for Life researchers found that Planned Parenthood reported more than $2 billion in “government grants and contracts” during that time, [Dr. Yoest] said.

Video of Ellmers at the press conference:

Video of Hultgren at the press conference:

Video of Smith at the press conference:

Category: Abortion, Congress, Planned Parenthood, Republicans

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