Most pro-life people are outraged when they realize that Planned Parenthood, the number one abortion provider in the United States, is a tax exempt organization receiving hundreds of millions of our tax dollars. But everyone, pro-life or not, should be outraged over the criminal allegations Planned Parenthood faces in Overland Park, Kansas.
According to the 107-count indictment filed in Johnson County District Court yesterday, Planned Parenthood purposefully performed illegal late term abortions in violation of Kansas State law and unlawfully falsified documents in order to conceal that fact. They are also accused of failing to comply with the required medical reporting guidelines.
The complaint alleges 29 misdemeanor counts of performing "unlawful late term abortions," 29 misdemeanor counts of "unlawful failure to determine viability for late term abortion," 23 felony counts of "making a false information," and 27 misdemeanor counts of "unlawful failure to maintain records."
Kansas law states that:
No person shall perform or induce an abortion when the fetus is viable unless such person is a physician and has a documented referral from another physician not legally or financially affiliated with the physician performing or inducing the abortion and both physicians determine that: (1) The abortion is necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant woman; or (2) a continuation of the pregnancy will cause a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman.1
The statute defines a viable fetus as:
[T]hat stage of fetal development when it is the physician's judgment according to accepted obstetrical or neonatal standards of care and practice applied by physicians in the same or similar circumstances that there is a reasonable probability that the life of the child can be continued indefinitely outside the mother's womb with natural or artificial life-supportive measures.2
Medical experts usually find this stage to be at 22 weeks.
The complaint alleges that Planned Parenthood, on numerous occasions, knowingly and purposefully chose to "perform or cause to be performed a late term abortion on a fetus with a gestational age of 22 weeks or more."3 It alleges that they failed to make "an individualized determination of the viability of the fetus … assuming without further testing that the fetus was not viable when a medical emergency was not present."4
And as if this were not horrific enough, the complaint alleges that they tried to cover it up by falsifying documents "with knowledge that the written instrument falsely stated or represented a material matter or was not what it purported to be."5
These charges have been reviewed by a judge, and, in looking at the evidence presented, he found probable cause. So, even though these are mere allegations, there has to be an evidentiary basis for the allegations or the judge would have thrown the case out.
Just so we are all clear: Planned Parenthood may have used your tax dollars and mine to falsify and forge documents, while failing to follow medical reporting guidelines, in order to perform illegal late term abortions.
I hope we can all agree that whatever your philosophy on life, this is unacceptable.
Even more disturbing is to think that this is just one place in Kansas. How prevalent is this? Planned Parenthood operates around 860 facilities around the country, and there are approximately 40 states with laws banning late term abortions. Is this a common practice among Planned Parenthood clinics around the country? How long has it been happening? Why is nothing being done about it?
It is time for Congress to wake up and start investigating this matter as soon as possible. For years we have heard stories of statutory rape violations being covered at abortion clinics and how they refuse to provide investigators with medical records. Is this the reason why?
We all recognize that abortion is an explosive subject in political circles, but politics should never get in the way of truth and respect for the law. We cannot tolerate an organization utilizing our tax dollars to break the very laws that have been put in place to protect us. Every Senator and Representative in Congress should be outraged at these allegations and should call for an investigation into Planned Parenthood, the organization they fund with more than $300 million of our tax dollars per year.
Congress represents the people, and this is what the people want.
Action Item:
- Call your Representative and Senators at 202-224-3121 and urge them to stop taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood until it can be determined whether Planned Parenhood has systematically violated state and federal laws.
- Call your Representative and Senators at 202-224-3121 and ask them to hold hearings to investigate Planned Parenthood's practices and whether they violate any federal laws.
- Call the Department of Health and Human Services at 202-690-7000 to investigate whether Planned Parenthood violated state and federal laws.
End Notes
- Kan. Stat. Ann. § 65-6703(a)
- Kan. Stat. Ann. § 65-6703(e)
- Complaint at 28-39, Kansas v. Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood, (No. 07CR2701, 2007).
- Complaint at 18-23, Kansas v. Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood, (No. 07CR2701, 2007).
- Complaint at 1-10, Kansas v. Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood, (No. 07CR2701, 2007).
