AUGUSTA, Maine — Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin said Thursday that he has demanded information from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services about how taxpayer dollars are distributed to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which is embroiled in a scandal about its handling of fetal tissue.
Planned Parenthood maintains that it has done nothing wrong and that it is the subject of a smear campaign by anti-abortion activists.
Poliquin’s request comes three days after a failed attempt in the U.S. Senate on Monday to pass a bill that would have cut taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood nationwide. The presentation of that bill came after the release of videos by anti-abortion activists which allegedly show Planned Parenthood employees negotiating the distribution of tissue from fetuses for research purposes.
“I am extremely concerned about the serious allegations that Planned Parenthood Federation of America is altering abortion procedures, including performing partial-birth abortions, in order to harvest and sell body parts for profit,” wrote Poliquin in Wednesday’s letter to U.S. DHHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell. “If proven true, these horrific acts violate federal law and must be stopped.”
Poliquin — the only anti-abortion member of Maine’s congressional delegation — has asked Burwell to determine whether Planned Parenthood has performed elective partial birth abortions, harvested body parts and sold them for profit, altered abortion procedures to harvest organs and used taxpayer dollars to pay for elective abortions.
“When hard-earned taxpayer dollars are used to help fund any organization, a bond of trust is expected among our taxpayers, the receiving entity and our government,” wrote Poliquin to Burwell. “In this case, your department is responsible for ensuring that trust is not broken, the law is not breached and sensible human care is extended to almost fully-developed babies.”
The organization said it served more than 10,000 men and women in Maine and provided some $3.5 million in free or discounted care. Planned Parenthood has maintained that it has done nothing illegal, that it has not profited from fetal tissue and that any tissue used for research was made available with the consent of the patients involved.
“These actions are an attack on women by a group of out-of-touch politicians and it is deeply disappointing that Rep. Poliquin has chosen to align with such an extreme group,” reads a statement from Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. “His actions reflect a disregard of the many Mainers who deserve and desire basic care, as well as the findings of medical experts, media watchdog groups and countless others who have discredited the claims of these fraudulent videos and the orchestrated effort to mislead the public.”
Regardless, the scandal has started to have ramifications not far from Maine. On Wednesday, New Hampshire’s Republican-led Executive Council voted on party lines to eliminate $639,000 in state funding for Planned Parenthood, according to reports.
Queries by the Bangor Daily News to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s office were unanswered Thursday afternoon.
On Monday, Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins proposed to amend a Senate bill in an effort to authorize a Department of Justice investigation into Planned Parenthood’s activities, but the bill failed to garner support.
