Tag: Planned Parenthood

Less than a week after conservative law firm Americans United for Life (AUL) sent U.S. House members a lengthy report alleging 20 years of federal-funding violations committed by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, at least eight representatives — most of them freshmen — have shown interest in potentially launching an investigation.

As The American Independent previously reported, anti-abortion rights group Americans United for Life (AUL) released Thursday a report of allegations against Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), some of which date back several years. Accompanying the group’s findings is a call for Congress to begin a taxpayer-funded investigation on Planned Parenthood. AUL has accused Planned Parenthood of misusing federal funds; knowingly violating state and federal laws; and misleading women about abortion, fetal development and emergency contraceptive drugs.

Critics of the 2011 Republican battle against abortion on Capitol Hill and in capitals around the country have said it's about more than abortion. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette, chair of the House Pro-Choice Caucus, told the Colorado Independent this spring that the GOP push had exposed a large percentage of Republican lawmakers as anti-contraception and opposed to family planning. That assertion is supported by the vote and related discussion in New Hampshire last week that rejected a $1.8 million state contract for Planned Parenthood's family planning and disease prevention and treatment services. The contract had been in place for decades.

Image by: Matt MahurinConservative policy group Americans United for Life’s stated plans to help defund Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) one state at a time were amplified Thursday with the release of a report citing supposed violations of federal-funding rules by the national family planning and abortion provider. AUL is calling for Congress to launch an investigation against Planned Parenthood, with the hopeful outcome of stripping the organization of all public money now and forever.

GOP presidential contender Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has taken a further step proving his anti-abortion-rights commitment since signing the Susan B. Anthony List’s “2012 Pro-Life Presidential Leadership Pledge.”

Indiana Republican lawmakers stripped funding from Planned Parenthood last month and in doing so made contraception unaffordable for thousands of Medicaid patients. The battle over the law in Indiana is another high-profile example of the way Republicans, in seeking to pass sweeping anti-abortion bills, have unveiled a longstanding antipathy among a growing bloc of Republican lawmakers to the kind of basic family planning that the vast majority Americans have come to embrace instinctively as a modern-world human right, according to Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

National anti-abortion-rights policy group Americans United for Life emailed supporters Monday announcing a new strategy in the form of a video to try “once and for all” to defund Planned Parenthood, which AUL CEO and President Charmaine Yoest refers to as, “the nation’s abortion super-provider,” “an abortion mega-provider” and “the nation’s No. 1 anti-life business.”

In April, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill that makes it illegal for state colleges to fund medical residency programs that offer abortion training with state or federal money, including money paid by students as part of tuition or fees. But what began as a rare seed in a nationwide garden of abortion-defunding measures has blossomed into a national movement to reduce the number of medical professionals who are trained to provide abortions.

The “Klanned Parenthood” folks are at it again. In an effort to continue touting the completely debunked theory that Planned Parenthood was created for racist purposes, the group has recently posted a video that superimposes Klan robes on Scarlett Johansson in a PSA for the chain of womens’ health clinics.

Though Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and his supporters were unsuccessful in stripping Planned Parenthood Federation of America of federal funds that go to pregnancy- and disease-prevention services, state legislatures have had more luck in trying to defund Planned Parenthood affiliates. States like Indiana and Kansas recently passed such legislation, and there are measures pending in states such as Connecticut, Texas, North Carolina, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.