“Planned Parenthood’s publicly-funded, billion-dollar abortion empire has to play by the same rules as everyone else”

This week, the General Accountability Office (GAO) announced that it will investigate Planned Parenthood and other organizations receiving federal taxpayer dollars.

“American taxpayers deserve to know if their hard-earned money is being funneled to groups that are abusing it,” said Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) Senior Counsel Michael J. Norton. “The GAO is right to investigate the stream of tax dollars going to Planned Parenthood and other specific organizations.” He continues, “Audits and other reviews of Planned Parenthood affiliates’ financial data and practices – as well as 45 audits of state family planning programs and one audit of a family planning organization – found more than $108 million in waste, abuse, and potential fraud.”

ADF reported Planned Parenthood’s waste, abuses and potential fraud to Congress in April 2010. Litigation Counsel Catherine Glenn Foster said, “When it comes to accountability and transparency, Planned Parenthood’s publicly-funded, billion-dollar abortion empire has to play by the same rules as everyone else.”

“Taxpayer money is only supposed to be used responsibly and for the common good,” said Norton.

In February, Congress requested up-to-date information regarding the federal funding of Planned Parenthood and other specific organizations. The GAO’s latest report was from May 2010, using federal funds provided for fiscal years 2002-2009.

And it wasn’t until this week that the self-described “most transparent administration in history” started the investigation.