FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 23, 2012
Contact: Mallory Quigley, 202-223-8073
SBA List Renews Call for Congressional Investigation
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to news that a young woman, Tonya Reaves, died after a botched abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Chicago, Illinois on Friday, the Susan B. Anthony List renewed the call for a congressional investigation into the abortion provider.
“Congress has an obligation to exercise clear and regular oversight of businesses like Planned Parenthood that receive hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funding and have such dramatic impact on the lives of women and unborn children. This tragic incident reminds us once again that an industry that relies on practitioners like Kermit Gosnell, that has shown willingness to aid alleged human traffickers, and that turns a blind eye to sex-selective abortion must be thoroughly and immediately investigated by Congress,” said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “We must not allow Tonya Reaves to have died in vain, but rather heed this warning and call on Congress to exercise its full capacity to investigate Planned Parenthood. As the nation’s largest abortion provider, in 2010 alone Planned Parenthood ended the lives of 329,445 unborn children and ill-served their mothers.”
“Left unregulated, the abortion industry clearly cannot be trusted to look out for the true interests of women,” continued Dannenfelser. “Earlier this year, Congressman Cliff Stearns launched an investigation of Planned Parenthood which raised a list of questions and issues concerning safety and oversight of Planned Parenthood. The American people need to know the answers to those questions about internal operations so that Americans can be assured women’s interests are protected.”
Earlier this month, Crain’s Chicago Business reported that Planned Parenthood of Illinois’ medical director, abortion provider Caroline Hoke, is being investigated for overbilling to Medicaid. Planned Parenthood of Illinois is the affiliate responsible for Tonya Reaves’ botched abortion.
The SBA List has led the charge to defund Planned Parenthood in the states following last year’s Congressional battle, offering state groups and legislators model legislation, expert testimony, and grassroots muscle. Nine states have cut Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding by more than $61.7 million since 2011. The SBA List model legislation focuses on redirecting taxpayer funding away from abortion centered business like Planned Parenthood to health care providers that provide “whole woman” care.
The Susan B. Anthony List and its connected Political Action Committee, the SBA List Candidate Fund, are dedicated to electing candidates and pursuing policies that will reduce and ultimately end abortion. To that end, the SBA List will emphasize the election, education, promotion, and mobilization of pro-life women.
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The SBA Pro-Life America National Pro-life Scorecard is a tool that helps hold members of Congress accountable for their legislative records on life and that highlights leadership in the fight to serve women and save babies.
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