Texas officials gave final notice to Planned Parenthood on Tuesday that its taxpayer funding is going away.
The abortion chain in Texas currently receives $3.1 million in Medicaid funds. The final notice from the Texas Health and Human Services on Tuesday told the abortion group that it will be kicked out of the taxpayer-funded program in 30 days, the Texas Tribune reports.
State officials said Planned Parenthood’s potentially illegal sales of aborted babies’ body parts was a key reason for the move.
In the final notice letter, department Inspector General Stuart Bowen said the undercover videos that exposed Planned Parenthood’s actions showed that “Planned Parenthood violated state and federal law.” He said the abortion group showed a “willingness to charge more than the costs incurred for procuring fetal tissue.”
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“Your misconduct is directly related to whether you are qualified to provide medical services in a professionally competent, safe, legal and ethical manner,” Bowen wrote in the letter. “Your actions violate generally accepted medical standards, as reflected in state and federal law, and are Medicaid program violations that justify termination.”
Several weeks ago, a U.S. Congressional investigation released evidence that Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast in Texas “broke the law when it sold aborted baby remains for profit to the University of Texas.” The U.S. House panel referred the case to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for further review.
Then last week, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee released its findings and referred several Planned Parenthood affiliates to the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice for further investigation and possible prosecution.
Planned Parenthood denies the claims and says it will pursue legal action to block the defunding measure in Texas, ABC News reports.
Planned Parenthood does about 320,000 abortions a year in the U.S., more than any other group, and receives about $550 million in tax dollars nationally. The tax money that Planned Parenthood receives is not supposed to be used for abortions, but evidence indicates that it does.
A number of states moved to defund the abortion group after the Center for Medical Progress released its undercover videos showing evidence of possible illegal activity at Planned Parenthoods across the country. However, many of the efforts have been blocked by courts.
Last week, President Barack Obama, a close friend of the abortion industry, approved a new Department of Health and Human Services rule that will essentially prohibit states from defunding the abortion business.
The finalized rule from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) prevents states from blocking Title X funding (federal dollars for family planning services) to abortion companies like Planned Parenthood.
Responding to the rule, pro-life U.S. Rep. Diane Black told LifeNews.com, “With this rule, we see an administration that has become unglued at the knowledge of the impending pro-life sea change in Washington, DC.”
“President Obama knows that hope is rising for the innocent victims of Planned Parenthood’s brutality and the big abortion industry’s days of taxpayer-funded windfalls are numbered. We should not be surprised that his administration would lash out with this eleventh hour power grab on the way out the door, but I am certain this rule will not stand for long,” she said.
President-elect Donald Trump promised to sign a bill to defund Planned Parenthood as long as it continues to perform abortions.
