Sen. Josh Hawley urges probe into Planned Parenthood's 'transgender madness' for kids

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter June 11 to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, asking him to investigate Planned Parenthood for using taxpayer dollars to facilitate so-called "transgender services" on minors.

Key Takeaways:

• Sen. Josh Hawley sent a letter last week to Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz urging him to investigate Planned Parenthood for fraud for using Medicaid and Medicare funds to administer gender transition drugs to minors.

• Hawley pointed out that Medicaid and Medicare programs are designed to help needy and older Americans afford basic healthcare, yet Planned Parenthood received $1.5 billion in Medicaid and Medicare funding over a three-year period.

• Hawley referenced a Live Action investigation, in which an undercover journalist posing as a 16-year-old girl was offered cross-sex hormones at the first appointment, even virtually.

The Details:

Hawley's letter urged Oz to investigate Planned Parenthood for using Medicaid and Medicare funds to administer gender transition drugs to minors.

Hawley wrote:

“I appreciate your focus on combatting fraud in our nation’s healthcare programs and ensuring that taxpayer dollars are being used for their lawful, intended purposes. As you continue work to uncover fraud in the Medicaid and Medicare programs, I urge you to direct your investigative efforts toward Planned Parenthood and its role in pushing transgender madness onto minor children." 

He referenced a Government Accountability Office finding that Planned Parenthood received $1.5 billion in Medicaid and Medicare funding over a three-year period, despite the fact that both programs are designed to help needy and older Americans afford basic healthcare.

"In other words, billions of taxpayer dollars have been taken from those in poverty and the elderly and given to Planned Parenthood," he wrote.

Hawley's letter also referenced a Live Action investigation showing Planned Parenthood affiliates across the country were willing to provide cross sex hormones to teens as young as 16 with no parental supervision.

[Planned Parenthood] openly advertises that it provides sex-change drugs and refers for transgender surgeries. According to one recent report, Planned Parenthood’s provision of this so-called “gender-affirming care” has exploded—with a 40% year-over-year increase. Public reporting clearly shows that these “services” are provided to minors. Undercover investigations have revealed that numerous Planned Parenthood facilities would prescribe sex change drugs to a minor at the first appointment, without any medical documentation whatsoever. The organization has even exploited legal loopholes to provide these dangerous and irreversible gender-transition drugs to minors without their parents’ consent. This is unconscionable.

Planned Parenthood Gave Her Testosterone at 16 — Paid For With Your Tax Dollars

The Big Picture:

Live Action and Live Action News have repeatedly exposed Planned Parenthood's role in providing cross-sex hormones and other gender-related "services" to minor children.

As referenced above, the Live Action investigation conducted last year featured an undercover journalist posing as a 16-year-old female, who called Planned Parenthood facilities offering ‘transgender services’ in eight states/territories.

Staff at seven of the 33 facilities contacted confirmed they would prescribe cross-sex hormones at the first appointment, even virtually.

At five of the facilities, staff said the 16-year-old girl did not need proof of having undergone therapy, mental health clearance, or prior documentation as part of a mental health assessment before Planned Parenthood would prescribe cross-sex hormones.

The fact that the journalist told these facilities she was a minor did not prevent them from offering her these life-altering "services."

Live Action researcher Sheena Rodriguez recently released a four-part series on Live Action News detailing Planned Parenthood's "transgender pipeline" for minors, and showing how Planned Parenthood's abortion and transgender ideologies go hand in hand.

The Bottom Line:

In his letter, Hawley pointed out that Planned Parenthood is slated to once again begin receiving federal funds on July 5, after a one-year hiatus — a fact he said was a "grave error."

The organization’s transgender activities appear at the least to subvert Congress’s intent to direct Medicaid and Medicare funds to basic healthcare needs. They may also violate regulations governing how these dollars may be spent and fail to comply with Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rules.

Hawley called on Oz and CMS to seriously look at the organization for fraud, writing, "I therefore urge you to act to ensure Planned Parenthood cannot defraud our nation’s healthcare programs."