The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has begun investigating whether government grants — provided by the Department of Health and Human Services — were used by Planned Parenthood to “support transactions involving fetal tissue.”
According to its 2013-2014 Annual Report, Planned Parenthood claimed it received $528.4 million in “government health services grants and reimbursements,” more than 40-percent of the organization’s total revenue, and over the weekend, Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz and subcommittee chairman Jim Jordan sent letters to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, requesting that documents detailing “oversight of the money [HHS] provides to Planned Parenthood” be turned over to the committee no later than Aug. 28, 2015.
[HHS must]
1. Identify each agency within HHS that provides funding and/or support to Planned Parenthood or its affiliates, and the programs that each agency administers that provide such funding and/or support.
2. For each year 2010 through present, identify the total amount of federal funding that HHS provided to Planned Parenthood or its affiliates, broken down by agency, group, and program.
3. Identify what restrictions or regulations apply to the use of funding provided by HHS to Planned Parenthood or its affiliates.
4. Identify, specifically, what procedures, services, or other medical treatments are available only or exclusively at a Planned Parenthood affiliate or health center… Do not include services or procedures that could otherwise be provided by a private health care provider.
[Planned Parenthood must]
1. For each year from 2010 through present, provide the cumulative amount of funding that Planned Parenthood received from the federal government, and identify all program(s), grant(s), and other sources of the federal funds.
2. For each year from 2010 through present, provide all financial statements and annual reports, including, but not limited to Internal Revenue Service Form 990…
3. For each year from 2010 through present, identify and provide an accounting of all Planned Parenthood activities that were financed with federal funds, to include the specific amount of federal funds used for each expenditure.
4. For each year from 2010 through present, provide the cumulative amount of funding that Planned Parenthood received form Medicaid programs by state.
5. For each year from 2010 through present, provide a list of the 50 highest-paid Planned Parenthood employees…
6. According to the 2013-2014 Annual Report, Planned Parenthood “supports 66 independently oncorporated affiliiates, operating approximately 770 health centers across the U.S. Provide a list of these affiliates and health centers including a contact with phone number or email for each.
7. Identify, specifically, what procedures, services, or other medical treatments are available only or exclusively at a Planned Parenthood affiliate or health center… Do not include services or procedures that could otherwise be provided by a private health care provider.
The Oversight Committee is Congress’ chief investigative body, and left a reminder at the end of each letter that it, “has authority to investigate ‘any matter’ at ‘any time.'”