Planned Parenthood under nation wide investigation

According to LifeSite news: The General Accounting Office (GAO) will investigate every dollar of federal funding going to Planned Parenthood, as well as other organizations that support the liberalization of abortion laws, for potential fraud.

The GAO will investigate the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the Guttmacher Institute, the Sex Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), the Population Council, and Advocates for Youth.

The “comprehensive” report will list every service performed and every federal dollar allocated, four Congressmen announced on Monday afternoon.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ

“It’s time for Americans and especially Congress to take a second look and defund Planned Parenthood,” said Congressman Chris Smith, R-NJ. “Hopefully this will help us finally put an end to U.S. taxpayer support, funding and complicity with this violence against children.”

The government watchdog’s decision comes more than five months after 72 Congressmen asked the GAO to investigate Planned Parenthood in a letter dated February 21.

READ: 813 reasons to DEFUND Planned Parenthood

The Daily Caller reports, Republican lawmakers announced Monday that the Government Accountability Office has agreed to look into Planned Parenthood and related organizations’ use of federal funding.

“The federal government providing funding to abortion providers is a serious problem in our nation,” said Tennessee Republican Rep. Diane Black in a statement. “I am pleased with the decision from GAO to investigate the use of taxpayer money designated to any abortion provider, particularly Planned Parenthood.”

“This independent study of how much and for what purpose these dollars are allocated to all abortion providers is necessary for Congress to ensure accountability and oversight,” she added.

In February Black, along with Texas Republican Rep. Pete Olson and Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter led a group of over 50 lawmakers in a call for the GAO to issue a report on how organizations that perform or promote abortion and receive federal funding use that funding, notably Planned Parenthood.

A GAO spokesman confirmed to The Daily Caller Monday that the auditing body had accepted their request.

Olson said he was “thrilled” that GAO agreed to look into the federal funding of these groups.

“Planned Parenthood performed a record 333,964 abortions last year – almost 1 million in the past three years,” Vitter added in a statement. “At the same time, they also received more federal taxpayer dollars than ever before – a record $542 million, an 11 percent increase over the past two years.”

“Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide abortions clearly benefit from Uncle Sam, but there’s no accounting to prove how they actually use that money,” he continued. “This GAO report would shine a light on how our tax dollars are being spent.”