Obama Admin Defends Secrecy of $1 Million Grant to Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Aug 10, 2015   |   12:25PM   |   Washington, DC

The Obama administration is defending the secrecy of a $1 million grant to the New Hampshire affiliate of the Planned Parenthood abortion business in 2011. The abortion giant is getting new national attention after it was caught selling aborted babies and body parts from aborted babies.

The Obama administration is keeping documents secret related to a non-competitive grant the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded directly to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in 2011 without going through state approval or standard protocols and despite the fact that the state decided not to fund Planned Parenthood that year.

Today, a pro-life legal group, Alliance Defending Freedom, filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court that responds to the Obama administration’s keeping the documents under wrap.

SIGN THE PETITION! Congress Must De-Fund Planned Parenthood Immediately

In February, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit permitted HHS to shield information about the grant and the department’s discussions on how to portray the controversial grant to the public. ADF attorneys and allied attorney Michael Tierney represent New Hampshire Right to Life in New Hampshire Right to Life v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a lawsuit that seeks the public release of information under the Freedom of Information Act about a Title X “Family Planning” grant HHS awarded to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in 2011.

“Americans deserve to know if their hard-earned tax money is being funneled to groups that are misusing it,” said Tierney. “The government is withholding documents that are critical in evaluating this apparently illegal funding, which the Obama administration granted despite New Hampshire’s grave concerns and without following standard protocols. The administration’s ongoing defense of Planned Parenthood and the secrecy surrounding its funding is completely unacceptable.”

ADF is asking the Supreme Court to take the case.

In June 2011, New Hampshire chose not to award a Title X subgrant to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, in part because of concerns that the affiliate was improperly using the funds to subsidize its abortion business and was not being transparent about its activities. The Obama administration responded and awarded Planned Parenthood a controversial sole source non-competitive replacement grant.

When New Hampshire Right to Life sought documents concerning the grant, HHS stonewalled until a federal court order required it to produce some, but not all, requested information about the grant, ADF said.

ADF says HHS has continued to refuse to provide certain grant documents on the grounds that they might affect Planned Parenthood’s “competitive position” if it faces a commercial grant competitor in the future. HHS also refused to produce information about its own debates over how to sell the controversial decision to the public.

As the ADF reply brief explains, the Freedom of Information Act “requires ‘full agency disclosure unless information is exempted under clearly delineated statutory language….’ The documents at issue in this case, all relating to a rushed non-competitive grant by HHS after the state of New Hampshire refused to award funds over concerns that Planned Parenthood was unlawfully using tax payer funds to subsidize abortions, could not have been done ‘in confidence.’ In fact, the state’s decision not to award funds and HHS’s decision to grant the funds were both highly publicized and of interest to many in New Hampshire and elsewhere….”

SIGN THE PETITION! Congress Must Investigate Planned Parenthood for Selling Aborted Baby Parts

“Americans are already being forced to fund Planned Parenthood, which has become the subject of numerous state investigations in recent days, with more than $500 million in taxpayer dollars annually,” said ADF Senior Counsel Casey Mattox. “At the very least, the government must be transparent about this money. Since Planned Parenthood is already the subject of repeated state and federal audits and whistleblower lawsuits for waste, abuse, and potential fraud of taxpayer dollars, not to mention ongoing federal and state investigations over possible baby parts trafficking, the government should comply with the law and come clean about the funding.”

The battle over information related to the Obama administration’s grant to Planned Parenthood comes after New Hampshire recently cut Planned Parenthood funding.

The most recent Planned Parenthood expose’ video, which follows Senate Democrats defeating a bill to de-fund Planned Parenthood, makes it appear the Planned Parenthood abortion business may be selling the “fully intact” bodies of unborn babies purposefully born alive and left to die.

As LifeNews reported, the first video of undercover footage shows Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Senior Director of Medical Services, Dr. Deborah Nucatola, describing how Planned Parenthood sells the body parts of aborted unborn children and admitting she uses partial-birth abortions to supply intact body parts.

In the second video, Planned Parenthood doctor Mary Gatter discusses the pricing of aborted baby body parts — telling the biotech company officials that the prices for such things as a baby’s liver, head or heart are negotiable. She also tells the officials that she could talk with the Planned Parenthood abortion practitioners to potentially alter the abortion procedure to kill the baby in a way that would best preserve those body parts after the unborn child is killed in the abortion.

So far, 12 states have responded to the Planned Parenthood videos and launched investigations into their abortion and organ harvesting business including South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Massachusetts, KansasMissouri, Arizona, Indiana, Ohio, Georgia, Texas and Louisiana. The district attorney in Houston Texas is also investigating after the Houston-based Planned Parenthood abortion facility was caught selling aborted babies.

Congress has expanded its investigation into the Planned Parenthood abortion business and three states have revoked taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood’s abortion business, including Alabama, New Hampshire and Louisiana.

The full, unedited videos have confirmed that revelations that some aborted baby remains sold by Planned Parenthood go to biotech companies for the purpose of creating “humanized” mice. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood has been exposed as having sold body parts from aborted babies for as much as 15 years.

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