Former Planned Parenthood Employees Speak Out!
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December 7, 2011
The Honorable Fred Upton
2183 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable Henry Waxman
2204 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Chairman Upton and Congressman Waxman:
As former officers and or employees of affiliates of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), we support the decision by your Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations to investigate various aspects of the operations of the organization of which we were once a part. This examination, and the request for comprehensive documentation with which it is beginning, represent not only an appropriate exercise of government responsibility with respect to the use of tax dollars but also a clear duty to serve the best interest of women in the United States.
It is a matter of public record that the affiliates of PPFA and its national headquarters receive roughly $1 million per day in federal-state support, for a total of $1 billion or more in any three-year period. This alone would merit close government attention as to whether or not these funds are being spent appropriately and, specifically, in keeping with the federal law which stipulates that none of these funds should be made available to a program in whichabortion is used as a means of family planning. We can state categorically, from personal experience, that abortion is indeed deployed as a means of family planning according to the mission of the organization for which we once worked.
Moreover, one or more of us have personally witnessed and can testify to the validity of specific concerns raised by subcommittee chairman Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) in his letter on September 15 to PPFA president Cecile Richards. We have written, spoken about and/or are prepared to testify to incidents we have witnessed in which an employee or affiliate of PPFA failed to:
- Properly account for and maintain separation between government funds prohibited from use for elective abortions and those funds derived from other sources that are not subject to such limitations;
- Notify parents when a vulnerable girl is seeking an abortion, including instances when the minor girl is the victim of an act of statutory rape under applicable state law;
- Provide a woman undergoing an abortion with accurate and relevant information regarding the stage of her pregnancy, including the opportunity to view ultrasound imagery that may have made a profound impact on her decision to undergo an abortion;
- Detect and act upon instances where a girl or woman was brought to the clinic under some degree of coercion, up to and including instances where the girl or woman was subjected to human trafficking and was a victim of crime;
- Engage in appropriate financial controls and billing practices to ensure compliance with applicable state and federal laws.
While each has an individual and personal story regarding our decisions to leave the employment of Planned Parenthood and to alert the public to our concerns, we are of one mind that the extent of these problems with the organization is not fully understood by the American people, who are underwriting the growth ofPlanned Parenthood and its potent outreach to the young and the poor. The decision by the Energy and Commerce Committee to delve into the extent of these issues is long overdue, and it will provide an appropriate check and balance on an entity that, as we can personally attest, has operated as a law unto itself, gladly accepting tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer support while using the rubric of “reproductive rights” to claim exemption from the normal standards of accountability that every other recipient of public funds is expected to meet.
We are confident that Chairman Stearns and the rest of his subcommittee can fully and fairly evaluate the PPFA and produce a report that serves the public interest and promotes women’s health. We stand ready at any time to assist the subcommittee’s examination of this major organization – please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Catherine Adair
Former Clinic Employee
Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts
Boston, MA
Dr. Patti Giebink
Former Abortion Doctor
Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota
Sioux Falls, SD
Abby Johnson
Former Clinic Director
Planned Parenthood Center for Choice
Bryan, TX
Luis Maldonado
Former Clinic Assistant
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
San Jose, CA
Sue Thayer
Former Clinic Manager
Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa / Planned Parenthood of the Heartland
Storm Lake, IA
Ramona Trevino
Former Clinic Manager
Planned Parenthood of North Texas
Sherman, TX
Patricia Sandoval
Former Clinic Employee
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
Sacramento, CA
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