Austin, TX (LifeNews.com) -- State health department officials have asked the Planned Parenthood abortion business in Texas to shut down four facilities it says are operating without proper medical licenses. Now, Texas state legislators want an investigation of the abortion centers and say the problems may result in a cut in taxpayer funding for the abortion business in the state budget.

The Department of State Health Services ordered four San Antonio-based Planned Parenthood abortion businesses to stop doing unlicensed abortions.

It released a letter to a group of state lawmakers who have inquired and indicated state officials will investigate the four centers in question and one licensed Planned Parenthood facility.

Planned Parenthood officials say they are following the cease and desist order to shutter the abortion centers until further notice. They blame not having the proper licenses on a communications problem.

Jeffrey Hons, CEO of Planned Parenthood in San Antonio, said news reports make it appear "there's something hidden that's going on, and it's not. We've been upfront from the beginning."

Hons told the Chronicle that the Planned Parenthood centers did not do abortions but, in 2004, wanted to give women the dangerous abortion drug known as mifepristone, or RU 486.

He said state officials told Planned Parenthood they did not need a license to distribute the abortion drug, which relies on a two-pill process to starve the unborn child to death and cause a premature birth about seven to nine weeks into the pregnancy.

However, state law requires centers that do any kind of abortions -- whether surgical or drug-induced -- to be licensed by the state health department.

Hons said the four abortion centers in question applied for licenses in January and he told the Chronicle the abortion business is waiting for those applications to be processed.

Rep. Phil King, a Republican from Weatherford, talked about the problems.

"We had heard concerns ... that some clinics were operating illegally and not properly using state funds, which was our first concern," King said.

He told the Houston Chronicle the problems should prompt further investigation from local officials.

"That potentially carries criminal violation which should be investigated by the Bexar County Attorney's Office," he said.

Planned Parenthood currently receives $10 million in family planning money from the Texas state budget and some lawmakers are saying that money should be cut because of the problems, even though the funds can't be used to directly pay for abortions.

Legislators could vote as early as Friday when the budget for the next two years comes up for debate on the state House floor. When they debate the measure, the Texas Alliance for Life pro-life group wants them to yank funding for the abortion business.

"We're shocked but not surprised to find that Planned Parenthood has violated the public trust in this manner and is endangering the lives and safety of women," Joe Pojman, Ph.D., executive director of the group, told LifeNews.com. "We commend these legislators for their vigilance in ensuring that state funds are prevented from being misused and that women's health and safety are not violated."

"While they do not legally use tax dollars to pay for abortion, Planned Parenthood aggressively promotes abortion as a method of birth control," he added.

In addition to the unlicensed abortion facilities, the DSHS investigation found that five additional Planned Parenthood facilities have violated Texas law. The letter also states that the DSHS staff is conducting an investigation at a licensed Planned Parenthood facility in San Antonio that may result in "enforcement action."

Related web sites:
Texas Alliance for Life - http://www.TexasAllianceforLife.org

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