Texas investigators arrived without warning at Planned Parenthood facilities on Thursday and demanded documents, three days after the state told the healthcare provider it planned to terminate its Medicaid contracts.
Ken Lambrecht, the chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, told a news conference in Austin that the appearance of state officials at offices in San Antonio, Dallas and Houston was “a politically motivated … fishing expedition” for information including unnecessary details such as the home addresses of employees and their salaries.
The organisation said it was given 24 hours to turn over thousands of pages by the Texas Office of Inspector General, a division of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. It issued a letter to Planned Parenthood on Monday telling the group that it is being defunded for alleged violations on the basis that “Planned Parenthood and its affiliates are no longer capable of performing medical services in a professionally competent, safe, legal and ethical manner”.
The actions follow the release earlier this year of heavily edited undercover videos by anti-abortion activists that purport to show Planned Parenthood workers intending to illegally sell tissue from aborted fetuses. Planned Parenthood has denied any wrongdoing.
Despite the lack of evidence of malpractice, in common with other Republican politicians Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, has seized on the controversy stirred up by the videos as a means to strip more funding from the group, which provides not only abortions but a range of other family planning and healthcare services, such as HIV tests and cancer screenings.
Last summer, Abbott approved a measure stopping Planned Parenthood from taking part in a breast and cervical cancer screening programme for low-income women.
“The gruesome harvesting of baby body parts by Planned Parenthood will not be allowed in Texas and the barbaric practice must be brought to an end,” Abbott said in a statement on Monday.
“As such, ending the Medicaid participation of Planned Parenthood affiliates in the state of Texas is another step in providing greater access to safe healthcare for women while protecting our most vulnerable – the unborn.”
Texas already has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, which have drastically reduced the number of providers in recent years.
However, cutting off Medicaid funding is unlikely to be that simple: Louisiana was ordered on Monday by a federal judge to continue providing money to Planned Parenthood amid a fight over the state’s attempt to defund it. Planned Parenthood has 30 days to respond to the Texas letter.
The Austin American-Statesman reported that officials issued subpoenas in an investigation related to suspicions of misspent Medicaid funds. Medicaid is a government healthcare programme for people with limited means.
Spokespeople for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission could not immediately be reached on Thursday evening.
Yvonne Gutierrez, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes, said in a statement: “Governor Abbott’s political grandstanding is on full display this morning.
“Representatives from the Texas Office of Inspector General showed up at Planned Parenthood health centers in Brownsville, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio looking for an excuse to take healthcare away from thousands of women and men who rely on Planned Parenthood for preventive care.”
With Reuters
