The House of Representatives voted this week to establish another panel to investigate the activities of Planned Parenthood. This raises the number of ongoing congressional probes of Planned Parenthood to five—one in the Senate and four in the House. Members of Congress said that this probe is needed to examine whether Planned Parenthood is breaking laws or misusing taxpayer money.
Former Planned Parenthood employee, Sue Thayer, told a congressional panel this week that, despite PP claiming it does not bill the federal government for abortions, the organization has billed the federal government for abortion-related ultrasounds and medications, in violation of federal law. She claims, based on her firsthand knowledge, that PP overbilled Medicaid by about $28 million.
The Catholic Church’s Ordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family began this week at the Vatican. This synod will last for a full month, so it is too early to predict its outcome. There is some real concern for this gathering as last year’s preliminary synod produced much discussion that was at odds with traditional Catholic teaching. Many bishops who champion the culture of life were upset last year and are asking for prayers for this year’s gathering. Early reports from the synod seem to be reflecting the bias of the reporters. A number of those who support traditional Catholic teaching are quoting bishops who support their view, while those who want the Church to change have found ample fodder among the more than 60 bishops who have spoken so far. This truly is a time for prayer.
The pro-life community was shocked this summer by the undercover videos released by the Center for Medical Progress. These videos show Planned Parenthood’s involvement on the baby body parts trade. The videos have been so damaging that there have been lawsuits filed to keep much of the footage from being made public. In fact, the National Abortion Federation won a court order to block the release of full unedited videos. However, Congress stepped in and issued a subpoena demanding that CMP give all the video footage to congressional committees. Just this week, the judge, citing the three equal branches of government, ruled that the NAF could not compete with a congressional subpoena and instructed CMP that it could comply and give Congress all the footage. CMP and pro-lifers everywhere are anxious to have the entire country know the evil nature of Planned Parenthood.