Congressman Wants Hearing on Planned Parenthood Abortion Death

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 25, 2012   |   11:38AM   |   Washington, DC

A leading member of Congress who has already started the process of investigating the Planned Parenthood abortion business related to Medicaid fraud and potentially hiding cases of sexual abuse of minors says it should be probed over a recent abortion death.

As LifeNews reported, Tonya Reaves, 24, died late Friday night after having a second-trimester abortion at a Chicago-area Planned Parenthood clinic. She died after a hemorrhage, with a cervical dilation and evacuation, according to the medical examiner’s office following an autopsy after the abortion that claimed her life.

Rep. Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican who has been leading the Planned Parenthood probe, said he wants a public hearing on Planned Parenthood’s role in killing Reaves in the abortion, according to a Fox News report.

“I would like to put them under oath,” he told Fox News. “I would like to find out how they spend our half a billion dollars, and I would also like to explore some of the safety aspects, particularly in light of this death, of this tragedy.”

Fox indicated, “Stearns claims that since he launched a congressional probe, all he’s gotten are thousands of pages of irrelevant documents and no answers to his questions.”

 

Leading pro-life groups have already called for a investigation.

“Congress has an obligation to exercise clear and regular oversight of businesses like Planned Parenthood that receive hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funding and have such dramatic impact on the lives of women and unborn children. This tragic incident reminds us once again that an industry that relies on practitioners like Kermit Gosnell, that has shown willingness to aid alleged human traffickers, and that turns a blind eye to sex-selective abortion must be thoroughly and immediately investigated by Congress,” said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser.

Dannenfelser added, “We must not allow Tonya Reaves to have died in vain, but rather heed this warning and call on Congress to exercise its full capacity to investigate Planned Parenthood. As the nation’s largest abortion provider, in 2010 alone Planned Parenthood ended the lives of 324,008 unborn children and ill-served their mothers.”

“Left unregulated, the abortion industry clearly cannot be trusted to look out for the true interests of women,” continued Dannenfelser. “Earlier this year, Congressman Cliff Stearns launched an investigation of Planned Parenthood which raised a list of questions and issues concerning safety and oversight of Planned Parenthood.  The American people need to know the answers to those questions about internal operations so that Americans can be assured women’s interests are protected.”

Dannenfelser noted that, earlier this month, Crain’s Chicago Business reported that Planned Parenthood of Illinois’ medical director, abortion provider Caroline Hoke, is being investigated for overbilling to Medicaid. Planned Parenthood of Illinois is the affiliate responsible for Tonya Reaves’ botched abortion.

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An autopsy conducted Saturday determined Reaves died from hemorrhage following a Dilation and Evacuation abortion. The D&E abortion method is one employed in pregnancies that have advanced beyond the first trimester. In involves opening the cervix and removing the pre-born baby by dismembering him or her. The Loop Health Center Planned Parenthood advertises abortions up to 18 weeks.