After five states cut off taxpayer funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business in the wake of a scandal over its sales of aborted babies and body parts from aborted babies, Iowa’ governor is taking action. Governor Terry Brandstad has ordered a review of all state taxpayer funding of the abortion company. Utah, Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana, have already revoked a contract with Planned Parenthood using state Medicaid dollars, and New Hampshire zapped $650,000 in state taxpayer funding.
Branstad’s decision came after he spoke to a rally of more than 1,000 pro-life people at a rally at the state capital.
As the Des Moines Register newspaper reports:
Branstad said Planned Parenthood does not receive a direct appropriation from the Iowa Legislature, and no government funds are used to pay for abortions in Iowa.
But Planned Parenthood in Iowa does receive some government funding including federal funds, that are channeled through the Iowa Department of Human Services and the Iowa Department of Public Health for non-abortion services, the governor said.
“We are to look at the contracts and see what our rights and responsibilities are. I want to protect the interests of the taxpayers,” said Branstad, who conducted his weekly news conference at the Iowa State Fair.
Branstad on Monday described Planned Parenthood’s actions as “outrageous and inappropriate.”
Branstad said there is no specific timeline for the state review of Planned Parenthood funding, and he doesn’t know exactly how much government money the organization is receiving in Iowa. But he said there is a lot of interest in the issue by Iowa legislators.
SIGN THE PETITION! Congress Must De-Fund Planned Parenthood Immediately
Suzanna de Baca, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, tried to play down the sales of aborted babies by focusing on the smaller levels of non-abortion health care Planned Parenthood has.
The review comes on month after Iowa pro-life Senator Joni Ernst led a battle in the U.S. Senate to de-fund Planned Parenthood, which Senate Democrats blocked.
According to news reports, Utah is saying it will no longer allow itself to be used by the federal government to funnel funds to the abortion company. The decision essentially revokes well over $200,000 in taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood.
In Arkansas, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he is ending state Medicaid payments to the Planned Parenthood abortion business – even as the Obama administration is threatening Alabama and Louisiana for doing so. Hutchinson directed the Department of Human Services to terminate its existing agreements with Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma, according to a press release from his office.
In Alabama, Governor Robert Bentley sent a letter to the head of the Planned Parenthood abortion business in Alabama notifying it of his decision. In Louisiana, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals informed Planned Parenthood it is exercising its right to terminate Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid provider agreement.
Meanwhile, in Louisiana, according to the Medicaid provider contract between DHH and Planned Parenthood, along with relevant Louisiana law, either party can choose to cancel the contract at will after providing written notice.
But the Obama administration wrote threatening letters to each state claiming their move to de-fund Planned Parenthood violates federal law.
Louisiana is not backing down.
When Louisiana cut Planned Parenthood fnuding Jindal’s office said, “Governor Jindal and DHH decided to give the required 30-day notice to terminate the Planned Parenthood Medicaid provider contract because Planned Parenthood does not represent the values of the State of Louisiana in regards to respecting human life. Pending the ongoing investigation, DHH reserves the right to amend the cancellation notice and terminate the provider agreement immediately should cause be determined.”
The governor said the state health department has “concerns that Planned Parenthood could be acting in violation of Louisiana law that states no person or group contracting with the state or receiving government assistance shall require or recommend that any woman have an abortion. The state investigation into Planned Parenthood remains ongoing.”
The Hill reports that, “Mike Reed, a spokesman for Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), indicated the state and its Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) are standing by its decision.”
He cited a provision in the state Medicaid contract allowing either party to cancel it at will, with 30 days notice.
“CMS reached out to DHH after we canceled the Medicaid provider contract with Planned Parenthood,” Reed said. “DHH explained to CMS why the state chose to exercise our right to cancel the contract without cause.”
The abortion giant praised the Obama administration saying it will “do everything in our power to protect women’s access to health care in all fifty states.”
The sixth and most recent video features Holly O’Donnell, a licensed phlebotomist who unsuspectingly took a job as a “procurement technician” at the fetal tissue company and biotech start-up StemExpress in late 2012. That’s the company that acts as a middleman and purchases the body parts of aborted babies from Planned Parenthood to sell to research universities and other places.
The new video includes O’Donnell’s eyewitness narrative of the daily practice of fetal body parts harvesting in Planned Parenthood abortion clinics, describing tissue procurement workers’ coordination with abortion providers, the pressure placed on patients, and disregard for patient consent.
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.
SIGN THE PETITION! Congress Must Investigate Planned Parenthood for Selling Aborted Baby 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, Kansas, Missouri, 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 Utah, Arkansas, 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.
The federal law that technically prohibits the sale of aborted babies and their body parts was written by a pro-abortion Congressman decades ago and essentially spells out a process by which sellers of aborted baby body parts can meet certain criteria that allows the sales to be legal. That’s why a Colorado congressman has introduced legislation to totally ban the sales of aborted baby body parts.
