After Baby Part Scandal, House Oversight Investigating How Planned Parenthood Uses Taxpayer Funding

Katie Pavlich | August 17, 2015 1:00 PM

After a series of undercover videos from the Center for Medical Progress exposed Planned Parenthood for selling and haggling over baby parts, the House Oversight Committee is revisiting how the abortion giant uses more than $500

million in taxpayer funding each year.

Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz and Subcommittee Chairman Jim Jordan have sent two letters, one to Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards and the other to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, asking specific questions about how funds are used.

"Recently released videos implicate Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its affiliates in potentially unlawful transactions involving fetal tissue. In the videos, Panned Parenthood representatives discuss the demand for certain body parts, the manner in which patient consent is solicited, pricing considerations, and the methods by which doctors manipulate procedures to ensure that tissues remain intact. The disturbing content of these videos raises questions as to whether federal funds are being use to finance the potentially illegal conduct described therein," the letter to Richards states. "For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, Planned Parenthood reported approximately $1.3 billion n total revenue, of which $528.4 million in attributed to 'government health services grants and reimbursements." To help the Committee understand the role of federal funding in Planned Parenthood operations, please provide the following documents and information."

The Committee has requested documentation of Planned Parenthood revenue sources, IRS financial statements, funding information from outside groups and local state governments, salary numbers for the highest paid employees, a list of health clinics affiliated with Planned Parenthood, details about what health services are exclusively available at Planned Parenthood clinics and more. The Department of Health and Human Services has been asked to detail funding programs used by Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood and HHS are required to response to Oversight inquiries by August 28. Earlier this month, a vote to defund the organization failed in the Senate.

Editor's note: A previous version of this post stated Planned Parenthood receives $500 in taxpayer funding. In a typo error, the million was erased. The correct amount is $500 million.