As Planned Parenthood celebrated its 96th anniversary on October 16, Americans United for Life (AUL) released 22 backgrounders throughout the month of October that emphasized why the organization should be investigated and de-funded. AUL’s project, titled “The Planned Parenthood Exhibits: The Continuing Case for Investigating the Nation’s Largest Abortion Provider,” was a follow-up to its July 7 report, “The Case for Investigating Planned Parenthood,” which helped to inspire a Congressional investigation of the organization. Dr. Charmaine Yoest, head of the AUL, said: “Daily highlighting additional grounds to investigate and defund the nation’s largest abortion chain, AUL’s ‘The Planned Parenthood Exhibits’ works toward making this the last ‘birthday’ that Planned Parenthood celebrates at the taxpayer’s expense.
Exhibit 5 of the AUL’s project highlights the abortion deaths of Tonya Reaves in 2012, Diana Lopez in 2002, and Holly Patterson in 2003 at the hands of Planned Parenthood. The first two women died of botched second-trimester dilation and evacuation abortions. Patterson died of septic shock after being instructed by a California Planned Parenthood facility to use the RU-486 abortion drug regimen in a way that violated FDA protocols. Planned Parenthood’s instructions still contravene the FDA protocol and even advocate communicating with doctors over Skype while administering the drugs, a clear violation of in-person consultation required by the FDA.
Exhibit 16 details Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast’s (PPGC) alleged doctoring of charts to obtain more revenue and hiding illegal practices. Karen Reynolds, a former health center assistant at PPGC reported that about one third of patient files had billings for services that lacked documentation. Employees had to alter the charts so that they matched the bill in order for the organization to get money from Medicaid or the Texas Women’s Health Program for carrying out services such as abortion that were not financed by the state and federal agencies. This case will receive a trial in court.
Abby Johnson, a former PPGC worker and now a pro-life activist, stated that the PPGC altered charts to cover up its violation of laws protecting minors and vulnerable women, including Texas’ parental consent law.
The AUL’s other exhibits include the Obama administration’s loyalty to Planned Parenthood, the abortion organization’s lies about the services it provides, its lobbying efforts to support the current US abortion policy, its tacit support for gendercide, its use of health care reform to further the pro-abortion agenda, its use of political intimidation to undermine conscience rights, and its bullying of the Komen Foundation to preserve the grants it received from the breast cancer organization.
The final exhibit points out that even though more Americans consider themselves pro-life, Planned Parenthood keeps receiving taxpayer money.
“The Planned Parenthood Exhibits” illustrates that PP must be thoroughly investigated by both political and legal authorities.